My Build

[Parrformance]

I have had to adjust valves on most every overhead valve small engine I own this year.

Lawn tractor, V Twin, one rocker arm exited the head(bolt backed all the way out) and dropped that cylinder. The tractor still ran, just way down on power.

Re-seated the rocker arm and push rod then set the valves, runs like rand new again.

Two of my generators would not start, one a 5500, and the other an Inverter Generator, cleaned carbs on both, still would not fire.

Checked oil level, checked fuel and spark, all good.

Checked valves, off a little, made the appropriate adjustments for both, and they started right up.

 

[Lance A Lott]

Valve gide seals might explain your symptoms.

[jenandjon]

I earn the dummy of the day award. The small engine guy called and said the generator runs fine. It ran rough for a few minutes and straitened right out. So I'm sitting there talking to my brother about it and he asked if I ever shut the choke off. He choked it the first day we test fired it. Ran it for a 30 seconds tops (no exhaust on it at that point) and shut it off and went home. I said no I did not shut the choke off I thought it was automatic.

So that was my problem. Turns out it won't run very well with the choke left on.  No explanation for where the oil came from.

Anyway. I tried charging the Air conditioner. I put in 6 cans of Freon, It worked very well for about 15 minutes. So now its at a shop getting that fixed. I found oil on one of the lines so I hope its just a blown line. With my luck its the most expensive line.

[jenandjon]

I just got the quote to fix my air conditioner. its going to be in the $4,000 area. I need everything from the condenser to the evaporator coils. except the compressor. I told him if we are changing everything else just as well do that too. It did squeak a little it. I looked at him and said Well I guess I should have bought a Volvo. He sad No they are ALL junk. (Meaning all trucks are junk no matter the brand). I'm going to have more in this truck than I expected but in the long run I feel its still worth it. Starting to get a little discouraged but that's the way it goes I guess. 

[Alie&Jim's Carrilite]

12 hours ago, jenandjon said:

I just got the quote to fix my air conditioner. its going to be in the $4,000 area. I need everything from the condenser to the evaporator coils. except the compressor. I told him if we are changing everything else just as well do that too. It did squeak a little it. I looked at him and said Well I guess I should have bought a Volvo. He sad No they are ALL junk. (Meaning all trucks are junk no matter the brand). I'm going to have more in this truck than I expected but in the long run I feel its still worth it. Starting to get a little discouraged but that's the way it goes I guess. 

You can buy a cheap truck and put money in it, buy an expensive truck and put money in it, or buy a new truck AND put money in it.  The cheap truck lets you put money in that you can't fix yourself......

 

[rickeieio]

Have you changed the a/c system in a farm tractor?  I did one two years go, switched from R-12 to 134A. Changed all the lines, compressor, but re-used the condenser/evaporator.  With me doing most of the labor, it was still $3500.

I have another to upgrade soon....

[noteven]

Rick back in the early 70’s we added air conditioning to the 5010 by getting the umbrella out of the shop...

[rickeieio]

21 hours ago, noteven said:

Rick back in the early 70’s we added air conditioning to the 5010 by getting the umbrella out of the shop...

Dad had an "Air-Brella" on his IH 650.  Better than nothing....... but not much.

[jenandjon]

Grandpa had umbrellas too, He had the deluxe model. The big one that attached to both fenders. We would sit up there as kids. We wore the paint off the fenders straddling the umbrella mount.

 

[Alie&Jim's Carrilite]

We didn't have umbrellas in the tobacco fields.... Bottom row of the harvester pulling sand lugs  AKA the bottom leafs...

 

[jenandjon]

I haven't had the truck at home for a while. I took it to get the generator fixed. Then the A/C in the truck. After that I got it to the electrician to wire up the generator. Back to the truck shop because A/C quit again. Then back to the small engine guy because the generator still ran like crap. This time he changed points and condesor. I think he got it this time. It sounds pretty good.
We are leaving on our first trip in one week. Essentially everything is ready to roll but I have a bunch of odds and ends to do. Mainly cosmetic.

[Brad & Jacolyn]

We didn't have an umbrella. We had to build a frame and put some canvas over it.

