guys i have a yale forklift with a ind 30 engine that i just did a compression check on cold and got readings of #1-85 #2-90, #3-95, #4-90, #5-90, #6- 95 and i believe these engines are 8-1 or 8.5-1 compression ratio. trying to find out what compression was new. it has been changed to 12v negative ground with pertronix module and its working GOOD, just zapped me hard! took the zenith updraft apart and clean as a whistle, sprayed it with carburetor cleaner and took apart running wire and air through jets! i would like to change it to downdraft carburetor off something more modern or better yet propane since the gas today is SHIT!
Is it a 230 23 inch block or a 250/265 25 inch block. The later 230s had compression ratios of 8:1 so 120-130 compression, a lot of these engines were like 7:1, with compression 110-120 new. On a flathead 6, getting uniform compression with all cylinders with close to 10% in readings is good. I think the compression on your engine doesn't sounds bad. Get her running and see what you got, especially with oil pressure etc...
http://www.t137.com/registry/help/otherengines/otherengines.php have a look on this website, in Industrial Engines, and see what you got. You will need that engine number to figure out what you have.....
Low compression on gas forklift engines is common with some age. They hardly ever get up to operating temperature and end up running rich to keep running while cold. They also foul plugs regular as clockwork, which further adds to the over rich condition. Best thing you can do is change it over to propane. We've got several forklifts. Some gas and some propane. The gas ones easily give 3X as much trouble as the propane ones, and its always engine related stuff.
Compression isn't bad, at least you have some in all cylinders. Nothing wrong with an updraft carb if it is working. They are simple and trouble free. I wouldn't change anything, just tune it up and drive it. On the propane conversion, I have no opinion except have seen more valve seat recession in propane vehicles than gas.
I'd say compression is great, allowing for displacement, comp ratio, and my recollection of checking and writing down these values when still a 15 year old apprentice! The penciled figures were visible against the commercial yellow paint...Remember them like the Confiteor. No 125 p.s.i. there...
this is the first gas lift i have owned and it's a pain, got a friend checking into propane setup unless someone here has one for sale!
Propane on a forklift is the best way to go, and certainly safer if you use it in an enclosed building, both from a air quality and fire hazard standpoint. .
I would just time it by ear. Or use the old vacuum gauge. I would recommend a conversion to LPG. LPG is not fussy and that makes life easier. If you do the conversion you can advance the timing.
Look on the front pulley or vibration damper for the usual timing marks. Flathead Chrysler products have another way to check the timing. On the cylinder head there is a small pipe plug over the #6 cylinder. Remove this plug and you can drop a screwdriver down on top of the piston. Slowly turn the engine and you can tell when you reach TDC. #1 and #6 rise and fall together so you can check your timing with no other timing marks or confirm that the pulley marks are accurate. No other engine has this feature.
We have two aircraft tugs with the Chrysler Industrial sixes; one propane and the other gas. The propane powered one is hard to start and will always be the one to give us trouble. Not to mention having to haul the empty tank somewhere to fill it up... The gas powered version just keeps going and going... Of course I'm kind of prejudiced against propane from my days of running forklifts in an industrial setting. In my experience we always had fewer problems with the gas or diesel equipment than the propane rigs.
when I worked the flight line we had the newer Ford tugs..that let us down from time to time....but over on the side was that Chrysler power tug that was always on the ready....
most industrial motors have hardened valve seats and inconel valves because of the abuse they take also because of the dry gas that Propane /lpg is , most industrial motors they put the timing marks on the flywheel and there is a little door that covers it on the engine side( ussually the distribtor side ) . If it was me I would propane it , if its going in a vehicle ( car /truck ) , you can do 1 of 2 ways either keep using the metal nurse tanks or put in a larger fibre wrapped tank as most propane place will fill them or most of the major truck stops now are having propane fills for rv's and some semis , as for problems with propane vs gas if you live in a damp cold area make sure you have a air preheater otherwise you can freeze the carb solid with ice and make sure your mixer and evaporators have a good hot water source to get good vaporization of the propane .its a must , most problems I had with lift trucks and geeps were operators burning up the ignition systems , on several we put buzzers on that when the motor quit the buzzer sounds so you turn it off . ( hooked thru the alternator /generator .. ( one we hooked it to the horn never burned a set of points up after that )
Flathead Chrysler engines, had a number of things going for them, even for modern unleaded fuels. 1) Hardened valve seats, since the late 30s 2) full pressure oil lubrication 3) bearing inserts, not poured babbit 4) Industrial heavy duty engines, sodium filled valve stems 5) aluminum cast pistons Some engines had full flow oil filtration, most you can convert by plugging an area in the block to direct all oil to the filter. Some of the big trucks came factory with dual carb and dual exhaust manifolds from the factory, as well as many different cm profiles. The 230 23 inch US built engine was packing up to 135 hp 8:1 compression and 2 bbl carb/intake by the late 1950s. This engine has a bottom end quite similar to a slant 6, forged cranks and all... Torquey engines, not high revving, not high HP, can be made to spin over 5000 rpm with some crank journal cross-drilling and creating oil flow grooves in the bearings. This has been done for racing and tractor pulling and such....a very long living work horse