markomate2
Well-Known Member
- Posts
- 899
- Location
- Bedford and Tallinn
I thought I would start a thread on fixing my 15P head.
Hopefully there wont be too many surprises along the way!
I also want to share things I come across, good and bad!
As per my previous posts, my 2004 D2 had its engine run away in sunny Scotland a few weeks ago, I stopped it and got relayed back to Bedford, thank you RAC!
Drained more than 12 litres of oil/fuel from the sump, assumed it was injector seals, turned out to be No.1 injector pocket cracked.
Looked at head options, AMC head from UK supplier around £1.5K incl fitting bits a pieces, add to that the good chance that one or more con rods are bent and that the big end bearings are gone, its a good chance the final bill will be around £2K! Im not up for splashing that out without looking at alternatives.
Options were:
Complete 15P engine from scrapyard £1.5K
Complete head from scrap engine £350
Rebuild my head £150 repair, + fitting parts £250 = £400 ish
Im not equipped to remove the whole engine.
So I found what looks like a good place that can repair the head, after a chat with them I got the following feedback:
The pockets on 15P heads still crack.
But its caused by the injector being forced against the side of the pocket by the injector cam putting too much load onto the injector plunger stem.
The clearance adjustment, obtained by backing off the adjusting screw 1 turn is too small, the correct setting is obtained by backing it off 1.5 turns. Note: even the LR manual says rotate the engine 2 complete turns AFTER setting the adjustment to check for bottoming out of plungers, so there is a lot of logic to turning them back 1.5 turns!
The company that do the repairs are on Ebay, they are just outside Newark, they didnt mind if I visit them and drop my head in, which I think is a good sign.
They do a full pressure test after welding and heads very rarely need skimming because they dont get hot enough to warp.
So thats it so far, next steps are:
Strip down and remove head
Poss send injectors for testing at Diesel Bobs
Drop the sump and replace the big ends
Check for any bent rods and replace if required
Wont be doing anything for a couple of weeks but Ill update as things progress.
Mark
Hopefully there wont be too many surprises along the way!
I also want to share things I come across, good and bad!
As per my previous posts, my 2004 D2 had its engine run away in sunny Scotland a few weeks ago, I stopped it and got relayed back to Bedford, thank you RAC!
Drained more than 12 litres of oil/fuel from the sump, assumed it was injector seals, turned out to be No.1 injector pocket cracked.
Looked at head options, AMC head from UK supplier around £1.5K incl fitting bits a pieces, add to that the good chance that one or more con rods are bent and that the big end bearings are gone, its a good chance the final bill will be around £2K! Im not up for splashing that out without looking at alternatives.
Options were:
Complete 15P engine from scrapyard £1.5K
Complete head from scrap engine £350
Rebuild my head £150 repair, + fitting parts £250 = £400 ish
Im not equipped to remove the whole engine.
So I found what looks like a good place that can repair the head, after a chat with them I got the following feedback:
The pockets on 15P heads still crack.
But its caused by the injector being forced against the side of the pocket by the injector cam putting too much load onto the injector plunger stem.
The clearance adjustment, obtained by backing off the adjusting screw 1 turn is too small, the correct setting is obtained by backing it off 1.5 turns. Note: even the LR manual says rotate the engine 2 complete turns AFTER setting the adjustment to check for bottoming out of plungers, so there is a lot of logic to turning them back 1.5 turns!
The company that do the repairs are on Ebay, they are just outside Newark, they didnt mind if I visit them and drop my head in, which I think is a good sign.
They do a full pressure test after welding and heads very rarely need skimming because they dont get hot enough to warp.
So thats it so far, next steps are:
Strip down and remove head
Poss send injectors for testing at Diesel Bobs
Drop the sump and replace the big ends
Check for any bent rods and replace if required
Wont be doing anything for a couple of weeks but Ill update as things progress.
Mark