Running on 5 in a 6 Cylinders Flathead Engine
May 30, 2017 | 03:47 AM
#1
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Running on 5 in a 6 Cylinders Flathead Engine
On a vintage 6-226 SuperHurricane Willys, 6 inline flathead engine, the number 3 cylinder is not working.
Three related questions to for the moment address the issue.
• How may I block the gas from coming into the firing chamber (no injectors technology)
• Should I disconnect the distributor cable to the N.3 spark plug?
• Is it possible to change the firing order so the engine runs better balanced and smoothly?
Thank You all.
Three related questions to for the moment address the issue.
• How may I block the gas from coming into the firing chamber (no injectors technology)
• Should I disconnect the distributor cable to the N.3 spark plug?
• Is it possible to change the firing order so the engine runs better balanced and smoothly?
Thank You all.
May 30, 2017 | 05:50 AM
#2
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Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 748
Likes: 135
From: St. Louis MO
First off, wrong forum? Lol, wildly so. Try some place like http://www.oldwillysforum.com
Secondly - before spending effort to disable a cylinder, what about fixing it? Why is it not firing? You need 3 thrings, compression, fuel, and spark. Figure out which is missing, and why, and fix it.
On to your specific questions:
1) How do you block gas? With carbs, the only way is to prevent the intake valve from opening. This is a bit easier on an OHV engine, just take out the pushrod. But on a flathead? Not as easy. The valves sit down in the block, and they ride directly against the tappet. You might be able to remove the tappet - but you'd need to ensure that doesn't affect the oiling in the head. On most older engines like that the tappets themselves are not directly oil fed - they just get oil trickled and splashed around in the block. But if the tappet bore hole in the block has a small oil feed hole, removing the tappet could allow the oil to pour out there and not adequately lube the other tappets. But if you do that, the intake valve will remain shut, and no gas or air will flow into the cylinder.
2) Disconnecting the spark plug wire? If you disable the intake valve, it won't make any difference, but it's probably better to leave it attached. When the coil fires for #3, it makes a high voltage pulse, and it will want to go somewhere. If you unhook the wire, the spark will try to go somewhere, and could start jumping 'sideways' in the distributor cap or rotor. This can create carbon tracks that will stubbornly continue to conduct sparks in the wrong direction if the wire is replaced. If you feel like taking the wire off, just ground it to the body or engine somewhere.
3) Can the firing order be changed? No, this is mechanically built into the engine. First and foremost by the arrangement of the crankshaft throws - the pistons simply move up and down in certain orders. To change this you'd need a custom built crankshaft - and you'd still need to keep the mechanical balance of the spinning components in mind. Secondly, if the crankshaft creates pairs of cylinders that move up and down together (an inline 4 cylinder, for example, has two pairs of cylinders moving up and down together) the firing order between the pairs is determined by the camshaft - one of the pairs will be going through the intake/compression cycles while the other is going through the combustion/exhaust cycles. So you could swap those cylinders around with a custom ground camshaft. None of that, however, is of any use to you in trying to get a 6 cylinder to run more smoothly on 5 cylinders.
Basically, all three of those ideas are horrible kludges, and should not be done unless it's a matter of walking 100 miles out of the desert or driving in a poorly running truck. Since you're posting from civilization (internet connection available) just fix the problem correctly and drive something else until you get that done.
Secondly - before spending effort to disable a cylinder, what about fixing it? Why is it not firing? You need 3 thrings, compression, fuel, and spark. Figure out which is missing, and why, and fix it.
On to your specific questions:
1) How do you block gas? With carbs, the only way is to prevent the intake valve from opening. This is a bit easier on an OHV engine, just take out the pushrod. But on a flathead? Not as easy. The valves sit down in the block, and they ride directly against the tappet. You might be able to remove the tappet - but you'd need to ensure that doesn't affect the oiling in the head. On most older engines like that the tappets themselves are not directly oil fed - they just get oil trickled and splashed around in the block. But if the tappet bore hole in the block has a small oil feed hole, removing the tappet could allow the oil to pour out there and not adequately lube the other tappets. But if you do that, the intake valve will remain shut, and no gas or air will flow into the cylinder.
2) Disconnecting the spark plug wire? If you disable the intake valve, it won't make any difference, but it's probably better to leave it attached. When the coil fires for #3, it makes a high voltage pulse, and it will want to go somewhere. If you unhook the wire, the spark will try to go somewhere, and could start jumping 'sideways' in the distributor cap or rotor. This can create carbon tracks that will stubbornly continue to conduct sparks in the wrong direction if the wire is replaced. If you feel like taking the wire off, just ground it to the body or engine somewhere.
3) Can the firing order be changed? No, this is mechanically built into the engine. First and foremost by the arrangement of the crankshaft throws - the pistons simply move up and down in certain orders. To change this you'd need a custom built crankshaft - and you'd still need to keep the mechanical balance of the spinning components in mind. Secondly, if the crankshaft creates pairs of cylinders that move up and down together (an inline 4 cylinder, for example, has two pairs of cylinders moving up and down together) the firing order between the pairs is determined by the camshaft - one of the pairs will be going through the intake/compression cycles while the other is going through the combustion/exhaust cycles. So you could swap those cylinders around with a custom ground camshaft. None of that, however, is of any use to you in trying to get a 6 cylinder to run more smoothly on 5 cylinders.
Basically, all three of those ideas are horrible kludges, and should not be done unless it's a matter of walking 100 miles out of the desert or driving in a poorly running truck. Since you're posting from civilization (internet connection available) just fix the problem correctly and drive something else until you get that done.
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