old engine

[leapfrog]

can any body help ?
I have just bought a 1973 halcyon 23 sailing boat with an unusual engine.

It is a single cylinder and has a VALMET name tag on the side, is this a manufacturer of such an engine?

I think it is a 2 stroke engine as the fuel tank cap has a, oil/fuel mix of 1:50 engraved on it.

A friend thinks it could be a dyno start configeration, a bosch dynamo is fitted, it has 0010350005 and j>14v 11A 32 stamped on the side with one heavy duty red cable, one small red cable and two small black cables.

The fuel/air mix goes through a carberettor which is made by Tillitson, Ohio, USA.

Does anyone know of this engine, dynamo and carb ? or where i can find info, as the internet has not been of much use so far.

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[Talbot]

Sisu Diesel is the manufacturer of Sisudiesel (former Valmet diesel) engines<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.sisudiesel.com/products/marine/specifications/>http://www.sisudiesel.com/products/marine/specifications/</A> so I would contact them for info.

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[leapfrog]

Thanks for that, but the engine is a petrol fuel type but i'll give the a go, cheers

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[pvb]

Isn\'t it a \"Vire\"?...

Vire engines were made by Valmet. Try a Google search for the words vire and valmet.

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[Talbot]

From the Sisu web site:

There was an era of two cycle engines like the petrol-driven inboard engine "Vire". The cumulative production of this engine exceeded 14 000 units. Another product was a light two-cycle air-cooled petrol engine, called Rapidex. It was used by fire brigades and the first pioneers of Scandinavian snowmobile manufacturing

The image function doesnt seem to be working but here is a picture of the Vire:
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.sisudiesel.com/company_overview/history/10464-525656.jpeg>http://www.sisudiesel.com/company_overview/history/10464-525656.jpeg</A>


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[oldharry]

Valmet Oy was the Finnish maker of the Vire range of engines - very popular in their day, and if its a good one well worth hanging on to. There were 3: the original Vire 6, which had a rounded one piece cast head and barrel, the Vire 7 which had a squared head and barrel and the 12, which was an unprated 7. They are 2 strokes running on a 50:1 mix. Most were fitted with Dynastarts, which are now quite difficult to get spares for.

Fairways in Maldon used to do spares, but have recently given up, and there is now a company in Finland that specialises in them - but I do not have details. Might be worth giving Fairways a ring.

They were pretty tough engines, with few weaknesses. The worst one was the water pump mounted on the back of the gearboxwhich if the seal failed allowed water into the box with bad results. Also if the 4 small securing bolts holding the cylinder head casting to the crankcase came loose the resulting air leak would prevent starting. Also if the water supply dried up, the rubber exhaust pipe would overheat and melt internally blocking off the exhaust and stopping the engine. Pieces of the internal liner would come adrift, and cause a flap valve effect, so as soon as it stopped, it would start again until the rubber blocked the pipe again - anything from 30 seconds to an hour or more!

As I said, if its not suffering from old age, its an excellent little engine.

See http://gofree.indigo.ie/~vire7/ for details of ..er, the 7

<hr width=100% size=1><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by oldharry on 10/12/2004 15:14 (server time).</FONT></P>

 

[snowleopard]

a friend has a smallish cat with 2 tiny 2-stroke engines. to go backwards he has to stop them then re-start running backwards. don't know if that is relevant to you.

apparently you're supposed to be able to reverse them by cutting the spark for a moment and letting them bounce back off a compression!

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[macd]

You'll have more success with the carb if you spell it correctly: 'Tillotson'. You might try a search for 'tillotson carburetors', using the US spelling.

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[yoda]

They are almost certainly Dolphin engines, made in Bodmin and still going strong.

Yoda

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[halcyon]

Go to <A target="_blank" HREF=http://link>www.kddpowercentre.com

 

[Guest]

If it has a dome shaped cowl over the cylinder - it is the Vire 6, if its square and flat topped - its a Vire 7 or 12 later version.

There are 3 versions of the old ones - 1) start and go direct drive, 2) Start and only forward on a cone clutch, 3) start and go forward or reverse via a cone clutch to gearbox.

They are good engines when they work, simple to repair ... but insist on clean fuel etc. Biggest failure is the mag spark ..... which is little more than a moped magneto. Many people myself included used to fit a small Ignition coil such as from a mini ..... the points providing the make and break against the HT coil.
Other thing to watch is the crankcase ..... if the fuel is dirty - it can destroy the seals and then the give away symptons are necessary to flood the engine to get it to start ... stopping as soon as fuel excess burns of.

Advantage of the Vire is its size ...... tiny !! And difficult to replace with later engine in same space. Only engine that comes close is the Petter mini-6 ...... so when replacing its normal to have to do a bit of cutting and re-bedding.



<hr width=100% size=1>Cheers Nigel ..... <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.geocities.com/solentlifeuk/>http://www.geocities.com/solentlifeuk/</A>

 

[leapfrog]

thank you to everyone who responded to my old engine post.
I have now found it to be a Vire 7 thanks to you chaps and sucessfully started it on the bench over the weekend, roll on friday can't wait to get my hands dirty again.

cheers
leapfrog

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