Saturday, August 29, 2015

Land Rover 109, delayed

Delayed,

    Those not strangers to this blog won't be surprised.

   I had the turbo and exhaust manifold off to try to make the flange a better fit. While it was off I had my son-in-law, Andy, bring over his bore scope which he uses for his plumbing business.

Putting it in the exhaust port we could see it was really oily, no surprise there. The next morning I cleaned the port out with brake clean and stuck the camera back in. Then I poured oil over the springs/valve to see if it would leak and I could see from where. Nothing jumped out I even rotated the crank and watched but couldn't see anything conclusive.

Then after removing the intake manifold I looked in all the ports and found oil on both the intake and exhaust valve guides. So I decided that I would order new valves, guides, seals. When they come in i will pull the head and remove the valves myself and take the head down to get the seats faced and the guides replaced. That's if tearing it down doesn't show any cracks in the head.

I am guesstamating a 2 week turnaround  from Monday Aug 31.

Thanks, Andy!

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Land Rover turbo flange leak

Well here we go again!

   The oil leak in my #3 cylinder was apparent by the oil bubbling out of the turbo to exhaust flange. Since noting this I have tried different things to try to mitigate the oil. First I tried new gasket, no help.

Then I filed the surface of the turbo flat and clean as it appeared the worse for wear, no help.

Next up was some exhaust putty, it was hard to put on and oil blew right out. It was even harder to clean off! No help.

Now yesterday I removed the turbo and exhaust and this morning took it down to a machine shop. Jerry looked at it and told me he couldn't hold it in his machine unless the turbo was dismantled. He did get out some feeler gauges and a straight edge to check for the low spot. Right where I knew it was it was .01 low. Pretty darn good for and old guy and some files!

So I brought it home and put it in the vise. Below you can see the pitting from time immemorial. The side on the bottom was the leakier side.



Then using a sanding block I started to work. At first I went with 400 grit but that was hardly removing any material, so I went up to 220.



I don't have any dyekem so I used a Magic Marker to coat the face.



Then a light pass with the sanding block revealed the high spots.


Then back to the sanding. The low spots on the sides were giving me a hard time. Nothing I did seemed to get rid of them.

I re-marked with red ink and checked for high spots.



Then I figured my plastic sanding block was flexing so I used a piece of 1/2' steel plate I had. Wrapping the sand paper around it I went at the flange again.





Again starting over with 220 I worked my way through 400, 600 and 1500 grit. In the end I had not enough gap to fit a feeler gauge through.



All in all I did around an hour and a half  to two hours of sanding, It was 94F today............

I finally got a hold of my son in law and he will let me know tonight when I can borrow the bore scope. I want to look up #3 exhaust port and see if I can find any telltale for where the oil leak is coming from. Might as well do it while I have everything apart.

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Land Rover brake bleeding

I had to wait until Monday for the auto store to open so I could get enough brake fluid and start bleeding the system.

 Using the 1 man procedure I filled the reservoir and attached a length of tubing to the bleeder, with the other end of the tube in a partly filled jar I cracked the bleeder open. Starting with the wheel farthest from the master cylinder. Moving to the cab I slowly depressed the brake pedal and released it 8 times. Then checked the fluid level and refilled it. Again I worked the pedal slowly 8 more times. Then closed the bleeder valve.

   Moving next to the other rear wheel I did the same and moved on to the front brakes. This has a larger reservoir so I pumped them 10 times. Once both fronts were bled and closed I tried the pedal and it was firm!!!

I should have no more issues with the braking system (fingers crossed!).

Of course I had to test them so I got my keys and fired up the 109. Cautiously I moved forward a few feet and applied the brakes and then in reverse. They worked.

Venturing out of the drive onto the street I drove forward and back a few times. They worked.

Gaining confidence I headed down the hill and had to stop and pull over for an oncoming car. They worked.

Going to the steepest part of the hill and stopping I applied the parking brake, it slowly rolled forward..... but the brakes worked.

Now I was committed below me lay the road and I would either have to back up or go down. Of course I went down :) aware I did not have my drivers license or phone I ventured onto the road and went about 1/4 mile to where I could safely turn around and headed home. The brakes continued to work and I made it home without incident.

Once home I popped the bonnet to check for leaks, none in the braking system but the oil bubbling out the turbo flange was making a mess!

It was a hot day so I called it quits.


