danp3
New Member
Right an update after a bit of investigating.
1. There is no signs of any water in the oil under the rocker cover. There is however oil in the hose that goes from the plastic cylinder pot thing on the side of the rocker cover (I forget it's name or purpose) to the bottom of the airbox. Even the airbox end was dripping with oil, this must have gone into the turbo.
will this have caused problems? Is a thorough strip down in order or will it just work it's way out?
2. I next turned the crank over by hand. On one complete revolution I felt four distinct compressions where it got stiff. Now I know this is a bit crude but to me if there were any holes in the pistons the air could escape and the pressure would be minimal. Is this a poor assumption? Is there actually anywhere for the compression to go if not contained by the piston?
3. With the rocker cover off all the valves were moving. I took the rocker shaft off and sat a steel rule across the tops of the valves and there can't have been more than a fraction of a millimeter gap on any of them if that. I don't know how accurate this should be ( I could try again with feelers) but also checking the push rods they all appeared straight. Which I think rules out any serverly damaged valves from the cam belt fiasco.
4. Finally just as a silly check, when giving the engine a quick spin on the starter a lot of smoke was coming out of the hose that goes into the rocker cover (see below) is this to be expected?
5. And there is a hole in the exhaust right on the back of the turbo, looks like it's been there a while. Would this have had any effect?
Sorry for the essay, the most I've ever written. Just wanted to put as much info out there to see if anyone can suggest a possible cause before I start ripping bits apart which I probably shouldnt with my experience.
Plus I still need to borrow a compression tester before I do anything major.
cake offer still stands. Ta
1. There is no signs of any water in the oil under the rocker cover. There is however oil in the hose that goes from the plastic cylinder pot thing on the side of the rocker cover (I forget it's name or purpose) to the bottom of the airbox. Even the airbox end was dripping with oil, this must have gone into the turbo.
will this have caused problems? Is a thorough strip down in order or will it just work it's way out?
2. I next turned the crank over by hand. On one complete revolution I felt four distinct compressions where it got stiff. Now I know this is a bit crude but to me if there were any holes in the pistons the air could escape and the pressure would be minimal. Is this a poor assumption? Is there actually anywhere for the compression to go if not contained by the piston?
3. With the rocker cover off all the valves were moving. I took the rocker shaft off and sat a steel rule across the tops of the valves and there can't have been more than a fraction of a millimeter gap on any of them if that. I don't know how accurate this should be ( I could try again with feelers) but also checking the push rods they all appeared straight. Which I think rules out any serverly damaged valves from the cam belt fiasco.
4. Finally just as a silly check, when giving the engine a quick spin on the starter a lot of smoke was coming out of the hose that goes into the rocker cover (see below) is this to be expected?
5. And there is a hole in the exhaust right on the back of the turbo, looks like it's been there a while. Would this have had any effect?
Sorry for the essay, the most I've ever written. Just wanted to put as much info out there to see if anyone can suggest a possible cause before I start ripping bits apart which I probably shouldnt with my experience.
Plus I still need to borrow a compression tester before I do anything major.
cake offer still stands. Ta
that plastic device is an oil trap to allow crankcase pressure to vent out, but should trap any oil in the mesh filter in that housing. obviously it isnt working. you can wash the filter in petro to clean it, but it sounds definitely like excess crankcase pressure. l would guess that it is rings, but it could be several things. it looks like a full stripdon may be required. certainly head off and sump to check bearings .
to allow crankcase pressure to vent out, but should trap any oil in the mesh filter in that housing. obviously it isnt working. you can wash the filter in petro to clean it, but it sounds definitely like excess crankcase pressure. l would guess that it is rings, but it could be several things. it looks like a full stripdon may be required. certainly head off and sump to check bearings .
a leak-down test is better, but yu need a compressor, or source of compressed gas fpr that. most good garages will have one, but that involves a trailer or a tow to and from.
get a local bedford lad (look on herts & beds laning threads) to give yu a hand.
get a local bedford lad (look on herts & beds laning threads) to give yu a hand.
jamesmartin
Well-Known Member
id whip head off,if all valves were opening you must have burnt or holed piston or gasket issue
jamesmartin
Well-Known Member
Cool
Quick question. When I looked at taking the head of before I couldn't work out which gasket I needed. Different thicknesses
look at holes in one fitted or measure height above deck of highest piston ,or fit 3 hole gasket
noooooo
jamesmartin
Well-Known Member
use the ones youve got if there all the same length as each other ,in respective bolt type
tetsu0san
Active Member
If there is no damage and you put it all back together, don't skimp on the replacement head gasket. Get a Payen one or another good brand (not S**tPart), and I would advise not getting a metal gasket. Just a fiber one is what I would fit.
