98 craftsman lt1000 Mudder/trail rider

any clue on how i could fix the dipstick seal?

Pull it out and put on a new O-ring.  Not sure the best or cheapest place to get one.  I have a cheap O-ring set from harbor freight.  Make sure the tube is not cracked.  Make sure your oil isn't over full or has gas in it.

Finally got it pulled swapped! I chose to go with 4.5-4 pulleys and a kevelar belt and this thing is scary fast currently have wheelbarrow tires on it so no top speed run for now but my tubes coming tomorrow so I can put the old tires back on the front also trying to think of a way to lock the front axle but have it so I can easily unlock it once I get to the trail bumper should be coming soon, I got the steel just need to fab it up

@Doc Sprocket has a good idea on locking and unlocking the front axles. Pretty simple and effective.

4:04 Into this video is his idea.

oh damn thats simple i think ill do that after the bumper

@Doc Sprocket comes up with some good common sense and sometimes out of the box ideas.  I like watching the Odd Fathers video, but his DIY stuff is awesome!

I know I'm a bit late about the dip stick tube, but I use permatex black silicone for all my oil contact gasket needs. As long as you have the area clean and dry with no oil on it when you apply the permatex, once it cures it's a pretty good seal. I use it instead of engine sump gaskets too. Not intake or exhaust of course but engine block gaskets. For sump gaskets, you just have to watch that your not changing the crank shaft end play too much because the gasket thickness determines that (depending on your engine). I assemble dry first to make sure I still have clearance. At any rate, that would work for the dip stick tube also.

That is if you can't track down an o ring.

Eh, finding an O ring shouldn't be too hard. I've replaced them before... It's a 5 minute job.

so ive got a lovely noise coming from the left cylinder when its idling it goes down at higher rpms i googled rod knock but it doesnt sound like it so what could it be? heres the video

If not a rod, possibly a sticky valve, and this may sound weird but a magnet could have fell off the flywheel and may need to be JBWelded back on.

how would i go about diagnosing/fixing those

Personally, I would probably pop the head cover off and check them and the piston for slop. To check magnets, you have to pull the flywheel.

or... send it till she blows.

Noooo id never want to blow an oppy especially this one also I’ll see when I can do that

Yeah to me it doesn't really sound valvetrain related or anything, but a worn cylinder seems more likely. Not %100 on that though, but it definitely doesn't sound like a rod bearing so I don't think it's gonna blow up.

So can I use it for now without causing damage

Well you can run an engine with a worn cylinder, but it will only get worse over time and eventually compression will be low and oil comsumption will be high. That's assuming the issue is a worn cylinder though, it very well may not be but that's my best guess based on the video.

I suppose there is a chance it could be lifter noise, also check for loose brackets and motor mounts, sometimes stuff like that can vibrate and make noises that sound like engine knocks.

Are you working the clutch to change the knock sound? First thing I would do is remove all the belts to the motor or the pulley itself and run it to isolate the noise to the motor or possibly elsewhere. Do that and if you still have a knock report back and I can walk you through checking connecting rod without ripping the motor apart. Also make sure the motor mounting bolts are tight.

Briggs opposed engines are known to have a fairly loud and bad sounding knock, even when everything is ok. Redlinemotorsports had it on his, and I have heard others online with the same issue. Also, I built an opposed from scratch and even plastigauged the rods to check clearance when assembling. Mine had the knock sound too. So don't be too worried about it. Might be fine.

If you see larger flecks of aluminum in the oil, that would be a bad sign. Small fine particles can be normal.

If you rev it up a bit and it's really heavy sounding, then it's bad. If it kinda goes away, then it's just the normal opposed knock. (what actually causes that I don't know.) I always thought valves, but maybe piston slap.

You could pull the 4 bolts off the cover and actually wiggle the rods if your really worried. I would put my money on it being ok though.

EDIT: I didn't know that was an actual video of yours running. That sounds ok to me, not very heavy like a rod would be. Sounds like the normal opposed knocking.

Here's the one I built and checked everything. You can hear it pretty loud on mine even with loud pipes. You should be fine.

Alright thank you all so much for the advice!! I managed to get the tube in and only put one hole in it which I patched up so the top speed run should be coming soon or something will at least since were suppose to have rain all weekend and we already got prolly 5” so either trail riding or a top speed test, also plan on taking the front axle out soon and adding washers so it doesn’t move back and forth and also to tighten up the steering

Interesting that it seems to knock a lot more when the clutch is in. If I were you, I'd check and make sure all 4 engine bolts are tight, because what it might be is the engine vibrating around, and then when you release the clutch, the weight of the clutch pulls back on the engine and minimizes the sound. I did have that happen on a tractor once. Either way, worth a shot.

Alright so I was romping today after we got 6” of rain and my tire came off the rim AGAIN it was on the same side of the tractor as before but since then I’ve switched the rims and tires to the other side so it has to do with the side the tires are on is there anyway I can stop this since it’s getting really friggin annoying

so guys ive been thinking, i kinda want to make this a fast rally build kinda like what the mowrons use it wouldnt really be for stability on hills but more for looks and stability at speed but im not 100% sure on which way i wanna go anybody have any input? id prolly have 18 inch china tires lowered fenders maybe drop the front down a little bit and lower the seat

yeethaw wrote:

so guys ive been thinking, i kinda want to make this a fast rally build kinda like what the mowrons use it wouldnt really be for stability on hills but more for looks and stability at speed but im not 100% sure on which way i wanna go anybody have any input? id prolly have 18 inch china tires lowered fenders maybe drop the front down a little bit and lower the seat

Well I and many others have spent a good deal of time studying the Mowrons techniques and what makes their rigs so effective. I personally love my rally mower. My seat has been lower 5inches and my transaxle is liveaxle swapped and I have axle supports and 18×9.5-8 SunFs. The advantage of these small china tires is not only are they affordable (90 bucks for the set) but the small diameter gives you stability and is alot easier or your trans. I would highly recommend the SunFs. They don't do amazing in mud like the ags do but theh hook up well when climbing hills with loose material. You may have some difficulty lowering your fenders. I don't see it done as much on lt1000s but well worth it. I would highly recommend any techniques pioneered by Stretch44875. Best of luck. Hope I was able to help alittle.

did you use a gearbox on your rally?

Alright just wanna let everyone know that this isn’t dead and is probably just gonna sit around until spring since I don’t have anywhere enclosed to work on it and Illinois is cold as hell so snowmobiling is gonna take over for a bit

No requirements to keep your thread going or delete. If so, 90% of the forum would be gone.