motoyhomme Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 Saturday I was getting ready to take my dog to the groomer. I always use the Sunrader for the 10 mile trip one way and sit in the parking lot waiting for the groomer to call. It beats driving over and back and then 2 to 4 hours later driving back to pick him up, also it gets me away from the honey-do list for awhile. Anyway, upon starting the engine I noticed a new noise that almost sounded like a compression leak. The old 22R had always been silent when running, almost too quiet. While looking around I noticed gasoline leaking from the mechanical fuel pump that sits near the top of the engine. I shut it down of course and used another vehicle for the trip. Upon returning, I verified that the leak was coming from the weep hole on the pump. I removed the pump and put on my spare pump (I always carry a spare fuel pump, water pump, radiator hoses, belts, headlight, and all other lights). That fixed the problem with the leak but not the sound. Upon returning with the dog, I stopped and picked up a valve cover gasket set. I then proceeded to heat up the engine and did a valve adjustment. I was able to turn the engine with a large wrench and socket to TDC with spark plugs still in place. The valves that should have been shut had either half the recommended clearances or none at all. After setting all of the valves. I tried to turn the engine again with the socket and it wouldn't budge when it came to the compression stroke. The engine started easily, the compression leak noise was gone, but I did have a little tapping sound from the valves until the engine started heating up again. The road test showed that I had more power and could run at 65 without the pedal pressed to the metal....Happy again! Allen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 I would HIGHLY recommend changing your oil like right away! You most likely have a fair amount of gasoline in the sump. I don't think it has any thing to do with your tapping but gas is a pretty poor lubricant. Usually when the pumps go like that they leak gas into the engine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gulfstream Greg Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 I had a Fiat 850 sport coupe racer with a sweet 11 to 1 compression ratio, it was fast and got high 40's gas millage. I let my girlfriend drive it and she says to me there has been white smoke coming from the exhaust for the last couple of days. The fuel pump had done what yours has done and killed the motor. BLAH I think if the valves are adjusted right they should be noisy as it is warming up. At operating temp the clearances should be at specs then. I am not an expert though. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motoyhomme Posted January 13, 2009 Author Share Posted January 13, 2009 Sorry guys, I forgot to add that I did do an oil and filter change at the same time as the other work, mainly because I didn't think about the gas in the sump but rather I was already dirty and it was about time to change the oil so what the hey.....but now I and others are alert to the fact about what can happen, thanks again. Greg, you're right about the tapping sound, there should be a little on startup and then go away and that's what it does now. I would have checked the compression but I'm in the process of packing everything getting ready to move from Virginia to Tennessee and I didn't have my guages handy. That's why I went ahead and did a valve adjustment because I did have a few basic tools I carry in the Sunrader. Allen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 Good I'm glad you changed the oil makes me feel better I too have seen a few engines ruined by gasoline. I bought a 2 year old car for $500 with a trashed engine and a bad fuel pump was nice and clean inside though when I rebuilt it! Drained maybe 2 gallons out of it. By the way your valves .010 in and .020 ex adjusted hot if they are compleatly quiet they are too tight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motoyhomme Posted January 14, 2009 Author Share Posted January 14, 2009 On my 83 22R engine the spec called for .008 in and .012 out hot. Prior to setting them they mostly checked at .000 and every where between that and .005. I had never adjusted them before on the Sunrader because it seemed to run pretty good. I've owned it for 4 years and I know the previous owner used to take it to a shop for any kind of maintenance work. So I suppose in 4 years or more time the valve adjustment could change on it's own but the lock nuts were extremely tight. However it still ran good and idled perfectly that it almost seemed to have hydraulic valves, it was so quiet. I guess it was right at that point where it was about to flip over to rough running. If I hadn't opened the hood to listen to the engine I may never have spotted the gas leak and could have lost the engine or worse, the entire camper in a fire. Allen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WME Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 On most engines the valve lash increases as time goes on. On a 22R they decrease as things wear. The clearance should hold for 30,000 mi or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 I have seen shops adjust valves like they were hyd. take all the clearance out of them. They are quiet but they ain't right. If valves are too tight it makes valve timing early too loose valve timing will be late. It is probably one of the most over looked parts of a proper tune up. Of course if they are cold and too tight you will have valves hanging open when it warms up not a good thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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