Any propane forklift gurus in the house?

[bgaidan]

Trying to work through some gremlins on this clapped out Komatsu that I bought for my upcoming move. It has the Nissan H20 propane/gas engine. I've never really messed with a propane engine before so not entirely sure what I'm looking at, but how bad is it that this regulator? on the right is bypassed?

I'm having a hard time finding a good diagram of how these setups work. I'm kind of assuming it's a high pressure/low pressure set of regulators. Does that mean I'm potentially feeding high pressure LP to the low pressure side? Am I going to die?

 

[Projectjunkie]

I sent this to my guy, he said that the vacuum lock off was bypassed and an electric lock off was installed, it's as safe as anything and don't fucking worry about it

 

[2big bronco]

It looks like it was some sort of overgrown vacume actuated fuel shutoff and someone added an electric shutoff at the regulator. It should be fine.


Edit: and it looks like pj beat me to it

 

[bgaidan]

I sent this to my guy, he said that the vacuum lock off was bypassed and an electric lock off was installed, it's as safe as anything and don't fucking worry about it

Sweet. Thanks! That makes me a feel a little better.

While we're talking propane, I'm trying to chase why I'm getting excessive crankcase pressure....to the point it's blowing the dipstick partially out at idle and definitely when rev'd. Seems to not be as bad once it warms up. I've checked compression - one cylinder was at ~135, other 3 were over 150. New spec I think is around 170. 150 is fine and 135 is a tad low, but I don't think it's enough that its causing THAT much blow by. Oil and coolant both look clean, so not likely a head gasket.

I've been trying to figure out if/where there's a PCV. There's a pat number listed for it, but I can't find it on the damn engine. What is weird is this breather line off the valve cover that goes to the propane "carb". I'm not sure how it's supposed to go, but it's obviously not original. It appears the original breather line went to the manifold over the gas carb, which is now plugged off. Then what should go to the port on the propane carb?

I pulled the propane carb off and it was full of oil....which isn't surprising with that breather line blowing in to it.

 

[Projectjunkie]

Does the exhaust smoke?

The high ccp doesn't have anything tu do with the propane, figure out where the pcv goes, or DIY, make a catch can if it's that bad.

he said your engine is wore out, run it and don't fuck with it, don't move anything

you might consider some sea foam and a catch can, it might clean up the rings and keep it from fouling plugs, I don't think all the oil is good for the diaphrams and shit

 

[Projectjunkie]

The big hose from the valve cover is where the pcv should be, honest Frank's forklift sales ran the hose to the intake to hide it

 

[bgaidan]

The big hose from the valve cover is where the pcv should be, honest Frank's forklift sales ran the hose to the intake to hide it

So where should it go after the valve cover. I ordered the PCV....it was $5....to see if I can figure out where it actually goes. It's a threaded-type, so I would have expected to see a bung somewhere. ..

It does smoke...more when it warms up.


So I connected the line from the valve cover to the port above the gas carb and plugged the on on the propane side. That port on the propane carb barely has any vac on it and it was way smaller than the breather line so no wonder it was backing up. With it connected straight to the gas carb, it seem to be running better, smoking more, but not blowing the dipstick. Catch can is a good idea. For now, I'd rather that oil go straight in to the carb and not risk messing up that $150 propane carb. Might try soaking the cylinders in some mystery oil.

This thing only needs to last a few weeks while I load out all the shop equipment. I was just trying to give it a quick tune up to make a run a little better and not be so prone to randomly stalling. After that, I'll look at giving it a rebuild.


Now I just need to figure out where the screws are so I can get it to idle on gas. It'll idle decent on Propane now but dies when I switch it to gas. I seems to miss when I rev it up on propane, but if I switch it to gas while its revving, it'll purr.

 

[2big bronco]

If you pull the pcv tube out of the carb/lp does it still smoke out of the exhaust as bad? Also look down low on the block for another crank case vent. Amazon has cheapo catch cans with brackets for pretty cheap.

