jamescronin
Active Member
- Posts
- 636
- Location
- London
So after a couple of years with my 90 being very unreliable, and deciding to pack up in the most anoying places I have finaly decided to try and get it back mechanicaly sound, and need some advice on what to do
Basicly it's a 1986 90 witha 2.5TD fitted which has done 180k
The main problems I have had so far are:
2x transfer box failure - the first time the selection fork snaped off and stripped the teath from the input shaft, but thankfully the splines stayed intact, so I had these items replaced and had a cross drilled shaft installed. All was well, until I realised that they had not resolved the original cause of the failure (i.e. both output oil seals being worn) and it then ran out of oil half way to the lakes and then finaly exploded about a mile and a half up a snow and ice covered track near torver. After a partial rebuild it managed to get it the 370 miles back to london with no middle bearing, no spedo, and no selection fork)
This box has now been replaced with a second hand one, with new oil seals fitted and seems to be dry. - I opted to keep the old hand break as it was already adjusted to the seased up cable
When doing the replacment I noticed that the splines on the input shaft from the main box are very worn, and have a 45degree slop on the load side of them which is obviously not right. However it has done around another 3000 miles since this with no major problems (however there is quite a lot of slack in the transmission when pulling off
The other problem is the engine. It is smoking at startup, but soon settles down, but lack power. The turbo has been changed soon after i got it after the oil seals went and a huge amount of white smoke filled the A12 - thankfully i managed to stop the engine by using the clutch in 5th gear before all the oil was burnt away. - The new one used to whine when it was provinging boost, but this seems to have stopped recently.
There is also a large amount of back pressure in the engine, and it blows oil out of the rocker cover breather pipe all the time, and when starting up one cyliner does the compression cycle quicker and easier then the other three, so I guess at least one cylinder is down on compression.
So as I'm planning a number of long journeys in the next few months I would like it in tip top condition and RELIABLE if at all pos. - I'm told that the 2.5TD should be, and try and get the fuel usage down a bit 12mpg on the motorway is a little depressing
What I want to know is the following:-
1) do the worn splines pose a major problem - i'm not intending on entering any weight pulling compertitions - but do load the back up with around 1tonne of kit
- if it is, can this shaft easily be replaced (e.g. can it be pulled out and a new one up in without removing the gear box / transfer box?
2) should I put the cross drilled shaft into the replacment box (i don't know any history of the box it came from a breakers yard, and had a power takeoff unit on it, which was removed and the blanking plate put back on - BUT this box is different as the rear bearing for the shaft is built into a cage inside the box, while my old one was part of the back cover)
3)I want get the compression back up in the engine, put new injectors in and get the power back - I presume this is something I can do with the power plant still in situ by removing the sump, and head.
My worry here is as I need to get the work done in a weekend is
i) should I replace the pistons or just the rings as i hear that the turbos have a habit of cracking the pistons? - I need to order the parts in advance
ii) do the valvles burn in these engines/ do the vavle guides wear - i.e. should I be looking at replacing the valves or just regrinding them?
iii) Why is my turbo nolonger making the whining noise that it used to?
iv) Is there anything else I should be looking at doing to it that is likely to break soon - I have had a new water pump fitted and had the injector timing done recently, as well as a second hand starter fitted which turns it over easily
4) And this is very anoying - From time to time the right side side lights come on for no reason, and run the battery flat overnight - the left ones stay off. It does not matter what i do with the switch, and the only way to turn them off is to remove the fuse. I notice that the lights are dimmer than they should be, and come to full bringhtness when the switch is turned on - starnage!! I guess there is a short smoewhere but I just cant find where - any ideas anybody?????
Thanks for reading so far - any help/advice would be appreciated (except for fitting a new engine/gearbox as I don't have any desire to ever do this again after recently doing this on another car whith a much smaller engine - I was looking for a bridge at one point)
James
Basicly it's a 1986 90 witha 2.5TD fitted which has done 180k
The main problems I have had so far are:
2x transfer box failure - the first time the selection fork snaped off and stripped the teath from the input shaft, but thankfully the splines stayed intact, so I had these items replaced and had a cross drilled shaft installed. All was well, until I realised that they had not resolved the original cause of the failure (i.e. both output oil seals being worn) and it then ran out of oil half way to the lakes and then finaly exploded about a mile and a half up a snow and ice covered track near torver. After a partial rebuild it managed to get it the 370 miles back to london with no middle bearing, no spedo, and no selection fork)
This box has now been replaced with a second hand one, with new oil seals fitted and seems to be dry. - I opted to keep the old hand break as it was already adjusted to the seased up cable
When doing the replacment I noticed that the splines on the input shaft from the main box are very worn, and have a 45degree slop on the load side of them which is obviously not right. However it has done around another 3000 miles since this with no major problems (however there is quite a lot of slack in the transmission when pulling off
The other problem is the engine. It is smoking at startup, but soon settles down, but lack power. The turbo has been changed soon after i got it after the oil seals went and a huge amount of white smoke filled the A12 - thankfully i managed to stop the engine by using the clutch in 5th gear before all the oil was burnt away. - The new one used to whine when it was provinging boost, but this seems to have stopped recently.
There is also a large amount of back pressure in the engine, and it blows oil out of the rocker cover breather pipe all the time, and when starting up one cyliner does the compression cycle quicker and easier then the other three, so I guess at least one cylinder is down on compression.
So as I'm planning a number of long journeys in the next few months I would like it in tip top condition and RELIABLE if at all pos. - I'm told that the 2.5TD should be, and try and get the fuel usage down a bit 12mpg on the motorway is a little depressing
What I want to know is the following:-
1) do the worn splines pose a major problem - i'm not intending on entering any weight pulling compertitions - but do load the back up with around 1tonne of kit
- if it is, can this shaft easily be replaced (e.g. can it be pulled out and a new one up in without removing the gear box / transfer box?2) should I put the cross drilled shaft into the replacment box (i don't know any history of the box it came from a breakers yard, and had a power takeoff unit on it, which was removed and the blanking plate put back on - BUT this box is different as the rear bearing for the shaft is built into a cage inside the box, while my old one was part of the back cover)
3)I want get the compression back up in the engine, put new injectors in and get the power back - I presume this is something I can do with the power plant still in situ by removing the sump, and head.
My worry here is as I need to get the work done in a weekend is
i) should I replace the pistons or just the rings as i hear that the turbos have a habit of cracking the pistons? - I need to order the parts in advance
ii) do the valvles burn in these engines/ do the vavle guides wear - i.e. should I be looking at replacing the valves or just regrinding them?
iii) Why is my turbo nolonger making the whining noise that it used to?
iv) Is there anything else I should be looking at doing to it that is likely to break soon - I have had a new water pump fitted and had the injector timing done recently, as well as a second hand starter fitted which turns it over easily
4) And this is very anoying - From time to time the right side side lights come on for no reason, and run the battery flat overnight - the left ones stay off. It does not matter what i do with the switch, and the only way to turn them off is to remove the fuse. I notice that the lights are dimmer than they should be, and come to full bringhtness when the switch is turned on - starnage!! I guess there is a short smoewhere but I just cant find where - any ideas anybody?????
Thanks for reading so far - any help/advice would be appreciated (except for fitting a new engine/gearbox as I don't have any desire to ever do this again after recently doing this on another car whith a much smaller engine - I was looking for a bridge at one point)
James