Well I thought I did anyway. Whilst lounging about the house I decided to let the engine cool some and then remove the turbo and exhaust. I have decided to take them in to a machine shop an see if they can fly cut the turbo flange flat to help with it sealing.

    So while the exhaust was warm I stood in the hot sun (94F) and took all the turbo and exhaust off cleaned it up and packed it on my motorcycle for the trip into town in the am.

Sunday, August 23, 2015

Land Rover brake master cylinder alternate

If you have been reading along you know that I have had trouble with the LR M/C seals leaking. I have gone through 3 since installing the servo and NRC6096 master cylinder. These were for the Series 3 V8 109, with a plastic reservoir and metric fittings(M12 x 1.00 and M10 x 1.00)

Here is a pic of the first 2;



The reservoir is connected thru these seals and held in place with roll pins. It relies on tightness of the seal to not leak. While mine lasted around 4 months with out leaking, once they started it would take around 30 hours to drain the reservoir. That is just sitting not driving around!




I don't know about you but I don't want to be changing out either seals or master cylinders every 4 months. I want, no NEED something more reliable! So I went looking on forums and found some info on making a Ford m/c work.

What I decided on using is the Dorman M71248 used on among other things 68 Mustangs. It has SAE fitting 1/2-20 for the large and 3/8-24 for the small outlet ports.



   The biggest issue with making the change is that the Rover piston is, when installed on the servo, in direct contact with the servo actuating rod, while the Ford has a deep recess in the piston for the actuator rod. To overcome this I was advised by Geoff T. who had done the conversion on a 110, to make a 7/16"dia x 1.00" spacer. Then adjust the length of the spacer until it fit.

My spacer was made out of a stainless steel bolt, I bought one with a 7/16" shaft and removed the head and threads with my angle grinder and a 1/16" cutoff wheel. By hand, on the grinding wheel and using a flat steel plate, I ground the ends as square as I could get and made the length exactly 1in.



The recess diameter in my Ford m/c turned out to be 1/2" so a larger diameter rod could be used.

Once I had the m/c in my grubby wide hands I set about fitting the final overall length by doing some measurements and trial and error. The flanges between the 2 m/c's are different heights making the depth of the actuating rod fit different.
   Instead of the difficult task of keeping the face flat as I was shortening the spacer I decided on a different approach. Using a center punch I drilled a recess in the end of the spacer. I felt I could have better control over depth and it would allow the actuating rod to seat in the spacer.
   IIRC I drilled 5/64" into the 1" spacer with a 7/64" bit. If I had just done a flat end it would be around .950 overall.



I did have to remove some of the inner wing to fit the reservoir part of the Ford m/c. I used a nibbler and filed it smooth.



I probably went back and forth to the drill press about half a dozen times until I had the flange seated on the servo and no pressure from the spacer on the actuating rod.

Here's the spacer and the servo;



The servo fitting in the Ford m/c;



And fully seated;



The fittings needed to be changed next.



Using my Dremel tool I cut off the old flare and made new ones with my flaring kit.



I compared my flare to a factory one which came with my new fittings. Mine is on the right.



With both fittings done they were hooked up to the m/c and filled the reservoirs with DOT 4 brake fluid. This m/c has 2 reservoirs under the lid.



Next up is bleeding the system.

Friday, August 21, 2015

Land Rover brake master cylinder seals leak,

OK, just so everybody know what I'm talking about here is the dual brake system with servo. This unit , NRC6096, is for Series 3 dual line systems. It has the plastic reservoir connected to the casting with seals. It is these seals which leak.

During my restomod when I went to disc brakes I upgraded the old mc with a servo and a new mc in May of 2013. It took a while to get the vehicle running enough to put brake fluid in, Girling DOT4, I don't have that date at hand. I drove the 109 for about 6 months while trying to sort out the 19J engine. That ended last Dec, 2014.

   In Jan of 2015 when I started to change out the 19J 2.5DT for the 200TDI I noticed the seal connecting the brake fluid res to the mc was leaking and I got a new one, then swapped them out in March. Haven't driven the 109 anywhere and the new mc is leaking at those same seals 4 months later.





I took apart the original and the first new mc's hoping to find out why they were leaking. There must have been an upgrade at some point cause the original ones had flat sided seals and the new ones are stepped for recess in the casting.

Old one with res off;



New seal on left old style on right;



I think it is impractical to be replacing seals every 4 months so I am going to change the LR mc for a Dorman M71248 out of a 68 Mustang. It has an integral res in the casting so there will not be any leaking seals.

