Home › Forum › Ask A Member › 1956 Oliver 5.5 hp won’t start
- This topic has 36 replies, 10 voices, and was last updated 9 years, 3 months ago by
jerry-ahrens.
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September 29, 2016 at 7:59 pm #44944
Squirting gas/oil directly into the cylinders via the spark plugs and it wont fire? same for squirting fuel/oil mix thru the carb opening with the butterfly opened?
Here is an off the wall question????? Don’t ask cuz I won’t tell ya how I know, but are the plug wires crossed?? Yes I have done that and no it did not backfire thru the carb like I thought it would… And yes it was on a Bendix ignition….
Cheers
Richard
http://www.richardsoutboardtools.com
classicomctools@gmail.comSeptember 29, 2016 at 10:08 pm #44948Mumbles, thanks for the link. They have the 3/8" Welsh plugs that I could have used today!
Wish they had a "variety pack" of Welsh plugs for sale. Will have to figure out
the most common sizes in the outboard world and get some on hand.Richard, In one of my long rambling post I mentioned I tried switching spark
plug wires around. That was not my problem, but I was hoping it was!After making a new gasket / washer for the low speed dip tube, etc.,
I tried it out again today. It showed signs of life right away, but after pulling
on it for 1/2 hour, the longest I got it to run was about 10 seconds 🙁
The reed block O-ring Frank mentioned seems okay. When the carb is tightened
the O-ring is compressed to about 1/2 of it’s diameter, and isn’t rolled / squashed
out of place.
I tried every combination of throttle opening and spark advance there was.
Tomorrow I will re-visit the compression and see if ya’ll think it’s enough.
My Chris Craft (with the same power head) runs great, but I think it had a little
more compression. Also, I may switch carbs with the Chris Craft and see what
happens.Prepare to be boarded!
September 29, 2016 at 11:07 pm #44952If you do pull the carb back off again, try putting the reed plate back on without the o-ring, just to see how far it has to go in to hit bottom. I’m telling you it has to go all the way in, still assuming it is the same as a Chris-Craft. Once you determine how far that is, you can judge how thick an o-ring it needs.
I suspect you are barking up the wrong tree, worrying about the idle circuit. even if the idle circuit is totally obstructed, it should start and run at high speed, just not idle.
And you are sure the ignition is ok, right?
September 30, 2016 at 1:34 am #44962Frank, I know that the new o-ring and old are very close in diameter
as I looked at both today. When the carb is tightened, and o-ring
compressed, the reed flange to power head gap is 1-1/2 mm or less.
When not compressed, the gap was 3 mm. I really don’t think one
could have an o-ring in there and have the gap any less.
I will take the cowls off the Chris Craft tomorrow and compare,
and switch carbs if all else fails.
I have brand new "Outboard Jim’s" Scintilla coils and condensers.
Spark sure looked good at the plugs, but I did not try an air-gap
spark test. Not sure what’s air gap jump is normal for this type
magneto, are you?
Hopefully I’ll have better news tomorrow!
ThanksPrepare to be boarded!
September 30, 2016 at 2:07 am #44965Those Bendix coils should easily jump a 1/4 inch air gap. At least they do on both of my CC Commanders.
September 30, 2016 at 3:03 pm #44977When I brought the Oliver home I checked the compression.
I remember it was somewhat lower than the Chris Craft with
the same power head, but thought it was satisfactory, so I
didn’t check the power head any further before sinking a
bunch of money in the lower unit, coils, etc.
After pulling on it for two days and not running for longer
than 10 seconds, I thought I better recheck compression.
I was disappointed to see that it only has 67 & 69 psi.
I was thinking it was in the 80’s initially, but perhaps that
was the Chris Craft. Could be that the previous owner
dumped some oil in the cylinders before selling and
that gave me higher readings, but I have no idea.
Is that way too low of compression for these engines?
Not sure if I should try the carb from the Chris Craft,
tear the power head apart, or just cut my losses before
I sink any more money into it 🙁
Thoughts?Prepare to be boarded!
September 30, 2016 at 7:09 pm #44982How about setting the powerhead up vertical so the head is on top and putting some penetrating oil in the cylinders. Make sure both pistons are at the same position in the cylinders first. Let soak for a day or two.
September 30, 2016 at 9:00 pm #44987John, that would be great if it’s just the rings lightly stuck.
Thanks for the idea!Prepare to be boarded!
October 2, 2016 at 11:07 pm #45073Update- It RUNS! I was going to try putting the carb from my good Running Chris Craft
on the Oliver (same basic block) but the Chris Craft Carb was too tall because it had
a sediment bulb on the bottom. I found a grimy Tillotson of similar design (but had to
run the throttle and mag advance independently of each other) in
a loose parts tub, cleaned it up, and bolted it on the Oliver. Primed up the
carb bowl, pulled it over, and it started and stayed running the first pull !
The motor has the original Oliver simple Simon fuel pump with just a thin
(new) diaphragm…. no springs, no mechanical check valves, etc. When idling,
it would die when the bowl ran out of gas (unless I pumped the primer)
but when running faster it would stay running on it’s own.
Frank mentioned that the reed block has to be seated all the way in to make
it run. I took the reed block off again and see that in the back of the reed block
is a tiny port that mates up to a tiny port in the center bearing / block,
when the reed block it tightened all the way.
There’s also a tiny port on the top and the bottom of the reed block.Are these ports for the three bearing drains?
If these tiny holes in the reed block and crankcase aren’t completely mated, would
that cause Old Ollie not to start?Next "go around" I’ll put the original carb back on and see what happens…
maybe as Frank says, the reed block wasn’t seated all the way in.Any reason a B&S fuel pump wouldn’t work on this engine?
It didn’t want to shift in reverse (did on the bench), but hopefully
it’s just a mater of adjustment.
All in all, it was good to see that it actually runs!Prepare to be boarded!
October 3, 2016 at 1:59 am #45089I believe that what Frank is saying is that reed block is machined so that the end of block seals with center main cap. If they don’t seal well, the crankcase pressure for each cylinder fights each other. One major principle of a 2 stroke is you need proper crankcase pressure.
As Frank said, take o-ring out and measure gap between intake flange and crankcase. With o-ring in place you need to achieve same gap.
I have seen these with and without gaskets in between end of reed block and center main.
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