Major engine trouble?

[CaptCanadia]

Sorry about the long description I just didnt want to miss any vital info. I put a list at the end if you dont want to read it.

Well over the past couple of days my engine has progressively declined. Two days ago I was out on the kart with my friend and I looked back to notice it was starting to puff little amounts of blue smoke every once in a while. Yesterday I was out on the kart with the same friend and on the way back it started to really blow blue smoke and it was experiencing random power losses. When we got home we did some work and came back to check it out and now it was really hard to start and when it finally got going there was a blue cloud behind me and I had to floor it to keep it going. On top of that it was randomly shutting down. It would sound like it died and then all of a sudden roar back to life. I took the carb off and cleaned it and now it wont start. Any ideas?

-progressivly thickening blue smoke
-random power losses that increased in severity with the blue smoke
-hard to start-wont start

 

[klicky96]

Sounds like it is choking itself. You may want to check your float. It might be hard to start because it is flooding itself. I had a problem like this. What I had to do actually was completely clean all of the breather holes for my carb. What engine are you working with here?

 

[CaptCanadia]

I already thought of this and cleaned everything really good but it was already very clean..It's a 6.5 Greyhound Honda clone and it's a little over a year old.

 

[r_chez_08]

Blue smoke indicates burning oil. Can be because of damaged/ worn rings, piston and/or bore. Can also be a head gasket problem or worn valve guides.
Have you recently topped up the oil? ovefilling can cause blue smoke too.

 

[slideways]

I was going to say overfilled too.

 

[CaptCanadia]

Maybe, it is topped off..but would that stop it from starting and stalling like that?

 

[r_chez_08]

Possibly. I would make sure it is in the middle of the dipstick, what motor?

If you have access to a compression tester that would tell you if your rings, cylinder, gasket and valve guides are good.

 

[CaptCanadia]

Well thanks i'll give it a try when it stops raining so hard. The engine description is above and the pull starter is hard to pull as it always has been if that means anything.

 

[r_chez_08]

the only other thing I can think of is oil in the gas. Apart from that, I don't know.

 

[OzFab]

The fact that it's getting worse with use & it coincides with power loss I'd say your rings are gone. Check compression to confirm.

 

[LARRY MARSH]

If you could help me.. i have a new harbor freight 6.5.. i have only run 1 tank of gas thru it,, run perfect,, I run out of gas, did a refill now it wont idel, and when i slide it to run, it stops,, idels ruff, etcc..i dont understand it.

the fuel from the first fill up came out of the second fill up container..

any suggestions how i can fix this..

 

[CaptCanadia]

Larry post your own thread in the engines section of the forum you can get much better help that way.

Well the rain has finally passed so ill drain some of the oil tomorrow and see if I can even get it to start. If not ill do a compression test and hopefully the rings are okay. I didnt know rings could wear that fast on an engine but well see. Thanks for the help as always guys!

 

[OzFab]

I didnt know rings could wear that fast on an engine but well see

Neither did I but, if it's a chinese clone, you never know...

 

[anderkart]

If not ill do a compression test and hopefully the rings are okay.

If you spin your clone engine over in the normal direction, its compression release will cause extremely low test readings even on a perfectly good engine. You'll need to spin your engine backwards to get an accurate compression test.

 

[CaptCanadia]

Thanks for all the help guys. I think i found out what the problem was. The spark plug. I didnt guess this because i just cleaned it about a week ago and i hadnt cleaned it ever before that. It wasnt that bad when i cleaned it but now it is clogged with carbon. What is that about?

 

[kendelrk]

Carbon indicates a very rich mixture

 

[CaptCanadia]

I just got a new plug and drove it down the street and back and when I got back I started adjusting the carb to get the right idle and I noticed it started puffing blue smoke again. I took the plug out and it was a dark brown black color. So does that mean it's running rich or burning oil? Or both?

 

[OzFab]

I just got a new plug and drove it down the street and back and when I got back I started adjusting the carb to get the right idle and I noticed it started puffing blue smoke again. I took the plug out and it was a dark brown black color. So does that mean it's running rich or burning oil? Or both?

White deposits usually indicates burning oil, dark brown and/or wet plug means it's too rich. Under normal conditions your plug should be a light brown colour.

The extra smoke is from the extra fuel being burned; adjusting the mixture should stop that.

Adjusting your idle won't change the mixture. Have a look at your carb; there should be a screw in the side somewhere (it varies depending on carby), screw it IN a bit to lean out the mixture.

 

[r_chez_08]

Have a look at this-

 

[CaptCanadia]

The old plug looked like the carbon one but it was loaded with carbon and everything was gunked up and the plug was plugged so it wouldnt fire. The new one was a blacky color and the plug was also wet. So how do I make it run leaner? Where is this screw im suppose to adjust?