Recent content by lbrac

If a little is good, then more is better. It's the American way. Applies to many things, like sealant, grease, oil level, premixing oil and gas, sharpening a mower blade, tire pressure, tightening a bolt, etc. I'm sure you can fill in the blanks.

I've had a ring trapped by carbon in the piston groove cause the piston/cylinder to score when combustion gases pass into the lower end of the engine. Carbon can clog the spark arrestor screen and plug the exhaust. The fuel cap vent can not vent the tank when the fuel is drawn from it, causing a...

I took auto mechanics out of high school over 55 years ago. We had an Autolite rep come in for a day or two to discuss their products, and mechanics in general. He had worked in the industry for many years and had a lot of stories to tell. He also told us they contracted for their products from...

I usually try to use the excuse that my head jumped time. Most people don't know what that means anyway, and if they do, they can usually empathize.

If the hose is too short or the wall thickness is too thin, or both, it would be more prone to kinking. It is exposed to vacuum/pressure as the piston cycles up/down, causing the crankcase/cylinder volume to fluctuate.

If the exhaust pipe intake in the out building isn't near the exhaust discharge of the generator, it might help to reroute it to catch the exhaust as it leaves the gen's exhaust discharge point. An inline fan mounted as far away from the exhaust pipe intake (to reduce the temperature of the...

It's been years since I used the type of spark plug cap (Sparky, if I recall correctly) in your picture on my dirt bikes. As I recall, I lubed the wire insulation with motor oil and stuck in into the small end of the cap until it bottomed at the 90 deg. turn. I then used needle nose pliers to...

I worked as an industrial maintenance manager for years. When equipment failure caused production stoppage (most often from operator error), production personnel wanted to know how long to get it operational. I would estimate how long I thought it should take and then tell them double that time...

Does #2 cylinder miss at all rpm ranges? Idling or gradually revving through the rpm range while sitting still; riding while coasting or under different loads/power levels? If it misses only at a certain rpm range or loads/power levels, it might help identify which fuel circuit in the carb is at...

Manual 2-stroke compression releases were used for braking, when the drum brakes back then would wear out in one enduro, sometimes before it was over. Disc brakes solved that problem.

I would expect the tolerance to be in percentage, or linearly, in proportion to the length of the belt. If a 3" variation in length for the same part number (3.14% in this case; a 50" belt would be 6%) is the best the manufacturer can hold, they need to get out of the v-belt business. Maybe...

Brand loyalty would likely be dependent on experience with similar equipment of a particular brand. Once an owner has a bad experience with a previously trusted brand, trust is eroded and justifies a close look at other brands.

If nothing else is available, spray can chain lube goes on as a thin liquid to penetrate into the side plates, rollers and pins. The carrier solvent then evaporates to leave lube the consistency of tacky grease that doesn't sling out of the chain. Should work on suspension components if you can...

Much of the used oil is fired in cement kilns and other fired equipment that can get complete combustion of the waste oil. Gasoline and other combustibles in the oil are not an issue for these types of equipment.

Many years ago, when things were simpler, and much less technical, it was known that Quaker State brand engine oils were refined from paraffin based crude oils from PA. Most other engine oils at the time were asphaltic based. When wet clutches that were lubricated by engine oil were using...