19j crank pressure

just bought a 1990 110 2.5 td (to put 200tdi engine in) the original engine is running well with no knocking etc, has a new mot on it,but there is a lot of smoke chuffing out the rocker and dip stick, but none out the exhaust, (less than 30miles from mot) so emissions are ok, 153000 miles on clock, did 180miles non stop at a steady 70mph, no overheating didnt lose oil pressure or use any oil, not going to be able to look over it or check it till the weekend, read a lot of posts regarding cracked pistons or blocks on 19j but they all say their motors smoke bad? also have to hold ignition on for a minute from cold to start, heater light wont go out on its own, but its ok for the restof the day?
Heard good things about these engines wondering if its worth saving? would a compression test tell if its piston or block?

A cracked block usually results in water in the motor oil. Check your oil to see if it is a murky brown (evidence of water coolant).
My 19J smokes like crazy and it is hard to start..but for me it is a piston problem. I need to have my cylinders rebored and new pistons installed.
19J's have a bad reputation, but it is not deserved. Almost all the problems a 19J encounters are owner created problems from lack of care. Keep you injectors clean and your oil changed regularly.

no water in the oil, at the weekend i'll have a good look around oil change, check breathers etc, give the girl a good service and see if i can find any probs, i think it was looked after until a few years ago when she was put on the farm! low miles, heavy loads and no services,

your engine is on the way out im afraid save up for a 200 tdi now. chuffing and smoke from oil filler and dipstick tube can signify cracked block, pistons, piston rings ect. i got a 19j as well it dont like starting especially in the cold but it will if you warm the glow plugs for 20-30 seconds. puff of smoke when starting and a bit until it warms up is normal.

definitely do a compression test on the engine. I wouldn't be so quick to throw out a 19J and replace it with a 200tdi.The reason is that actually there is nothing structurally wrong with a 19J except that the earlier models had a poor cylinder head design. If you can repair your 19J with new pistons/rings, that is a lot smarter/cheaper than buying a worn-out 200tdi (which you would have to overhaul anyways). There are a lot of seller's of 200tdi's from wreckingyards, but you have no way of verifying the claimed km's on the engine or the condition in general. Lots of people of bought 200tdi's from wreckingyards, and had to overhaul the engine anyways.
If you have a cracked block on your 19J, then you can do whatever (200tdi, 300tdi, new 19J block from Turner's, etc). This is a whole different story than just new pistons/rings and a rebore.

flushed the oil out, cleaned breathers and changed air filter, only a little oil in base of carrier, seems to be a lot better with little crank pressure, (cant believe i'm that lucky) engine sounds sweet, no knocks or rattles, no black or white smoke when running up motorway or around town, oil pressure holds up when on idle, booked in for a pressure test, soon find out!

I have exactly the same issues, as well as smoking on start etc. Oil, air change plus new injectors etc on the cards for the weekend and like you say, once she's up to temp, she runs sweet and doesn't smoke ( high revs in 3rd produces smoke though ). Plug light doesn't go off in the morning but a good 45 seconds of it on i start her with no problems.

Will be booking mine in for a compression test as well soon.

My eldest son and I bought a 90 C fitted with a 2.5TD, and all the above sounds familiar. Loads of white smoke on start up, and when we accelerate. Rocker cover cap used to blow off, so fed pipe into centre of a spare oil filter as a temporary measure so we could do some road testing. Went out last evening and it blew a load of oil out of the dipstick tube having blown the dipstick half way out. Is it curtains for our engine? No oil mixing with water etc, and it runs as quiet as any other diesel, with loads of power. Any suggestions welcome.If suggestion is to bin it, does anyone have experience of fitting a 300tdi into a 90C (we have one in our disco 1 that has the worlds rustiest chassis). Don't laugh, if it wasn't for bad luck, we wouldn't have any at all !!!

have read all kinds of threads on this forum regarding the 300tdi , seems to be quite a few modifications needed, someone says the lt77 gearbox isn't man enough and you have to put a r380 in which pushes the engine forward and you have to change the engine mount brackets etc..... but dont quote me, i'm in the research mode for installing a 200tdi, i'm lost already trying to order a new clutch kit, 200tdi engine fitted with the 2.5 td bellhousing onto a tl77 gearbox?

hi i have the same probs as above with my defender 90 1987 TD. a bitch to start even after 20-30 secs of heating. all the plugs are ok and i just fitted a new 1000 amp battery. the smoke ran out after 10-15 mins and while it was smoking the was a random puff every few revs..

i have serviced it with some good quality oil and oil stabilizers. its seems to run fine and sounds good, no knocking. also the other day i tried to change the diesel filter.. no joy as it was seized to the aluminium housing. i had bleed the filter but after a few attempts i gave up and replaced the screw.. now it wont start even after 10 mins of priming. also after the lazy approach of cranking the engine a light keeps coming on the dash wen i try to start but the starter wont engage. it just clicks and nothing happens

i have a little prob with the wireing as well . wen u allow power to the battery the lights come on, even when their switched of.. cant turn them of and it dose not help the battery when starting.

any ideas would be appreciated

Thanks