SilverLakeFab
Bronze Member
I purchased a Honda RT5000 4x4 subcompact tractor a couple months ago and I was told it had a seized engine. I finally got to start the tear-down last night and I figured I would share the project with the folks here. I've attached a few pictures of the machine to show where I am right now. So far, the front body panels have been removed, the clutch has been removed, a bunch of parts have been unbolted from the engine, and the rubber engine mounts have been unbolted. All that's left is to unbolt the engine from the drive-shaft to remove it from the engine. Where I quit last night was fighting the motor at this stage. It was late and the U-Joint splines are stuck together, so I unbolted the U-joint adapter from the flywheel, but since there's a screen attached to that in the motor cowling, I have to unbolt the cowling the hard way (all the bolts go in from the back side).
As mentioned above, I was told that this engine had a seized engine, but I pulled the head off (yay simple push rod engines) and the piston wasn't stuck (I was able to push in further into the cylinder by hand). However, the piston is no longer attached to the crankshaft either. Who wants to guess how many pieces the connecting rod will be in when I get the side cover off the motor? I'm guessing 5. Even with a catastrophic failure like this one, I should be able to rebuild this whole engine for about $140. Not bad!
I'll post more pictures and info on this little project as I go on with it.
As mentioned above, I was told that this engine had a seized engine, but I pulled the head off (yay simple push rod engines) and the piston wasn't stuck (I was able to push in further into the cylinder by hand). However, the piston is no longer attached to the crankshaft either. Who wants to guess how many pieces the connecting rod will be in when I get the side cover off the motor? I'm guessing 5. Even with a catastrophic failure like this one, I should be able to rebuild this whole engine for about $140. Not bad!
I'll post more pictures and info on this little project as I go on with it.
). The first step is to press the case back into shape. When doing this, you have to be aware that you may cause other cracks to occur (pretty common). Next, clean the weld area as much as possible. When welding anything aluminum that contained oil, you WILL fight through poor weld quality when you put down your initial filler bead, as no matter how clean you think the area is, there will always be residue within the crack itself. Even if you put the thing through an ultra sonic cleaner, it will NOT be clean, so you have to be prepared for that. Also, when possible, do the external weld first, as it's easier to fight the contamination of the puddle from the outside. Next, the filler is melted in thoroughly. I'm not looking for a pretty stack of dimes with this weld; I need an evenly melted in weld with full penetration and strength. Next I cleaned the inside of the case again, as any time aluminum is exposed for over a minute, it will have corrosion. After doing the outside weld, the inside weld is easy, as almost all the impurities have been burned and floated out of the remaining crack. Of course, I went over the weld area twice to ensure a super flat weld so I don't have a clearance concern. This was a utility job that doesn't have to be super pretty, but to show that I can do pretty aluminum welding, I've posted a sample picture of my nice looking work. 
