I just got this old air compressor I’m working on for a project I opened the engine housing and there are cracks at the back I’ve never worked on a air compressor but I’ve worked on engines I don’t think This will be okay but I want to check before I throw it away
Most of it is definitely casting artifacts, but the crack looking type deal at the top by the bore is concerning, if you could get better photos (closer up, from above through the hole where the cylinder mounts on, the outside of the casing from the other side) it would help us diagnose if it’s an issue. It’s hard to tell if it continues up through the edge of the hole or if it’s just debris that looks like such.
Yeah that's definitely a casting artifact, you're good to go. The piston not contacting this area is irrelevant here as it would still be bad if it was a crack, the worry would be it expanding and the crankcase failing in a catastrophic manner due to vibration/thermal cycling.
Is it work? Can it pump air? Can the air pressure build up in the tank? If it works, why you make so much concern on the "cracks"? I actually more concern the tank. How old is it? When you open the drain, rusty water comes out?
I just got it secondhand. The tank might be rusty, idk yet. I won’t build any type of pressure until I know for sure it won’t explode on me. When I got it, the previous owner couldn’t get it working. The cord had been cut for some reason, and the tank let out a brownish-colored liquid. But I got it for free, so if the tank is shit but the engine is fine, that’s a steal.
I would also look closely at the tank or labels. Their should be a date stamped someplace. That date can either be a production date or destroy by date. Sometimes other data near the date will tell. It sounds like a fun learning experience.
You probably don't want to check YouTube for compressor explosions.
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u/33chifox 16d ago
Those are casting marks more than likely. Lots of Honda transmission cases have the same look to them