Ditch Witch C99

[bigolpossum]

I hate to be "That Guy," but I would sure appreciate a copy of the manual. eric@weavercomm.com

I just got a C99 with a trailer for $600 off Facebook. I changed the oil, put a new spark plug in, and of course, no spark.

Further investigation revealed that the points were corroded to beat the band. New points ordered from ebay, hopefully I can get them installed next week and see if I can get this rascal up and running. I have a waterstove to install, amongst other projects!

 

[BeaconWoods]

Sent. Post up your progress here. Love to hear how it goes. I had a similar spark problem with mine. I also wound up defeating the safety switching stuff.

Happy trenching

Gary N.

 

[bigolpossum]

Gary, THANK YOU for the kind gift of the manual for my $600 no-spark C99!

Apparently I ordered the wrong points. Or the chinaman packing the box did. Who knows. But condenser oughta work. Wire up condenser, wire up new kill switch (Old one was jut a wire to twist to another wire shorted to ground)

File old points. Adjust gap to .015 like the book says. Won't stay adjusted. Screw is all the way in, still isn't holding points still. Put a little washer to give screw a little more thickness, works fine. Points are now adjusted right, filed straight. Gap new spark plug at .030 like the book says.

And for the big moment - Pull the rope. Guess what? We have spark! But no chug-chug-chug of combustion. Hmmm...

Further investigation revealed that the carb is dead. Gas is not getting through, nor is a snort of ether. Take carb off, it is one solid piece I guess from being out in the weather. The choke will move some, but the intake butterfly is frozen solid. Solid. Was going to rebuild it, but I might order a replacement updraft carb. With the carb off, a little spray of ether right into the intake got me a little combustion, which was what I was hoping for.

Leaky gas tanks removed and thrown in metal scrap trailer. New tank will be installed when I get carb situated.

Just another day at The Land of a Thousand Projects!

Photos show before and after, showing the new condenser, dressed-up wiring, and kill switch.

 

[BeaconWoods]

Nice! I'm always nervous using ether as a start aid because of the potential for engine damage. I check through my collection of spray cans for some flammable lube and use that. So far so good. One guy here did a relining of his gas tank. I had never heard of that so did some looking. Turns out that there is stuff out there just for that. Given that the carb is cast iron I would hope you could free up the stuck parts. I have a Kohler with aluminum carb on a firewood processor. The choke shaft froze up on that pretty much right away. I put a tire stem in the intake manifold, took the core out. I spray the above mentioned flammable lube in, start it up and screw the cap on. What fun! I used starting fluid a couple times but in each case I heard the death knock of detonation so I quit using it. I suppose sone gas in a squirt bottle would also work. Let's see a trench!

 

[bigolpossum]

Nice! I'm always nervous using ether as a start aid because of the potential for engine damage. I check through my collection of spray cans for some flammable lube and use that. So far so good. One guy here did a relining of his gas tank. I had never heard of that so did some looking. Turns out that there is stuff out there just for that. Given that the carb is cast iron I would hope you could free up the stuck parts. I have a Kohler with aluminum carb on a firewood processor. The choke shaft froze up on that pretty much right away. I put a tire stem in the intake manifold, took the core out. I spray the above mentioned flammable lube in, start it up and screw the cap on. What fun! I used starting fluid a couple times but in each case I heard the death knock of detonation so I quit using it. I suppose sone gas in a squirt bottle would also work. Let's see a trench!

I used starting fluid just to triage the engine to make sure I wasn't getting into a bigger project than I had time for. I am careful with it, but it served its purpose well in this case.

I ordered a chinesium carb that ought to be next week. Hopefully trenching will start shortly thereafter! I have a carb rebuilt kit and I will probably dig into it at some point, but it will be a big production to get it all torn down without damaging anything, I think.

The original carb is soaking in penetrating oil to see if I can do anything with it.