550 Travis' Mule 550

[kenfain]

I never believed in a special oil for break in. Opting for changing it often instead. After all, the only thing required of oil, is lubrication, and holding particles in suspension, till the filter can do its job. Having an oil that you can leave unchanged for long periods of time, seems like a sales gimmick.

I'd suggest you go with a nice synthetic, and change it at frequent intervals.

[Travis]

This is what i have in it  now, I used run Valvoline 10W40.

https://www.motul.com/us/en-US/products/break-in-oil-10w40-5a98e823-b9a8-4419-a72e-8b2cf0bf2bcd

 I've always heard if you run synthetic, you can't go back to conventional.....?

[kenfain]

I've heard that also. But I've never heard any facts to back it up. Common sense would say that lubrication is pretty straightforward. I can't believe that the metallurgy would be changed by one kind of oil over another. So wouldn't the new oil, of whichever variety, just mix with the few remaining drops of old oil? What could possibly be so complicated? You had yours completely apart; did you see anything inside that looked delicate?

[Travis]

All I saw was cast iron and aluminum, held together by bolts.

http://www.whitfieldoil.com/156.631 

⬆interesting read. I don't see why conventional won't work after a synthetic.

 

[Travis]

I think that "myth" comes from the early days of synthetic oil, 

found this.

 Best Answer:  In all lies is a grain of truth. Early in the days of synthetic, the compounds in the oil had different effects on the internal seals of an engine. Petroleum contained distillates that caused the engine seals to expand or "swell". The seals would wear to the correct tolerance for that component and everything would be fine, until the owner switched to synthetic oil . Synthetics did not contain the distillates and the seals would return or "shrink" back to their original size. 
This caused sometimes incredible oil leakage issues. An interesting side bar is the invent of several "stop leak additives" to battle these problems. The primary component of these was and still is today.... Petroleum Distillate 
If an engine had synthetic oil in it from the beginning and for the majority of its existence, the seals would not swell and wear until the owner switched to conventional oil. Once the switch was made, you could never go back due to the extended wear to the motor. 
Both synthetic and conventional oils are "engineered" today making them very similar in detergent and distillate levels, so switching is not so much of an issue anymore

[kenfain]

Oil is pretty much oil. I'm also not buying that synthetic oil lasts twice as long either. It might work better, and because of that it might last a bit longer. I just buy a decent quality conventional oil, and change it often.

[Travis]

Speaking of Oil, fairly recently Briggs and Stratton released a new engine, that you never have to change the oil in. Just Check n' Add.  🙄

i suppose if you let it run dry from burning oil you could add and that would be an oil change.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fD4Pj1b2_FM

 

[kenfain]

Not too sure that I'd trust B&S to have an engine that never needs an oil change. I'll have to wait a few years, and see if this technology survives long term.

[Travis]

I will say it's clever marketing. Attracts the people who are too poor to pay for lawn care and too lazy to perform maintenance..

[Dan B]

This is my thought on it:  Never needs oil may mean that the clearances are loose and it burns oil.  Since there's no oil filter, all you have to do is check the oil level and add as necessary.

[Travis]

Got a small problem, not engine related, but regarding the differential, it won't engage, the lever on the side only goes up halfway before it slips into a notch to lock it, but it doesn't make it to the notch,  the cable moves freely and the arm on the transmission that the cable hooks too, moves but stops before it gets engaged.

I'll upload a video later.

not something I can't live with, but it's nice to have when going through mud.

[Travis]

 

[kenfain]

Any idea wether it's the diff, or the trans? I'd probably put it up on jack stands, and try to replicate the issue. Then try to isolate wether it's the trans. or the diff. Disconnect the cable on the differential, and gently try to engage the 4wd. by manually working the lever on the diff. All while working the wheels back and forth. The wheels should turn opposite direction. Then when locked they should go the same way. I'm counting on it being limited slip. You should be able to feel it go into 4wd, if it does. Maybe rock the back wheels a bit, see if it helps to massage it into 4wd. If you try to do it with the engine running then the key here is gently in all things that aren't under load. Tiny gears are delicate, and expensive, also requiring lots of labor to replace. My guess would be the differential, it seems more likely. But I wouldn't rule out anything at this point, even a snag in the linkage.