 

[Projectjunkie]

I'd probably clean the plugs and not fuck with it until after your move

Then dig in, some mechanic in a can, fresh plugs and a catch can. Then just whatever smoke is left is a neighborhood mosquito eradication service. Just like mine

 

[Roktoy829]

Exactly what projectjunkie is saying. If its running, then run it for now. Those engines are tough, keep oil in it for now and use it.

That lift can start costing you a mint, if you get to digging into it.

 

[bgaidan]

Exactly what projectjunkie is saying. If its running, then run it for now. Those engines are tough, keep oil in it for now and use it.

That lift can start costing you a mint, if you get to digging into it.

I've probably already fucked with it enough to screw myself by now. 🤣

I'm ordering a catch can and I'll probably throw a set of plugs/cap/rotor on it and call it good until I'm done with the move. I only paid $3,200 for it, which is dirt cheap around here. I can probably make a few bucks just selling it when I'm done moving....but it'd kinda be nice to have around if it's not too far gone to fix up.

 

[Projectjunkie]

I've probably already fucked with it enough to screw myself by now. 🤣

I'm ordering a catch can and I'll probably throw a set of plugs/cap/rotor on it and call it good until I'm done with the move. I only paid $3,200 for it, which is dirt cheap around here. I can probably make a few bucks just selling it when I'm done moving....but it'd kinda be nice to have around if it's not too far gone to fix up.

My 60s 4k forklift burned so much oil it got topped off with oil change oil. And if it was 50 or under out I brought a gallon of hot water to de ice the mixer before it got up to temp. Sounds like a giant pain in the ass, nope, 5 minutes of fucking around to pick 4k straight up, or pick 2k and carry it across the yard. I'll take that any day. I've got a nicer Toyota now, and any fucking around still beats trying to get 5 friends to show up to pick something

 

[DWT]

If it's smoking now it ain't going to stop until the valve guides are replaced. LPG is a dry fuel so the guides wear out on them long before they would on a gas engine.

Just run it

 

[bgaidan]

My 60s 4k forklift burned so much oil it got topped off with oil change oil. And if it was 50 or under out I brought a gallon of hot water to de ice the mixer before it got up to temp. Sounds like a giant pain in the ass, nope, 5 minutes of fucking around to pick 4k straight up, or pick 2k and carry it across the yard. I'll take that any day. I've got a nicer Toyota now, and any fucking around still beats trying to get 5 friends to show up to pick something

Yep. I have a tractor now that barely picks up 500 lbs. A forklift has been on the list for a while and the upcoming move was enough to justify it. It's only for my personal use and won't see a lot of it. But it'll sure be handy to have around when I need it. I've passed up on several deals on machines because I couldn't or didn't want to deal with unloading and moving.

If it's smoking now it ain't going to stop until the valve guides are replaced. LPG is a dry fuel so the guides wear out on them long before they would on a gas engine.

Just run it

I think a lot of it is coming from the hacked up PCV....or I guess the lack of it. I noticed signs of moisture in the head (through the oil cap) and that breather line had milky oil/water in it. I'm guessing that it hadn't been run much lately and when it was run, it wasn't long enough to warm up and burn the moisture off. That paired with the sketchy breather, it had nowhere to go. That might have contributed to the valves getting fucked.

I'm betting the smoking goes down big time when I get the catch can on it.

 

[bgaidan]

Turned out that the propane carb was really sticky and probably not working much at all. Sometimes it'd start and run fine, other times I'd have to shoot it with a little Cosby's cocktail to get it to fire and it would stall out regularly. Found a new carb for $125 and threw it on and it was 200% better.

A friend of mine was around over the weekend and helped pull the gas carb and we tore it down and leaned the schmoo out of it. When I threw the tune up kit on it a few weeks ago I found that there was no fuel filter in the housing, so I'm sure that had something to do with how bad the carb was. With it cleaned out, it was running pretty well on gas too. Still got crazy blow by and I need to go pick up a couple barbs and some hose to fit the $12 amazon catch can, but that should help a lot.

Eventually after I move I'll probably yank the cover and see what the valves look like. If it's not too much work, I'll give it a quick head job. (gigitty)