About time for BOb to chime in on that model not being CERTIFIED... G



"John Stricker" wrote in message ...
22° down at the spark plug is quite a bit. Contrary to what Smith thinks,
the LEV doesn't have an oil pump, it's a simple vertical shaft motor. But I
haven't seen him be right about too much on here yet, so that's not too
surprising.

You're probably going to run into problems with oil getting by the rings
when the engine isn't running and putting enough into the cylinder to
potentially hydraulically lock it, not unlike the old aircraft radial
engines with their bottom cylinders.

Is there any way you can turn it so that it's got the engine mounted with
the plug UP 22°? If you can't do that, you're most likely going to run into
problems of oil in the cylinders when at rest and higher than normal oil
consumption when running because the oil's going to want to keep running
back down on into the cylinder, most likely more than the oil rings will be
able to control.

For those unfamiliar with the engine he's talking about, here it is.
http://www.tulsaenginewarehouse.com/.../lev100115120/

If you have one of these, you know the oil level plug is just about at the
point where the bottom cover separates from the block. You can see that
parting line in the link I posted. Not take a ruler or something and set it
at about 22° angle. You're going to HAVE to have enough oil in it to cover
the bearing on the bottom side, that's a necessity. So allow about 1/8" of
oil over it, should be a little more, and see where the oil level ends up.
The vast majority of it will end up IN the cylinder under the piston. This
is not a good thing.

Any particular reason you want to use a Tecumseh? I've had many different
variations of them over the years and haven't been impressed with any of
them. I can't say they're any worse than a Briggs, but they're certainly no
better and WAY lower quality than a Honda, amongst others.

John Stricker



"jlauer" wrote in message
om...
Wondering if you have someone could provide an answer to an engine
installation question. I have a hovercraft that uses a Tecumseh LEV
80-120 5.5 hp engine for the lifting propeller.

The question is weather the engine can be mounted with the
piston/spark plug facing down (incline is at 22 degress down angle
from level) without messing up the engine during operation?

I am concerned that the engine might not get enough lubrication tilted
down at 22 degress during its operation?

Thanks