I have a 4 cyl. 4 stroke industrial gas ‘V’ Wisconson eng.) Before I bought it it sounded like the plug wires were crossed. today I did a compression test, all were about 90 psi except #3 which read ZERO.
I looked inside at the exhaust valve and see it moves but all is pretty black in there. I poured some marvel mystery in there and put the plug wires back on right and damned if it doesn’t sound pretty good. I’m wondering if running it in the right firing order and that oil freed up the valve and ‘fixed’ itself? I haven’t re-checked the compression, I’d almost rather not know as it sounded pretty good and I need to saw some boards… …(it’s on a saw mill)
I was hoping for one of those ‘ideas’ that just might ‘magic’ this engine back to a happy life. It was run with no air cleaner (on a saw mill) and no screen over the air cooler intake fan and the oil looks pretty contaminated but first time it gets hot it’ll get good stuff.
Get a plastic spray bottle and fill it with diesel. Run the engine full throttle and spray diesel into the carb, not enough to kill it just keep spraying and keep it running for a minute doing that, play the throttle so it doesnt die, Then spray enough in to cause it to die. Let it sit overnight, clean the plugs and start it up. Run it at full throttle and let it run at temp for a while. It will smoke a lot at first, this a cheap way to burn the carbon out, maybe free up the rings.
The other options are to run it like it is, or do it right, and rebuild it.
Thanks, I did this with a LOT of water. It looked cleaner in there, I’m suspecting something other than carbon but I will try the diesel spray. I’m prepared to pull the head but as mentioned, i’ve a few logs to run first.
Trashcan the Wisconsin and find a decent industrial gasoline or diesel engine to use. They run better, start easier, and are better on fuel consumption. There is an enormous amount of dirt (Silica) in sawmill operation dust and chips. If the Wisconsin was run much without an aircleaner, chances are its ruined inside.
Unless the V-4 has an electric starter, you may also save yourself a broken arm with the hand crank device. Then there is the noise factor. A quieter engine may save you some hearing in the long run.
Good luck.
yup, and another thing is that wisconson may weigh more and being mounted on a cataiever would be easier on the lift system. I doubt the wisonson is ruined though, they are one tough unit but I always have my eye out for one of those small light diesels, no way am i buying a $$ new one!! I also have 4 wisconsons now so would sort of need to “liquidate” and make a move to ‘japan’.
Marvel Mystery oil in the fuel 4-6 ounces per ten gallons every fill is the recipe for keeping valves on the Atomic Four marine engine (30 hp 4-cyl inline flathead) from sticking.
I ran 1.5 quarts diesel in the crank oil till warm while feeding diesel into the air intake, then when it was pretty warm I brought the RPM up and choked it on diesel.
The next day I eventually ended up exposing the valve adjusters and over 4 hrs. of working the engine (valve) back and forth I got it to open and close.
I refilled with clean oil, ran till warm (on all 4 cyl.) then added about 1.5 qrts. of Lucas Oil Stabilizer and it appears I have a happy engine.
thanks for the ideas!
final wrap up::: engine works fine, logs cut square, i think the mill is going to be ok till i screw it up somehow. wish i had a pic for you guys that didn’t have sea water in it !!!