Well, my $4.98 paint job did NOT solve the miss in this engine. We had a moment tonight to finally stick it back in the Cadet and crank it up. SAME PROBLEM, one cylinder appears missing--its running on that side but missing a LOT. As best as I can tell its the right side (if you are sitting in the seat). It started within seconds of cranking and is noticeable throughout the RPM range. I pulled the plug wires one at a time and you can tell the right side isn't pulling its share of the load. Also, thermometer shows that side running much cooler--was able to focus it around the head near the plug (heads beadblasted when I had them off). Just a recap, thought the carb needed rebuilding, as the PO had someone try to do that. Put a kit in the carb, still missing. Found the spark stronger on one side than the other, replaced the coil. Checked valve clearances, everything was more or less in spec--one side at least had been into by somebody before I got the Cadet. Sprayed carb cleaner all around the intake looking for a leak, no luck. Tried old plugs, new plugs, maybe even crossed the wires side to side, no luck. Decided the valves needed grinding and cleaning. Had a shop do that, I put in new piston and rings (learned my lesson on ring gap with this one). I ground the valve clearance upon reassembly, per the book.
At this point, I'm basically starting over. Next time I have a chance to look at this thing, I'm going to check compression again (originally it was fine), check the strength of the spark on each wire, maybe cross the wires to see if the problem moves. I did run it in the dark tonight to see if I had a damaged wire, didn't see any sparks. If all that checks OK, I've got a blown KT I can steal the carb off of. I swear I checked the intake for an obstruction--but as of now, I may have forgotten to. I'm wondering if the last guy to open the carb tried drilling the jets or something? Is it me or is one side of the intake longer than the other? Maybe he monkeyed with the carb enough that it isn't metering the fuel correct and if the intake is longer on one side than the other---I know, I'm grabbing at straws here.
Oh yeah, pulled the choke on till it blew smoke, slowly pushed it back in, still missing.
The list of new parts---plugs, coil, carb kit, fuel pump, piston and rings, valve job, and of course gaskets and seals. Heads were faced and lapped and torqued.
Talking crazy here, but I have heard of engines running with broke cranks, could this thing have a broke camshaft? Seems if that were the case then one side would be a constant miss.
What simple thing am I missing here?
