Sigh.......Talk about throwing money away![
!] Warning....long post ahead.
Ok, here goes: I rebuilt my 97 XLT SP at the begining of the the season, because it had 6000 miles on it, and I figured it would be a good idea to do it then, then wait for a melt down some time during the winter. Never checked compression after the rebuild, so I don't know the starting compression.
I got about 450 mile on the rebuild and ended up frying my pto side piston due to a faulty (cracked) base gasket. Had it rebuilt (again) at a shop. They honed that cylinder, replaced the bad piston and rings, along with a new base and head gasket. The sled never ran well after that rebuild (only 140 miles since then). Was constantly fouling plugs.
Now I can't even get the damn thing to start. It sputters like it wants to go, but won't. Here's the deal. I've cleand and synced all the carbs idles, throttle and choke cables. Made sure they're all working correctly and to spec. Needle n seats are new viton tipped ones. I stress again, carbs are clean! Plugs are wet, and all are getting good spark.
Compression: pto: 115 center: 115 mag: 100
I know 100 psi is low, but is this low enough, and enough of a difference compared to the pto and center cylinders, for the sled to not even start?
If I can't get the thing started, how would I know if the crank seals are bad? If they were bad, would they cause my no start problem?
If the cylinders are losing this much compression this soon after a rebuild, am I looking at having to bore the cylinders and go with over size pistons, in order to maintain compression?
Ok, here goes: I rebuilt my 97 XLT SP at the begining of the the season, because it had 6000 miles on it, and I figured it would be a good idea to do it then, then wait for a melt down some time during the winter. Never checked compression after the rebuild, so I don't know the starting compression.
I got about 450 mile on the rebuild and ended up frying my pto side piston due to a faulty (cracked) base gasket. Had it rebuilt (again) at a shop. They honed that cylinder, replaced the bad piston and rings, along with a new base and head gasket. The sled never ran well after that rebuild (only 140 miles since then). Was constantly fouling plugs.
Now I can't even get the damn thing to start. It sputters like it wants to go, but won't. Here's the deal. I've cleand and synced all the carbs idles, throttle and choke cables. Made sure they're all working correctly and to spec. Needle n seats are new viton tipped ones. I stress again, carbs are clean! Plugs are wet, and all are getting good spark.
Compression: pto: 115 center: 115 mag: 100
I know 100 psi is low, but is this low enough, and enough of a difference compared to the pto and center cylinders, for the sled to not even start?
If I can't get the thing started, how would I know if the crank seals are bad? If they were bad, would they cause my no start problem?
If the cylinders are losing this much compression this soon after a rebuild, am I looking at having to bore the cylinders and go with over size pistons, in order to maintain compression?