As James said, just reuse your old head bolts, but to be on the safe side remove them in the opposite way to tightening them up. This should help with preventing head warp when removing the head.
It all sounds like a piston problem to me, either a knackered piston or rings, or a scored bore. A head gasket failure could also do this but this usually comes with other symptoms (but not always). When you remove the head and the gasket, post up some pictures of the gasket for us all to look at.
Good luck!
As James said, just reuse your old head bolts, but to be on the safe side remove them in the opposite way to tightening them up. This should help with preventing head warp when removing the head.
It all sounds like a piston problem to me, either a knackered piston or rings, or a scored bore. A head gasket failure could also do this but this usually comes with other symptoms (but not always). When you remove the head and the gasket, post up some pictures of the gasket for us all to look at.
Good luck!
tetsu0san
Active Member
danp3
New Member
Right then...
I moved her to a friends lock up first thing, not easy with no power steering. Infact bugering about turning round power steering fluid was running out of somewhere. big problem?
First we took off the intercooler which was full off oil.
not sure if this means much.
Unbolting the exhaust manifold it did seem like the bolts came out easy and all looked relatively new.
Equally the head bolts were to my eyes in fairly good nick. Would appreciate opinions on wether to replace as I don't know the history for sure.
So the head, which eventually wriggled off. Firstly the gasket looked really good, new even. None of it stuck to either head or block. No obvious breaks or tears in it.
there was a bit of oil and water on both faces but I think that's just what came out on separating.
As you can see from the picture one cylinder was really sooted up where the others were more grimy. This was the same on the pistons.
the three less charred ones also had little pools of diesel in the top of the pistons where this one didn't.
from this we assumed there was a fuel injection issue.
not sure this is recommended but we gave it a quick spin on the starter and saw that diesel came out of all four fuel pipes. We then screwed the injector back into no.3 and tried again but no fuel came out. My conclusion, faulty injector. Please tell me what you think.
More worryingly as I'm sure you notices in the last picture, the cylinders had what I would call pronounced steps perhaps 15mm down each bore. Initially in our ignorance we presumed they were supposed to be like that as it was so defined on all four. But on closer inspection the step wasn't uniform around the circumference with some places far less noticeable.
Now don't hold back, it's fuct isn't it?
What I really need now is some expert advice. If the injector is faulty what would this have caused? If the cylinders are worn how long would it have been like that and why? I'm still not sure why the oil has come out or why it wouldn't start afterwards. Could it not still run on three cylinders? The bloke who shares the lock up said he once had a problem with his turbo that caused oil problens? What do I need to check on the turbo?
Sorry again but I am lost.
On the plus side I have learnt an awful lot today about the workings of my engine. So it's not all bad.
Dan
I moved her to a friends lock up first thing, not easy with no power steering. Infact bugering about turning round power steering fluid was running out of somewhere. big problem?
First we took off the intercooler which was full off oil.
Unbolting the exhaust manifold it did seem like the bolts came out easy and all looked relatively new.
Equally the head bolts were to my eyes in fairly good nick. Would appreciate opinions on wether to replace as I don't know the history for sure.
So the head, which eventually wriggled off. Firstly the gasket looked really good, new even. None of it stuck to either head or block. No obvious breaks or tears in it.
As you can see from the picture one cylinder was really sooted up where the others were more grimy. This was the same on the pistons.
not sure this is recommended but we gave it a quick spin on the starter and saw that diesel came out of all four fuel pipes. We then screwed the injector back into no.3 and tried again but no fuel came out. My conclusion, faulty injector. Please tell me what you think.
More worryingly as I'm sure you notices in the last picture, the cylinders had what I would call pronounced steps perhaps 15mm down each bore. Initially in our ignorance we presumed they were supposed to be like that as it was so defined on all four. But on closer inspection the step wasn't uniform around the circumference with some places far less noticeable.
What I really need now is some expert advice. If the injector is faulty what would this have caused? If the cylinders are worn how long would it have been like that and why? I'm still not sure why the oil has come out or why it wouldn't start afterwards. Could it not still run on three cylinders? The bloke who shares the lock up said he once had a problem with his turbo that caused oil problens? What do I need to check on the turbo?
Sorry again but I am lost.
On the plus side I have learnt an awful lot today about the workings of my engine. So it's not all bad.
Dan
engines that are long in the tooth always have a wear lip around the bores, nothing to worry about particularly. Its not uniform as the piston presses harder against one side, than the other.
Last edited:
