I had a con rod fail on my B43M about 5 years ago, I did exactly what you are planning to do and it is still running fine.
I screwed up...
Picked up an Ingersoll 446 a couple of months back, with a pressing need to snowblow my driveway, and cut my grass. Bought as running, but running roughly.
Over the past couple of months, I've gone through and fixed about a hundred things (new coil, new condenser, valves adjusted, wiring repaired, clutch adjusted, fins cleaned, carb rebuilt, fuel pump rebuilt, fuel lines replaced, snowcaster repaired & chute painted, timing adjusted, throttle lever repaired, breather cleaned, intake manifold sealed)
This is where the screw up happened: Checked the oil, and it seemed to high. I siphoned some out. At the time, I didn't know about the oil tube creating a vacuum and reading higher. I also didn't realize that the dip stick can be pushed in past the crimp, and read higher.
Fast forward to engine finally running well, pushing it through some heavy snow. Bang. No compression on right side cylinder. Pulled head off, piston not moving. Suspect con rod is busted, caused by lack of oil.
I would love some guidance on next steps. My game plan is to pull the engine off the frame, open her up, and check the damage. If not too bad, will replace the con rod, put new rings on both sides, hone, de-carbon everything, and put back together. Does that seem reasonable? I don't want this to become more of a project than it needs to be, so looking for the minimum viable solution to getting this machine back up and running.
Edit: Engine is a B43M, no oil filter.
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Over the past couple of months, I've gone through and fixed about a hundred things (new coil, new condenser, valves adjusted, wiring repaired, clutch adjusted, fins cleaned, carb rebuilt, fuel pump rebuilt, fuel lines replaced, snowcaster repaired & chute painted, timing adjusted, throttle lever repaired, breather cleaned, intake manifold sealed)
This is where the screw up happened: Checked the oil, and it seemed to high. I siphoned some out. At the time, I didn't know about the oil tube creating a vacuum and reading higher. I also didn't realize that the dip stick can be pushed in past the crimp, and read higher.
Fast forward to engine finally running well, pushing it through some heavy snow. Bang. No compression on right side cylinder. Pulled head off, piston not moving. Suspect con rod is busted, caused by lack of oil.
I would love some guidance on next steps. My game plan is to pull the engine off the frame, open her up, and check the damage. If not too bad, will replace the con rod, put new rings on both sides, hone, de-carbon everything, and put back together. Does that seem reasonable? I don't want this to become more of a project than it needs to be, so looking for the minimum viable solution to getting this machine back up and running.
Edit: Engine is a B43M, no oil filter.
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Update, I got it apart and inspected the damage.
Good:
I'll contact boomer to arrange for parts. Would it be foolish to attempt removing the aluminum from the crank in-situ with muriatic or lye? Figure I could soak a rag in it, and wrap it around the crank journal?
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Good:
- Cylinder bore looks good
- Engine case is good
- Oil tube is good
- Con rod gone
- Piston damaged
- Aluminum smeared onto the crank
I'll contact boomer to arrange for parts. Would it be foolish to attempt removing the aluminum from the crank in-situ with muriatic or lye? Figure I could soak a rag in it, and wrap it around the crank journal?
Greats
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