[AT] Best of ATIS? ---The D8 story - second post

[Mark Sargent]

Karl's second post.
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To: "atis" <antique-tractor at atis.net> 
Subject: Tractor Weekend (part 1) 
From: "Karl Olmstead" <olmstead at ridgenet.net> 
Date: Mon, 20 Dec 1999 20:59:45 -0800 
Cc: "Monika" <m.lenz at rrh.org> 
Posted-Date: Mon, 20 Dec 1999 21:06:24 -0800 (PST) 

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I'm back!  And as usual in my adventures, nothing went according to plan.

Got up to Salida where the D8 was parked about 3:00 on Saturday.  Great
drive up 99 through the heart of California agriculture!  Not too difficult
to find my Cat; Salida Blvd. is only about a mile long.  Went the wrong way
first, turned around, and there it was!  Not quite as pretty as it was in
the ebay pictures, but looking even bigger.

Found the crank and turned the starting engine to make sure it was free.
Didn't try and start the pony; I knew it needed some checkout first.
Removed the air cleaner and disassembled the carb.  Inline fuel filter had a
lot of rust in it, and so did the carb.  Fuel smelled fresh, though.  I
removed most of the jets and hosed the carb out with cleaner.  About that
time, one of the fellows who works at the trucking company showed up, and I
learned that it had only been about two months since they ran the Cat, not a
year as I had feared.  But he assured me that my task was hopeless.  One of
the owners of the trucking company showed up and we talked for a while.  He
told me that the carb was running very lean, but the three guys trying to
start the pony gave up before they got the adjustments dialled in.  I found
out later that they had brought a mechanic over from the local Cat service
center, and he too failed to get the pony started.

I put the carb back together and made sure that it was getting fuel.  It
wasn't perfect; the bowl gasket was broken and the main fuel needle valve
was badly scored, but it was the best I could do without more tools and a
carb kit.  Pulled the valve cover and made sure all four valves were free.
Tried cranking for a while, thought I might have heard one pop.
Decided to check ignition.  I had to use Channel-locks on the starting shaft
for the pony so that I could feel for the compression stroke on each
cylinder and then watch for spark.  Didn't see any.  Ran a new wire from the
mag and grabbed the other end of it in my fingers.  Turned the starting
crank, and my hand warmed right up!  The mag had plenty of spark.  What a
relief!  And although the rest of me was freezing, my fingers were now
toasty warm.  It was getting dark (and very cold and windy, so I removed the
spark plug leads and took them with me for testing.  Checked into a nearby
hotel, got some beer and burritos, and warmed up.  Spark plug wires were
wire core and tested out fine with my meter.

Sunday was a beautiful day.  Warm sunny, just the perfect day for Cat
fixin'!  Put the old spark plug leads back in place, hosed the spark plugs
off with carb cleaner, and went through my ignition test routine again.
Place fingers over spark plug hole, crank engine until you feel compression,
and holding spark plug tightly against a head bolt, watch carefully for
spark somewhere near TDC.  This time it was there.  Checked #2 cylinder; it
had spark also.  The governor idle latch was missing and somebody had
replaced it with a piece of heavy wire.  I bent it so that it held the
throttle just a little bit open.  I bet that the fellows who last tried to
start the pony didn't know about the idle latch and were trying to start the
pony with the throttle wide open.  No vacuum in carb that way....  Tidbits
like this are why you need the operator's and the shop manual.  I read both
very carefully, several times!

So it was time to try and start the pony motor.  I tried choking the carb
and cranking, but got no signs of life. Hmm.. I don't think it's getting
gas.  So I dumped the oil out of my oilcan.. the kind with the handle you
squeeze to squirt some oil.  Filled it with gasoline.  Squirted some in top
of carburetor.  Was rewarded almost immediately with pop from engine.
Continued that process for about an hour.. squirt, crank, pop.  Gradually
opened main and idle adjustments on carb to richen the mixture.  I did NOT
spin the crank!  Didn't relish the idea of driving home with a broken wrist.
Just brought it up against the compression stroke, and pulled it through
briskly.  The Cat pony motor is configured like a 2-cylinder John Deere;
Pop-pop-wheeze; it is not an even firing engine.  I saw a picture of the
crankshaft in the shop manual, but it didn't really sink in until I turned
the starting crank.  At first, I thought that compression was bad on one
cylinder.

Eventually I got the carb adjusted well enough to get two pops, then four,
and then I was able to run around and keep the pony running by applying lots
of choke.  Eureka!  Snatched up my ear muffs; that pony is loud.  Nursed it
along with the choke and got it warmed up, then adjusted main and idle jets
until it ran quite well.  Released the idle latch and readjusted the main
jet to let the pony rev up.

This message is getting pretty long... think I'll send this much and start
another.  Chapter two follows!

Karl Olmstead   <olmstead at ridgenet.net>

K&F Engineering     Ridgecrest, CA
Karl's Old Tractor Page:  <http://members.xoom.com/kolmstead>