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7,000 lb Yale needs an engine

Portable Welder

Cast Iron
Joined
Jan 9, 2015
Location
Milan, MI
I have a 1996 Yale box car special fork lift and the engine has low cylinder pressure so I need a new engine, the truck is in good condition other than the engine starts really hard.

The dealer acts like its not worth putting an engine in it, they are willing to give me scrap price for it !!!! $ 300.00

They want to sell me a good used on for about 15K, I think its well worth putting a new engine in mine ( At least I know what I have when its done.)

How tuff is it to put a new engine in it, I have all the cranes and jacks to lift it and remove the counter weights, I even have a 15,000 lb truck hoist to lift it in the air.
 
What engine? What's a "new" engine cost?

From my experience, it's a pain in the ass to find a motor for a forklift. They use special front and rear covers to accommodate various pumps and other gear drive accessories. I'd just pull the engine you have and get it rebuilt.

But, that's me.
 
If your lift runs on propane, it might just need a valve job. The intake valves can burn on a propane engine, and the resulting low manifold vacuum can't open the propane regulator. End result is very hard starting.

Pull the head and take a look before you do an engine-ectomy.
 
If your lift runs on propane, it might just need a valve job. The intake valves can burn on a propane engine, and the resulting low manifold vacuum can't open the propane regulator. End result is very hard starting.

Pull the head and take a look before you do an engine-ectomy.

Sounds like good advice. Perhaps try a leak down test first, before doing too much surgery.

How to do a leakdown test | Mobil™ Motor Oils
 
I have a 1996 Yale box car special fork lift and the engine has low cylinder pressure so I need a new engine, the truck is in good condition other than the engine starts really hard.

The dealer acts like its not worth putting an engine in it,

Well it ISN'T worth it. Unless freezing has cracked a block. Partial, non-critical rebuild, only.

These are rugged, simple, but also "understressed" motors as such things go. A minimalist bore clean up, new rings, optionally already with new pistons, new bearings, a valve job.. and it will not be "as new", but... a major improvement with long years of life ahead anyway.

"New" short or long blocks are better reserved for more complex, higher parts-count Vee engines where the labour costs immediately outrun commonly available assemblies.
FL engines ain't common enough to enjoy the mass-market price advantages of - for example- a white-bread-common small-block Chevy "soccer mom grade" motor.

Even the half-vast approach of nought but ridge-ream, new rings on OLD piston, and doing the valve job, and she'll at least run a lot better.

For all WE know from a distance, a valve job alone might be "good enough".
 
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The fact you asked the question suggests you aren't familiar working on either engines or forklifts. Forklifts are a pita. Never enough room to do what is necessary.

But a $15,000 solution to a forklift with a weak engine is a little extreme. Sure its in a cramped package, but its still just an engine. You haven't given us pictures of the engine or the forklift but I'll wager a few hundred in parts and a little time will make it run somewhat better. I can only speculate on the cost of a complete overhaul by a competent independent mechanic, but I doubt its 1/2 the cost of the stealers used upgrade.

What is your usage? Twice a week to unload a truck, or 4+ hours per day?
 
Pull all the plugs and open the throttle.
Dry Compression test...check each cylinder and record the results.
Wet Compression test.....squirt oil into the cylinder....test and record.
About three strokes per cylinder should be enough.
Results, little or no change after both tests......valves.
Improvement with the wet test.....rings.
Companion cylinders bad....head gasket.
Your mileage may vary :)
John

If you have a pit the engine can be rebuilt without pulling the block.
 
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Hey guys, thanks for the advice, I have a friend that can easily rebuild the motor, so I think I'll take your advise and rebuild mine. The hilo shop did a wet and dry test, and 3 of the cylinders were down to 40 on the dry test and were 60-80 on the wet test.
I did call around, they want $ 2,200.00 for a newly rebuilt engine, a new engine is closer to $ 4,500.00 - 5,500.00 depending on my exact make.
 
I've had much better results getting my original motors rebuilt by a local reputable shop,
than getting rebuilds that were done as cheaply as possible with a warranty that will never be honoured.

Meahh.. OP is looking at a "onesie", not a fleet.

60-odd years at it with IC motors, I'd have to class MYSELF as "all of the above". EG: Local, reputable, and cheap as possible with the "warranty" simply having do the damned job over again if I didn't get it right, first go.

A basic only-what-it-really-needs rebuild .. painfully tedious ACCESS to the motor whilst still IN PLACE near-as-dammit ANY forklift included... is actually dirt-simple to do, even cheap, parts-wise.

FUBAR'ed drivetrain or differential is far the greater PITA on most FL trucks.
 
If your lift runs on propane, it might just need a valve job. The intake valves can burn on a propane engine, and the resulting low manifold vacuum can't open the propane regulator. End result is very hard starting.

Pull the head and take a look before you do an engine-ectomy.


Here's the head off my '84 (?) Hyster a cpl years ago.
This one had a miss that I just couldn't fix externally, so I guessed it as bad valve(s).


DSCN1322_zpsaptlo7kn.jpg


-----------------------

Think Snow Eh!
Ox
 
while your at it replace all the water hoses rubber ones, clean out the radiator, replace the fan belts.replace the water pump.
Check the condition of the hydraulic oil do a oil test.change if required.

Check the mast for looseness and backend as well, give it a grease.

By all means pull the head first see if its just a head problem or you have to go further, the head has to come off anyway at some point if you digging into it.

Plus one on doing up your own engine by a reputable shop who know what there doing.
 
A little late to the thread, but. I overhauled the engine on my 94ish 5K Yale a few years ago. It was easy. Mine was a Mazda 2.2L truck engine,all parts were common and available. The worst problem was the radiator. The recore cost as much as the shopwork and parts. Mine was a little low on compression so new rings bearings a gasket set and a valve job. The local Yale dealer is quite reasonable on most parts that are proprietary and NAPA is good for the rest.

 








 
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