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We are going from a possible valve prob to a possible carb issue. I had a WLA for awhile, the ULs little brother, and it was quite possibly the easiest motor to work on in the harley line, at least for me: I typically dont do bottom end work, but that motor was so easy, I did that work myself
WD 40 to me is a bad lubricant. I dont even use them on guns, as it does have allot of water in the solvent to begin with. I use Marvel mystery oil for issues like you have, (I have always hated the name as it comes off like, "Snake Oil"), in order to possible "break loose" such probs.
Aviators who own OHV engines in thier AC use and swear by it, as do I for stuff like this, at least to possible break loose a prob and see if it runs. My Ole man, a pilot who had a small airplane and a Avaiation mechanic he used, used it all the time in thier AC mandatory rebuilds.
Have you done a basic compression check? If its poor you have localized that the issue is a ring, valve, or possibly a cam lobe issue
If you do have a possible intake leak, to fix it, you are darn close to removing the head anyway.....
I had very silmliar issue on my WLA. I was riding back from a warbird fly in, and one lung started to give up. About a mile from the house it died
So I get it home, check the electricals, pushrods, etc. To that point that 45 had been practically a one kicker that I could almost hand start with the kicker arm. It would really blow people away how easy it started when a crowd would gather around hen I was ready to leave. This 45 was like the US Army issue, OD, Tommy gun, the whole works
Now it took about 30 kicks till it would start and that one lung just wouldnt fire right
It was a rear head gasket leak: Head bolts had worked loose (and it doesnt take much to cause a bad comp leak)
My father was with me at the time, and when I finally could start it he said, "whats that glow under the tank"
I could see the rear jug actually firing in the head to jug gap, so no need for a comp check at that point
Took the head off, had a machine guy square the head surface back away, and thats it: Like $40 in machine work
Heck, I even did a hand lap job on the heads valves myself before putting the head back on (the guides were in spec) for the valve seat to valve contact just to be sure
Fired right up and ran great
Regardless, do a comp check and it will help localize the prob
But I cant over emphasize the basics. Check ALL your electrics as well. Sporadic power feed and ground mimics engine fuel delivery issues, and Vice Versa
Good luck, keep us in the know!
Dont know about the big flatties, but 45 engine and head parts are pretty cheap. Once i ordered set of bearings and pistons from V Twin. I got set of REAL, Military issue 45 parts, with NSN numbers on the boxes, and inside one was a service bulletin dated 1944 . Still have the boxes and bulletins. Supposedly HD made about 30,000 WLAs, and enough spare parts to build 90,000 more!
Hell, I got a COMPLETE 45 tranny for that resto from a guy in Western NC that had three conexes full of 45 military surplus parts. Got the air box, horn, rims front/rear black out lights and WLA specific ign switch from a guy in Spring Valley NY that had complete 45's on crates for display and about a jillion parts for them
WD 40 to me is a bad lubricant. I dont even use them on guns, as it does have allot of water in the solvent to begin with. I use Marvel mystery oil for issues like you have, (I have always hated the name as it comes off like, "Snake Oil"), in order to possible "break loose" such probs.
Aviators who own OHV engines in thier AC use and swear by it, as do I for stuff like this, at least to possible break loose a prob and see if it runs. My Ole man, a pilot who had a small airplane and a Avaiation mechanic he used, used it all the time in thier AC mandatory rebuilds.
Have you done a basic compression check? If its poor you have localized that the issue is a ring, valve, or possibly a cam lobe issue
If you do have a possible intake leak, to fix it, you are darn close to removing the head anyway.....
I had very silmliar issue on my WLA. I was riding back from a warbird fly in, and one lung started to give up. About a mile from the house it died
So I get it home, check the electricals, pushrods, etc. To that point that 45 had been practically a one kicker that I could almost hand start with the kicker arm. It would really blow people away how easy it started when a crowd would gather around hen I was ready to leave. This 45 was like the US Army issue, OD, Tommy gun, the whole works
Now it took about 30 kicks till it would start and that one lung just wouldnt fire right
It was a rear head gasket leak: Head bolts had worked loose (and it doesnt take much to cause a bad comp leak)
My father was with me at the time, and when I finally could start it he said, "whats that glow under the tank"
I could see the rear jug actually firing in the head to jug gap, so no need for a comp check at that point
Took the head off, had a machine guy square the head surface back away, and thats it: Like $40 in machine work
Heck, I even did a hand lap job on the heads valves myself before putting the head back on (the guides were in spec) for the valve seat to valve contact just to be sure
Fired right up and ran great
Regardless, do a comp check and it will help localize the prob
But I cant over emphasize the basics. Check ALL your electrics as well. Sporadic power feed and ground mimics engine fuel delivery issues, and Vice Versa
Good luck, keep us in the know!
Dont know about the big flatties, but 45 engine and head parts are pretty cheap. Once i ordered set of bearings and pistons from V Twin. I got set of REAL, Military issue 45 parts, with NSN numbers on the boxes, and inside one was a service bulletin dated 1944 . Still have the boxes and bulletins. Supposedly HD made about 30,000 WLAs, and enough spare parts to build 90,000 more!
Hell, I got a COMPLETE 45 tranny for that resto from a guy in Western NC that had three conexes full of 45 military surplus parts. Got the air box, horn, rims front/rear black out lights and WLA specific ign switch from a guy in Spring Valley NY that had complete 45's on crates for display and about a jillion parts for them
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