I don't have one yet so no pictures. Next post!!!

Thursday, August 20, 2015

Land Rover repairs, oil leak and fuel tank leak

I had filled the extended range fuel tank once I got the engine ready to run. That is when I found that it had a leak. It was right in the corner under a gusset added by my welder to convert the tank from RH to LH. We could not tell if it was caused by the MFR or the additional welding.

So I drained the tank and got about 5.5 US gal out when 1/4 tank was showing on the gauge. IF I get 22 mpg that will be 121mi. on the last 1/4 tank or 400 miles per tank. Probably less due to the shape of the tank.

    Then I dropped the tank using a floor jack and made sure it was MT. Next I sealed up the inlet and the hose fittings and using air pressure tested it to find exactly where the leak was. I sprayed Windex on the weld hoping to see bubbles. I had to get the tank up to around 40psi before the bubbles showed up.

   Using Simple Green I cleaned the tank twice and rinsed it 5 times until the smell of Simple Green was stronger than the diesel.

   On Monday it took it down to Arc-Tec, but he wasn't there.......I went down again on Tuesday and Daren was already busy welding on someones aluminum hulled boat. We talked and I left the tank for him to get to when he could. He agreed if he got it done that day that he would meet me in the small town we both live in on his way home that night. Yay! That went off without a hitch, Plus he didn't charge for the repair. Once home I did another pressure check on the tank and it showed no leak, WHEW! I repainted the area where the diesel removed the truckbed liner.

   On Wednesday my neighbor and I went to San Jose where he wanted my expert opinion on making a road bike purchase. (He bought a Fuji). After returning home I installed the tank and put the fuel back in.

Here is the pic of the repaired area;


After the tank was installed I fired up the engine and checked the leak on the water pump stud. I had taken the nut off cleaned the area with brake clean and used Permatex blue under the nut. I tightened it down and left it for 2 days to cure. Another WOOT! WOOT!! No leak;



With all this head removal and oil leaks I have been using the Series crank handle to turn the crank and check/set the valves. The 200TDI does not have the dog on the crank to fit the hand crank so I modified mine. Using a 1/2" x 30mm impact socket I welded it to a 1/2" drive U-joint.



 The end of the crank handle I ground off to fit the 1/2" U-joint.



To use it I have to slide the handle in past the brace I made to fit under the bumper. Then put on the u-joint and fit it to the crank nut.




   The brace was made from a 1 1/4 x 1/8" angle iron. I drilled a hole to fit the crank handle shaft and then dremeled out the slot for the crank handle dog.



I cut at the  corners and bent them over for gussets and welded them in place. Drilled holes for 1/4"  bolts and located it on the underside of the bumper. It is attached with grade 8 bolts.



You can see it lines up with the PTO hole in the front cross member, behind which lies the crank bolt.



    Before doing this the crank handle was difficult to keep in place while turning without the brace. The angle of the crank handle would not let the socket fit straight on. Using the brace kept the crank handle straight but would often fall out of the socket due to the angle(being lower than the crank nut). With the u-joint the socket stays on and the crank handle stays straight making turning the crank on the 200TDI as easy as on the 2.25.

Saturday, August 15, 2015

Land Rover oil in exhaust

OK, the other day I took the turbo off(I'm getting good at that!) and in an effort to determine where the oil is coming from, ran the engine. I could see that it definitely is coming from #3 exhaust port. In the video you can see it is dry to start with and then oil starts to deposit on the exhaust divider. Around the same time the oil shows up the exhaust begins puffs of blue smoke. I wasn't sure how much oil and smoke there would be or how loud, hence all the safety gear. I still got oil on my glasses....

Now to determine the cause. I am going to try to find a video scope to look into the exhaust port and see if there is any obvious telltales. I am also going to remove the #3 glowplug and shoot some air in the combustion chamber with the valve cover off and see if I get any bubbles.

Enough typing here's the video;

8-15-15 1159h
Well, I just got back from doing the air test and that did not work as it pushed the piston back down and changed the valve timing. I went to the FLAPS and bought some Seafoam I'm going to throw it in the fuel tank and see if that does any good. Too hot outside to do much more today.

8-16-15 1111h

Hooked up the turbo and exhaust and fired it up this morning still leaking around the turbo. I also have a pretty severe oil leak coming from a stud holding on the waterpump and timing cover. That and my brake fluid all draining out of the leaking seals makes the darn car undriveable.
     I pulled the nut off the stud and cleaned up the area and put on some silicone(Perematex blue) hoping to seal the leak.  Supposed to be 103F today.

