Messages

Bob, I've ended up with a lot of unwanted junk because some people don't want to pay the price for parts for an old machine. When you bring me a gas trimmer that cost 70 dollars new, and it needs a 45 dollar coil module with 15 dollars labor, most people would just tell me to keep it for parts, and they would go buy another new one. I had 7 old trimmers that I put out when we had a garage sale, and priced them at free to a good home, and 1 guy took all of them. LOL. Most people have no idea what is involved in repairing mechanical equipment.

Bob, Been there, Done that. Up until a year ago, I worked 7 days a week for G.M. as an Industrial Truck Mechanic. I also did small engine repair work at home. I would come home from work at 7am and get started in the garage and work for about 4 hours. I never charged enough money for labor, so I was way busier than I really wanted to be. The local shops are getting about 50 dollars an hour for this type of labor. I felt guilty charging people 15 dollars an hour. Because of G.M. closing our plant, I took my retirement and left. I now work part time delivering parts for our local NAPA store. I still get requests to repair a lot of stuff for friends and relatives. How the heck are you going to charge your relatives for doing a small job for them ? I don't have a problem with charging them for parts, but they seem to expect me to provide labor for free. Oh Well, I guess I will never get rich with that attitude. My Dad told me one time, that I needed to learn to say, No. LOL.

When I worked for G.M. in Mansfield, Ohio, we had a D5 and a 955 Cat, that we ran with rubber pads. We used the rubber pads because we used both machines inside on concrete floors. Both Cats were used to pull large loads of press parts during installation of presses or when presses were relocated. Sometimes in the winter, the Cats were used for snow removal in the parking lots. This was hard on the pads as they would wear quickly with a lot of turning during snow plowing. Turning quickly on an abrasive surface would tear the rubber loose from the steel pad under the rubber. If you are going to use a rubber set of pads on your Cletrac, I recommend being careful when turning on an abrasive surface like asphalt or concrete. You shouldn't have much trouble on grass or turf, except for limited traction in muddy or wet conditions. If you use your Cletrac a lot, be prepared to change rubber pads a lot and keep a few spares handy in case you ruin a pad.

I guess there are different opinions on whether to run an engine out of gas or leave gas in the carb. I have worked on small engines for 20+ years and have found  to my own personal opinion that I have better luck with seasonal storage if I leave gas in the tanks and carbs. I always run Stabil all year long so maybe that makes a difference. For extended storage, like several years, yes you would be better off draining the system. Some fuel, if drained out of the carb. leaves a dry residue in the float bowl as the fuel drys up. I don't like to see the diaphrams get dry and shrink up on some small engines with diaphram carbs. Right now I have an engine on the bench that had fuel in the tank for 8+ years, and it is a mess, so yes ,sometimes it is great to run the engine dry.

I personally don't like to run a carb. out of gas. You might try using a gasoline stabilizer, like Stabil. I run it all year long in all my outdoor power equipment. I mix it at 2oz. to 5gal of gas. You may try running a hotter heat range on the plugs to help with the fouling problem. Make sure you have the right plugs for your engine first, then you could step up a heat range and try them. Fouling can have several causes, such as worn piston rings or worn valve guides or valve seals. It would be a good idea to do a compression check and see if the rings are worn. Also make sure that your ignition system is in good working order. I don't know if you have a magneto or a battery ignition system on that engine. If you have a battery ignition, check to be sure you are getting good voltage to the coil and distributer. Do you have a coil with built in resistance, or are you using an external ballast resister?

Yeah, but there is water in the head. If the head gasket is blown, water can leak down past the rings and contaminate the oil.

See if there are any numbers on the generator, and what kind it is. Napa should be able to locate the proper brush set from the generator numbers. Make sure that you polarize the system any time you unhook anything in the charging system. Napa can cross reference a lot of OEM numbers to the NAPA number. Do you have a wiring diagram for the charging system? Check continuity on all the wiring to the regulator and generator and the AMP guage and the on-off switch.

I would recommend setting the relief valve down to the end and gradually increasing the relief setting until it will raise the bucket but not over tight. Make sure there is no dirt blocking the relief valve or the ports. Do you know what the pump is rated at? Check the relief valve spring, if it is broken, someone may have screwed the relief valve way in to get enough pressure to work the machine.

If you can get at it, shoot some Brakleen in there, it will help remove any oil or grease on the friction plates. It may take a couple of cans to get it clean.

Sounds to me like that NAPA store needs to hire some counter people that really want to help people. Our local NAPA store will bend over backward to help with anything they can. If it's not on the computer, they will dig into the paper catalogs. I have even had them offer to call a competitor for different things if they could not get the part. I don't know why they wanted to charge to order parts, but I have never had to pay extra for anything I ordered.

Sounds fuel related. Check the fuel tank and make sure that fuel is always flowing to the filters and pump. I ran across this years ago on a Continental gas engine. it would run allright for a few minutes, then slow down and quit.  While checking the fuel supply, I noticed that there was trash in the tank that was floating around and closing off the fuel line. I removed the tank, drained it and cleaned out the garbage. Ran fine after that. Also, is the fuel tank vented by the fuel tank cap? If it is supposed to be vented and the vent is plugged, it will only run for a little while and then quit. This creates a vacumn in the tank and won't allow fuel to flow.

Our local NAPA store has 3 Countermen with over 30 years of experience each. I agree the online catalog does leave something to be desired. Most part stores are automotive related only. Napa has always handled most of the industrial accounts in our area. Things have changed a lot over the years, not always for the good. Most part stores are run on a shoestring budget and it can be hard to keep good employees with a lot of knowledge. Napa still has their paper catalogs available to help with hard to find items that aren't always on the computer. As equipment gets older, parts are going to be harder to find. Take Cletracs for example, the last one was built in the mid 60s. That is over 40 years ago. It can even be hard to find auto parts for a 40 year old car. Supplies of New Old Stock are bound to run out someday.

For some reason, some people tend to overlook their local NAPA store. NAPA has availability on a lot of industrial parts and agricultural parts. If the desired part is not in stock, they have resourses to call upon. They can check any NAPA warehouse in the country or check with the manufacturer. I am restoring a 1969 Ford Torino and have found a lot of parts through my local NAPA store.

Try your local NAPA store. They should be able to look it up by size. Get as close as you can on the measurements, including width. If they don't have it in stock, ask if they can order it for you. Take what remains of the old seal with you to the parts store.

Give your local NAPA store a try. Ask the Counter Sales Person to let you look at the Lighting Catalog. There should be something in the catalog that will work. If they don't have them in stock, they should be able to order them from the warehouse or the manufacturer. PS. I work for NAPA.