[Travis]

Well, the diff lock worked for a short instance today, i was parked on a slight downhill slope, but when I got on level ground, it woudnt lock.

hmmm

[kenfain]

So we're dealing with the differential not locking, rather than not going into 4wd? Have you checked the fluid level? Checked to make sure there's nothing physically blocking the travel of the dash lever, or the control mechanism on the diff? If it's able to lock going downhill, then that condition shouldn't be too hard to duplicate in the garage. Now would be a good time to lube the levers, and the cable, because it eliminates those as a suspect, and it's good maintenance.

[Travis]

yes, the mule doesn't have 4wd. Fluid is full. the lever is clear of any obstruction and so is the cable.

[kenfain]

Jack up the rear, and see if you can duplicate when it locked. See if that sheds any light on the issue. But honestly, it sounds like you'll have to do some exploratory surgery. Is there a cover that can be removed, or do you pull out the works?

[Travis]

Pull out the works.....

 

[kenfain]

Sounds like it's time to get dirty again. My guess would be a pin or something has come out. Maybe the forward tilt let it slide into place. I certainly hope that YouTube has something good, because I don't really mess with differentials. There's not that much to em, but they typically take experience in their rebuilding technical details. 

If it was my mule, and I was in your position, I suppose I'd just have to give it a shot. Without 4wd, you'll definitely need that fixed. I hardly use mine, but experts in the mule vs. mud arena, tell me that the locker is actually slightly more useful than the 4wd. That's with proper mud tires of course. 

[Travis]

If it takes me tearing into it, I hate to say but I'll just leave it, I know nothing at all about transmission and diffs, I know quite a bit about small engines and lawnmowers, but I stop at transmissions...although there is only one way to learn, I might try reading in the troubleshoot section of my manual.

[Travis]

I'm about  to do the 12hr oil change as stated in the manual, I still have 1/2 a quart of break in oil left,*engine holds 1.5 quarts*  I guess would it be okay to to mix that with Valvoline conventional...?

[kenfain]

People who are supposed to know about this type of thing, say not to mix oil. Particularly if it's a different weight. Personally I don't see how a multi weight oil could be created other than mixing different weight oil.  I probably wouldn't do it on a car, because of how expensive it might be to experiment. But for the mule...common sense would seem to be to not mix conventional oil, with synthetic. Otherwise I don't see a problem. I would change it again as soon as it starts getting a caramel color.

[Travis]

I don't remembers if I posted it or not, there is a slight tick coming from the head, I took the valve cover off and ran the engine without it for a minute or so, and without the cover it sounds like swoosh swoosh swoosh, but as soon as I place the cover over it, it turns into tick   tick tick tick, cover off,swish swish,.

I turned the engine over by hand opening and closing both valves, there is no slack in any of the push rods like a lifter isn't seating on the cam etc.

I'm not sure if it's something I should find out and address immediately, or keep in check,

[kenfain]

If the lifters are adjusted within specs, the only thing I could think of would be one is sticking a bit. Of course it could be something much worse, like a wrist pin or something. Personally, I'd probably just run it a while. If for no other reason(besides laziness), than it'll be easier to see where metal on metal contact is being made. But you only want a few hours of this, so that real damage can't be done. In the meantime, find a good mechanics stethoscope. Maybe you can better isolate the problem. If you're sure it's in the top end, then there's no real hurry.

[Travis]

I'd say im 99.99% sure it's something in the cylinder head.

But on thing, i noticed the other day whenever i  checked the valve clearance , i put a little bit of assembly lube on top of the rockers, and where the pushrods go under the rocker arms,  and after that that it quieted down for a little bit.... i may take the pushrod's out and check the ends of them to be sure they're aren't wallered out or anything.

 I know it is getting good oil flow up there, whenever i ran it without the valve cover after about 4 seconds oil started coming up to the head and on the rockers....

** you know what, are rocker arms supposed to be able to slide side to side on the shaft?

[kenfain]

Readjust the lifters. 

[Travis]

How do you do that, I adjusted the valve clearance.....

[kenfain]

That's where you put the feeler guage under the rocker arm while it's at TDC. Then adjust to specs.

[Travis]

Yep, adjusted them 5thou, or.12mm

[kenfain]

Yes, now try to readjust. Maybe it's loosened, or settled in, or who knows what. But if you're sure it's in the top end, then that's where to start. Maybe lean towards the lesser end of the tolerance scale, see if it quiets it down any. If that doesn't help, then you might be deciding on wether to take it back apart.