ZZ4X4
New Member
Hi All,
I have a 79 Series III with a 19J 2.5 Turbo Diesel engine that I took from my 83 109 Santana. The engine was hard to start, running very roughly, and burning oil in distinctive puffs before I pulled it from the 109. I completely disassembled the engine and noted a compromised head gasket and light rust marks on the #2 cyl walls. I performed a hone job and cleaned up the valve seats in an effort to do a quick fix for the oil burning. I measured the cyl bore diameters and they seemed in range at 99mm . Noticed the timing belt was off one tooth compared to factory alignment marks. I reassembled the engine trying to correct the issues found. I installed new rings and valve seals, as well as a new head gasket. The new ring kit had three rings per cylinder but my pistons had 4 slots. I kept the lowest ring(oil wiper ring) intact from the old pistons since I didn't have new rings to use. The new rings seemed narrower than the old ones ( a little play in the piston slot) but the gap between ring ends was in spec at .010"). So after reinstalling the engine it is starting much better than before but is burning so much oil I feel like James Bond. So frustrating after all that work. Before I pull the engine again I'm throwing this out there to see if anyone had a similar experience and there are some things to check. I'm not seeing signs of cracked head or block ( no oil in water or vice versa). Can't imagine what the cause could be other than rings vs cyl walls clearance issue. BTW, the compression is 390psi +/- 5psi on all cyls. Why is this thing smoking so badly!!
I have a 79 Series III with a 19J 2.5 Turbo Diesel engine that I took from my 83 109 Santana. The engine was hard to start, running very roughly, and burning oil in distinctive puffs before I pulled it from the 109. I completely disassembled the engine and noted a compromised head gasket and light rust marks on the #2 cyl walls. I performed a hone job and cleaned up the valve seats in an effort to do a quick fix for the oil burning. I measured the cyl bore diameters and they seemed in range at 99mm . Noticed the timing belt was off one tooth compared to factory alignment marks. I reassembled the engine trying to correct the issues found. I installed new rings and valve seals, as well as a new head gasket. The new ring kit had three rings per cylinder but my pistons had 4 slots. I kept the lowest ring(oil wiper ring) intact from the old pistons since I didn't have new rings to use. The new rings seemed narrower than the old ones ( a little play in the piston slot) but the gap between ring ends was in spec at .010"). So after reinstalling the engine it is starting much better than before but is burning so much oil I feel like James Bond. So frustrating after all that work. Before I pull the engine again I'm throwing this out there to see if anyone had a similar experience and there are some things to check. I'm not seeing signs of cracked head or block ( no oil in water or vice versa). Can't imagine what the cause could be other than rings vs cyl walls clearance issue. BTW, the compression is 390psi +/- 5psi on all cyls. Why is this thing smoking so badly!!