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Boat bio:
I purchased a somewhat tired '67 Columbia 34 10 years ago. Had a ball sailing for 2 years , pulled out the low compression Atomic and replaced it with a better unit (product of a diesel upgrade) , ran the "new" engine for about 2 hrs then laid up the boat for a 2 year renovation which turned into 8 years.
Prior to the long delayed launch I decided to perform an engine run-up , and in preparing to do so made the really stupid mistake of force feeding water to the coolant system. When I cranked the engine it puked water out of the carb. Lots of water in the cylinders. The head put up a great fight against removal. After winning that battle I found that exhaust valves 1 , 3 & 4 were stuck open. After much effort I freed the valves , re-assembled and started the A-4. The oil was a mess of gray glop , water , and a mixture of carb cleaner & WD40 (from the valve war) , so I changed oil 4 times , running the engine between each change. After a week without a start up I found that all 3 valves were stuck AGAIN! The head came off real easy this time , and once more I freed up the offending valves , re-assembled and started. Another idle week passed , and I found that #3 was stuck. All in all I pulled the head 5 times , valve #3 being a real bas*ard. (The good news is that I got my elapsed time on the valve surgery down from 2 hr 45 minutes to 45 minutes flat!)
I ran the engine daily for 3-4 weeks to prevent another stuck valve , then weaned to every 2-3 days ; running well with no valve problem. All is well except that I think that one lifter is a little louder than the rest , possibly a result of the #3 lifter banging around loosely when I revved the engine with the valve stuck open ?
Aside from the possibly loud lifter, (and I could be overly sensitive to that , given the time I've spent with my arms wrapped around that engine) , my A-4 is running well. The angel on my right shoulder is telling me to pull the engine and do a valve inspection and possible sevice/repairs over the winter. The devil on the left shoulder is saying the the mill is running fine and I just got the boat re-assembled and launched for the first time in 100 years so don't make another mess.
Question to the readers : Do I have to pull my Atomic 4? If so , what should I expect to find/service in the valve system ? On one hand I am sick of working on my boat , but at the same time I want the auxiliary to be reliable and worry free.
That's my story and question ,
Charles on Lake Michigan
I purchased a somewhat tired '67 Columbia 34 10 years ago. Had a ball sailing for 2 years , pulled out the low compression Atomic and replaced it with a better unit (product of a diesel upgrade) , ran the "new" engine for about 2 hrs then laid up the boat for a 2 year renovation which turned into 8 years.
Prior to the long delayed launch I decided to perform an engine run-up , and in preparing to do so made the really stupid mistake of force feeding water to the coolant system. When I cranked the engine it puked water out of the carb. Lots of water in the cylinders. The head put up a great fight against removal. After winning that battle I found that exhaust valves 1 , 3 & 4 were stuck open. After much effort I freed the valves , re-assembled and started the A-4. The oil was a mess of gray glop , water , and a mixture of carb cleaner & WD40 (from the valve war) , so I changed oil 4 times , running the engine between each change. After a week without a start up I found that all 3 valves were stuck AGAIN! The head came off real easy this time , and once more I freed up the offending valves , re-assembled and started. Another idle week passed , and I found that #3 was stuck. All in all I pulled the head 5 times , valve #3 being a real bas*ard. (The good news is that I got my elapsed time on the valve surgery down from 2 hr 45 minutes to 45 minutes flat!)
I ran the engine daily for 3-4 weeks to prevent another stuck valve , then weaned to every 2-3 days ; running well with no valve problem. All is well except that I think that one lifter is a little louder than the rest , possibly a result of the #3 lifter banging around loosely when I revved the engine with the valve stuck open ?
Aside from the possibly loud lifter, (and I could be overly sensitive to that , given the time I've spent with my arms wrapped around that engine) , my A-4 is running well. The angel on my right shoulder is telling me to pull the engine and do a valve inspection and possible sevice/repairs over the winter. The devil on the left shoulder is saying the the mill is running fine and I just got the boat re-assembled and launched for the first time in 100 years so don't make another mess.
Question to the readers : Do I have to pull my Atomic 4? If so , what should I expect to find/service in the valve system ? On one hand I am sick of working on my boat , but at the same time I want the auxiliary to be reliable and worry free.
That's my story and question ,
Charles on Lake Michigan
for me for the past 26 years. The noises don't really bother me as the valve train is very noisy 
and not to sensetive as they don't see many rpm's.
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