woodnstuff.ca: Leveling

Leveling your engine

This one can cost you main bearings, which are a pain to change - watch out and make sure it doesn't happen to you!

My engine sets are usually mounted on 6 x 6 timbers with 1/2" steel plate on top of them. In the past this has not been a problem but in one case it did - the leveling of a 20/2 engine was not checked before first run. If a bit more attention had been paid it would have been noticed that the dipper on one side appeared to go further into the oil than the one on the other side, but that's just 100% hindsight...To make matters worse, this was the engine's first run and so the oil pump was not primed.

I think what happened in this case was that the concrete the engine was set up on was not level, resulting in a 1/2" difference in height from one side to the other. With an engine like the Listeroid, that small difference can result in oil not being thrown up onto the main bearing on the oil-poor side with catastrophic results.

This problem can easily be avoided by following a few easy steps - make sure you follow them and avoid having to take that darned Gib key out and removing a really heavy flywheel!

1) After you get the engine set in its place, put a level across the front and back of the frame - if it is not level, shim as necessary.

2) Fill the crankcase with the correct amount of oil, turn the engine by hand and make sure the dippers are going below the oil surface equally.

3) With the neat little oil can that came with your engine, go inside the crankcase and oil the main bearings and the connecting rod bearings - there are holes in the cranks for doing just that.

4) Take the top nut out the oil pump (or the gauge if that is what you have) and pre-prime the oil pump. Put the nut back but don't tighten it down - you will have to take it off again to refill the pump after the engine starts.

5) Start the engine and wait until it settles down to a normal speed. Take the oil pump nut out again and fill the hole with oil until it starts to bubble out - this may take a while, be patient and keep on filling. When the oil is spilling out, put the nut back in and tighten it down.

6) After a few minutes of running, loosen the nut again and check that oil is being pumped through - it will bubble up past the threads as you loosen the nut. If it does, tighten it back up, if not, take the nut out again and re-prime the pump.

Do those few things and you will avoid having to replace bearings, but if you do have a problem, I carry spares!