D7 17A Water in Pony

Chances are it probably is the head gasket but check the head and see if the surface might be eat away with rust where the gasket seals things. Also could be a crack someplace in the block.Also check the head flat surface and see if it is flat and not warped with a good straight edge.

Not to many options for water. It's either coolant from head gasket or crack problem with the block/head or rain water getting down the pony exhaust stack and getting in past an exhaust valve.

There are only two flange connections, inlet and outlet. You could block/plate them off with one of them using a fitting to either air pressure or hydro check to see what is happening.

OM,
You are right , not to many options.
I did receive my head gasket and flange seal ( oversize O ring) , but before all that,I will eliminate the rain water through the exhaust. do some cleaning the carb and pressurize the radiator.
When te engine oil is drained & the clutch oil. H ow is the cluch oil refilled
According to the manual it should o from the engine to the cluth. Is that through pressure ?or on it is own

Oil supply to the clutch compartment is a combination of both.....flow through a connecting hole between the pan and the clutch compartment (might be plugged if you've been getting an oil/water mix) and whatever leaks past the pressure fed rear bearing.

OM ,

I am doing additional research on the pony engine.
1- Lubricating the clutch and Transmission: Looking at the manual it state that the transmission breather cap should be removed to add oil to the trans.
Can the passage between clutch and the engine be check or cleaned ?

2- with regard to the water in the engine, I have some suspicious that water may be going in through the manual hand crank flange. is that possible?

Early 17A's had the pony oil fill through the clutch/flywheel cover....then the fill plug moved to the front of the motor. The transmission section is completely independent of the pony and flywheel section and has its own fill, gauge and drain.

On the hand crank, if yours has the vertical crank it is possible to get water in if the seal is bad. Much less likely if it is a side crank.

You might be able to fish a wire into the connecting passage with the flywheel/clutch cover off, don't know. It's pretty crowded in there.....otherwise you would have to pull the pan which may not be a bad idea and you can clean the oil pump suction screen as well.

OM ,
You posted as I was checking on you.
Ok now it is confirmed my trans oil fill separatly from the breather. Then also cofirm that passage to the flywheel is not plugged. How would water get in the trans housing. ?
And also confirmed that I have 2 possible sources of water, the vertical hand crank and the exhaust pipe. of course that is in addition to possible blown head gasket.
Does the hand crank have a seal like an o ring?

The hand crank seal is a lip type seal.

I'd be suspicious of the transmission shift lever shaft seal and possibly the top cover gasket. How much water are you talking about? They all have some case of the sweats where condensation can be a problem but it is usually small amounts that vent off when operating.

There is also a seal (lip type) at the bottom (and top) of the pinion engagement lever shaft.
The top one could leak water into the clutch compartment. The bottom one could leak water from the clutch compartment into the transmission compartment.

If you've been going after the machine with a high pressure washer you can aggravate any of the candidate leak sources, some that normally would not be a problem.

OM , Good post😉
you confirm every suspicious that I had about the water.
As far as how much water, well it is enough to turn the engine oil and the tarns oil milky.
The Trans shift lever is definitly prospect , it is loose and looks like the shaft seal is candidate . Also the pinion engagement shaft is another candidate for new seals.

I think if i change the the hand crank seal , the tarns shift lever and the pinion engagment seals that eliminate most of my problem.

Earlier last year we did pressure washed the machine in preparation for painting. water has a way of getting into everything with out pressure much with 3000 psi. Please refer back to my last year posts for pictures of the restoration on this machine. I dedicated the effort in memory of Mr Johnny Morrison, he was a member here and good friend.



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