Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

I don't really need another project this winter but could anyone tell me if this BCS tiller is worth putting some time into? Right now all I know is that the cylinder in the italian (Acme) 8hp engine does not seem to move at all. There is what smells like diesel fuel on the top of the cylinder when you pull the sparkplug.  I checked the reviews on this web page and the new models seem to have satisfied owners.  I don't really need the snowblower part that came with it. Just the tiller. Any thoughts/comments/concerns are welcome. If you know the vintage of the unit that would be of interest to me.  The tires have a few very small cracks (where the wheels sat for a long time without much air)  but nothing that would concern me.  I don't have any information from the previous owner other than it's been in the family a long time, sat in a barn in VT, and the engine is siezed up.  It uses one of those oil bath air filters.  It has three forward speeds and one speed reverse. Would an inexpensive chinese (honda knockoff) 8hp bolt right on?

If it's a gasoline powered engine and it smells like diesel fuel, there's a good chance that the piston seized and someone poured diesel fuel into it to free the piston.  In all likelihood, the engine is probably irreparable.  However, that does not rule out the potential for the rest of the machine.  Being as rugged as they are, and from appearance in the picture, the rest of the unit might just be a diamond in the rough.  If I were you, I'd get in touch with Small Engine Warehouse ( http://www.smallenginewarehouse.com/ProductList.asp ) and put a new engine on that thing. 

Jonathan wrote:

Really? A diesel engine?  It has a spark plug so maybe this one runs on gas (I don't see any fuel injectors). But engine has a written reference on the side for what looks like an engine oil and transmission oil spec?  It says " 30 SAE Diesel and 40 SAE Diesel."  Much of the writing on the machine is in Italian.  Is "diesel" just another word for "oil" in Italy? When an engine siezes up what has happened? Is it just rust? I have seen engines with little or no compression but never a siezed cylinder. Does it just rust in place from sitting too long?  The BCS came from a barn in Vermont where is sat for a long time. It looks to me like someone has recently been tinkering with it.  There's lots of plastic on it here and there so I don't think its a dinorsaur.  I wish I had more to go on.  Thanks for the bcs web link.

Guess it's a diesel? Shows you how much I know. This might explain why the cylinder is siezed up, there's definitely gas (I'm not that bad) in the gas tank. 

Did I mention that the tires look pretty good.

 

NO.... it is not a diesel diesels don't have sparkplugs ( unless they are made to start on gas first to warm them up like my fathers IH bulldozer),  that placard is telling you what type of oil to run in what climate...

Everything is fixable,   more than likely the drive is in gear or the blades are engaged.. and you can not turn it over.  Those are very durable units.  even if it is (froze up they sell oversize pistons and ring sets for the motors, someone could have set it on its side and locked up the motor with engien oil...

Just start toubleshooting....

Let us know.

Friiy

This is what I found on a year or so ago on these motors....

http://webbsfarmsupplies.com/Acme_Motors.html

they have some good info resource.

With luck,

Friiy

With some help from the board, I found this code buried under crud on the side of the unit:
 BCS 712 7B
*55159*
DGM1471
MA 0M
Now I have no clue what these numbers mean but I think that the 712 is the model number. (Update: No these numbers mean nothing. The BCS is a model 715 produced in the late 70's or early 80's.)  And the numbers between the stars (*) is a serial number.
The clutch has some issue. It does not move when I squeeze the handle.  

HAve you taken the plug out yet?   I am wondering if there is rust on it.. ( the inside electrode... that is )

Have you checked to see if it is out of gear yet ?

Friiy

friiy wrote:

Friiy you are on a lucky streak.  Yes it was stuck in gear. It spins freely now  (maybe a little too freely?).  Hard to say how much compression but it does spin. I pulled the plug and sucked out some of the fluid that was in there. I took a small baby food jar of this fluid to my local auto parts store and they said it is  "Marvel Mystery Oil."  That stuff has a  strange yet familiar smell (kerosene?) and is not diesel as I had first suspected.  I wire brushed the plug but there was no rust  on it just the normal crud (not white or grey) and the plug also had some of the Mystery oil on it.   I have not found the electrode yet., nor do I know what one is.  Working on this motor is a little like working in the dark with all the  Italian. and the symbols on the choke, throttle and fuel valve have me completely baffled. My first impression of the Acme engine is that it is (or at least once was) very well constructed and  the  design leaves little to be desired. The pull starter is very beefy, the starter cord is made of  steel cable, and most of the moving parts seem made to last a long time.  Tommorrow I'm going to follow down some leads (thanks)  and track down an owner's manual and service manual. 

Have you determined if it's a diesel or gasoline engine?   Personally, being trained many, many,  years ago as a diesel mechanic, I don't recall seeing any diesles with a spark plug.  Usually they are equipped with glow plugs which are much different than a spark plug. 

You may want to start  putting some of that liquid wrench on the nuts/ bolts of the blower housing and carb mounting hardware....they seem a little rusty. 

The electrode is the tip of the spark plug that the spark jumps across....If it is rusty,  the motor may have had water in it or sat outside without running for quite a bit.

Start by draining the bowl on the carb,   see what comes out.... (water, rust, oil, bugs, dead mouse)

drain the tank...

make sure it has oil in it.... don't worry about changing it at this point..

with the unit in the off/ stop positon and the plug wire grounded to the frame.       Pull the motor over with the rewind and blow all that marval mystery oil out of the motor top end into a rag or something..  The piston will shoot that stuff out the plug hole like a spray bottle.  

Clean the plug with a squirt of carb cleaner and reinstall it.. Put the plug wire back on.

As you may have heard the motor only needs---spark , fuel and compression to run....

To make sure all of these are within limits for operation, this is a what I do to troubleshoot... ( do this outside)

1) Take the air cleaner off and dribble about eight to ten drops of gas in the intake to the carb..

2)  Take the engine control and place it in the start/ run postion..

3)  Try to start the engine with the pullstart (pull it about 3 times)

  B) If the engine does nothing , try a little more gas and try  to  pull start again...(only do this a few times, you do not want to cause a fire hazzard by unburned fuel collecting in the muffler and engine)

4) Did the engine pop and fire off?  If so the compression is good enough to run and it has spark.... If not it may have deeper issues spark or compression,  and you troubleshoot accordingly ..

The carb is always the first to go, it requires the most maintenance... The spark and the compression are most likely good...( solid state ignition and you have to wear out or abuse a moter to ruin compression, and that takes time )

The story most people tell with broken equipment is " It ran fine,  then next time I tried to use it,   it would not start... " ..   Not..." I was using it and it blew up  or it stopped running and would not restart."....   See where I am going with this...

Sometimes I will sit and bottle feed the engine by dripping gas in the motor.   A sample hair shampoo or dish soap bottles or a little "one shot 2 stoke oil bottle with a hole in the lid filled with gas works well ( Keep big cans of gas away from the motor running or not)..   

I do all this before I go rebuilding or cleaning a  carb on a engine I may not want to fix....

Good Luck.

Friiy