I can't get a effing break!

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Oil in the exhaust

Well, changing the valve stem seals didn't work. I drove the 109 about 4 miles and after 2 I looked under the hood and could see oil coming out between the turbo/exhaust manifold flanges.



Not only there but it is coming out past one of the waterpump bolts!



So discouraging.............

I suppose I should add that I had the exhaust manifold welded.



Then I set about cleaning up the weld so it would clear the intake flange.



Once it was fitted I put on the turbo and went for a test drive, O and it fired right up.

Monday, August 10, 2015

Land Rover 200TDI valve stem seal replacement

Ah dear readers, (Paul ;^))

 I started last Saturday on taking the head off my 200TDI to discover the source of the oil in the exhaust. I started by draining the coolant.



Next I removed the air cleaner and turbo;



then the intake and exhaust, to do this I had to disconnect the down pipe under the vehicle,


with the intake/exhaust side done I started on the fuel side by removing the fuel spill rail and the glow plugs and injectors, pictured are the injectors,


These proved not easy to remove due to the crud in the injector well. I got them out by putting a wrench on them and twisting back and forth while pulling up with my left hand.

Then after taking off the rocker arms and drilling a board for the push rods to keep them in order I loosened the head bolts, man I must be getting old I had to use a cheater bar to break them free. I then drilled out another board to keep the head bolts in proper order.

I got ready for the big job of lifting out the head. Done this before on 2.25 petrol and diesel engines before always been hard on the back due to the weight. I was pleasantly surprised at how light the aluminum head is! Below is the head off and the gasket still in place. Another surprise was the head not sticking to the gasket or the gasket to the block!??



It was a relief to see the gasket intact with no oil passages blown thru. I took off the gasket and looked at the head.



It too looked good. So on to the head, despite the oil on it it looked good too!



So I then figured it must be the valve stem seals, in the pic you can see the seals, looking kinda orange, the one on the right is way off and the left is only slightly off of the seat.



Here's a couple of pics of my shop;




Since I had pre-ordered new valve seals I pulled up a stool and went to work removing the springs and replacing the seals. Below is the #1 valve with the spring removed, you can see the seal is too high. The next pic is the new seal almost seated.



And #2 not seated;



Rather than show you each seal I figured I would show the different steps to change the seals. First you have to compress the seal. My valve spring compressor was bought in the early 80's to work on my 2.25 petrol. After the spring is compressed you have to tap it down to break free the split cone from the valve spring cup, then you can remove the split cones and lift off the spring gaining access to the seals.





Keep track of the split cones and I found it easier to remove and manipulate with one of those small retrieval magnets. I did 1 at a time to not mix up parts.


Compressed spring;


This seal was waaaay loose;



I couldn't push the seal all the way down by hand so I used a piece of 1/2" tubing and a hammer to tap them all the way down, would have been nice to have something round but it worked!


Once the seal is back on just lower the spring into the recess( the alli heads have a steel plate to sit on) and finagle the split cones back into place. Then pull up on the spring to trap the split cones in place and let tension off on the spring compressor making sure the bottom of the spring seats in the recess.



Repeat 8 times and yer done!

Putting the head back on required a new gasket and a learning experience for me. This head doesn't have a final torque setting. First you set all the bolts in sequence to 40nm, then you have to turn each bolt 60 degrees in sequence, twice making the rounds. Man that was tiring! There is barely enough room to turn some bolts while the engine is in the vehicle. Hopefully I got it done right(fingers crossed!).



I didn't quite get it all put together after a 10 hour day. I have an issue with the thermostat, when I removed the elbow the seal around the t-stat was destroyed;




A call to Trevor at Rovah Farm showed that the wrong t-stat had been installed, one without the integrated seal was called for Part #ERR2803. So I cleaned it up and made a new gasket this morning and put it on.






Then I started putting the exhaust manifold on, while tightening the nuts on the top center I heard a "ping" noise. Figuring something broke and rather fix it now than later I removed the manifold and found a crack in one of the mounting tabs.  I took it down to Santa Cruz to the welder and will pick it up tomorrow.



IF all things go well tomorrow I just have to put on the manifold, turbo and heater hose, fill with coolant and fire it up! Then I can pull the extra fuel tank and take it down to the welder and fix the pinhole leak in a weld.