[jenandjon]

    Today is generator test day. I should have done it sooner but I wanted the rest of the guys to be at work when I did it. Just so we have more than one set of eye balls on it. It seems to run fine. I'm not going to say it runs great but it runs pretty good. I am going to plug in the camper and run it all day with the A/C turned down so it has to work. If It fails I have time to go get a different one. 

   I am still kicking myself for not going and buying brand new to start with. I have invested near $1,800 in used generators and  accessories. The first one was a complete flop. bought one at an auction.  Cost me $900. I have $500 in this onan plus $400 to run exhaust. I could have bought the one I really wanted brand new and been done. But nooooo I have to "save money" buy buying used.  Bought myself a bunch of headaches is what I did.

[DJohns]

jenandjon

You should go to smokestack.com. There are a bunch of guys who really know onans. Down the forum is an onan section. They will want model and serial number and the help will come. The model you have I put 2000 hours on and is a good generator. Some people say way better than the 3600 rpm units of today. Good luck!

[jenandjon]

Everything worked as it was suppose to. After fighting it so long to hear it purr just made my day.

 

Thanks Dan, I will check that out and book mark it for future reference!

[jenandjon]

Back to working on the truck. Making some changes and fixing a couple things.

First of all I had to chase the mice out. Its my fault they got in there and did the damage they did. "Someone" left some pork rinds in there and some microwave popcorn. I forgot about my stash when I cleaned it out last fall.

I put new rubbers in the fuel caps because they were leaking. That didn't work so I ended up buying new fuel caps. They are spring loaded and they get weak over time.

Then I had to find the oil leak. I crawled under the truck with a power washer. Did the best job I could before freezing. The next morning there was a nice streak of fresh oil running down the oil pan. These do not have your typical gasket on the oil pan. It has a rubber gasket. Like a very large O ring that fits in a groove. The oil pan is actually fiberglass. Parts are around $20. It's just a matter of getting it done.

My generator is not charging the battery. After only a few hours of run time the battery is dead. I did some research on the smock stack forum. Someone sent me a PDF of the service manual. I studied that. It turns out there is a bad diode and a wire not connected. Diode replaced. That problem solved. Oh and I also ditched the too small lawn and garden battery I was running it off of. I swapped it out with a commercial truck battery. Way overkill I know but the battery was just laying around the shop not being used and it was free. So thats why I used it.

I found a spot where the heater hoses go into the block. The pipe looked awfully rusty. I was just going to change them out. In the process of trying to figure out what I have to remove to access them I found a nice little crack in the exhaust manifold. I will not be fixing that myself. I noticed that there is also a broken bolt. I will let the experts take care of that. 

I got a call from the shop. The turbo is bad also. Fins nicked up and leaking oil to the cold side. Good news is the overhead tested out perfectly. He also said someone had been in there recently and did a bunch of work to it. Lots of new parts. So that part just cost me labor and one rubber gasket. I'm just waiting for them to pull the oil pan to do that gasket. I hope the bottom end is as good as the top. Supposedly the rods and mains were done recently. Supposedly.

When I get all that done, I want the square off the rear of frame. Then install a goose neck ball and heavy duty rear bumper with receiver hitch. I have the bumper mocked up. Just a matter of getting the rest of it together and weld it up.

 

 

 

[jenandjon]

We got the truck back from the shop. New turbo and exhaust manifold. Oil pan gasket, All the coolant lines have been changed. They were pretty rusty. Over head ran. Expensive bill but it runs great. I thought it ran good before but its a lot better now.

I put the bumper on hold for now. Won't be able to get it done before our busy season starts. But I did pick up a couple more boxes. 36x24x28. Got the pair for  $280 at an online equipment auction.

I shortened up the pin box. I had one of our local welding shops make one up for me. I had to shorten up the side boards on the bed also. I bunged up the corner of the camper last summer. Yea, I got both sides. My over all length is now 58 ft.

While the truck was in the shop I installed a BAL belly mount spare tire carrier. Then I took out the factory stereo and had my nephew install a car stereo in its place. I then mounted outdoor speakers down on the frame.