Freelander 1 Honey, I think I’ve killed my Freelander

rob_bell said:

Probably only about 3-4k...

Click to expand...

It'll fine to reuse.

Cool.

Got the crank from the scrap engine:



It resisted the charm of my 1.5m breaker bar and was threatening the work bench.

I’ll need to break out the windy gun by the looks of things!

I'm not a freely driver myself, so have nothing to contribute other than "phew', good to hear it wasn't as bad as initilally thought, and sending you all the best Rob - for you, your family, and Donkey.

rob_bell said:

Cool.

Got the crank from the scrap engine:

View attachment 143005

It resisted the charm of my 1.5m breaker bar and was threatening the work bench.

I’ll need to break out the windy gun by the looks of things!

Click to expand...

That crank is far from scrap Rob. The bearing journals look immaculate.

TigerHunter said:

I'm not a freely driver myself, so have nothing to contribute other than "phew', good to hear it wasn't as bad as initilally thought, and sending you all the best Rob - for you, your family, and Donkey.

Click to expand...

Thanks mate - really appreciated.

Nodge68 said:

That crank is far from scrap Rob. The bearing journals look immaculate.

Click to expand...

I picked up this engine from a scrap bin from a mate's garage in Kent. It had suffered hydraulic lock from a leaking inlet manifold gasket - and blew piston #3 to pieces and that con rod went through the wall of the block. I agree though: the journals look as good as new - as might be expected as the TF135 from where it came would have been pretty new at the time and won't have covered all that many miles. But given the catastrophic nature of the engine failure, I'd need to get an engineering shop to carefully check it over before it would be re-used, but I haven't chucked it away...

Good news is that the windy gun got the retaining bolt off easily enough. The crankshaft timing gear cam off by tapping the oil pump housing...

I'm still not quite sure how to get the timing gear off the engine's crank in situ... I can't get my puller arms behind the gear

rob_bell said:

Thanks mate - really appreciated.



I picked up this engine from a scrap bin from a mate's garage in Kent. It had suffered hydraulic lock from a leaking inlet manifold gasket - and blew piston #3 to pieces and that con rod went through the wall of the block. I agree though: the journals look as good as new - as might be expected as the TF135 from where it came would have been pretty new at the time and won't have covered all that many miles. But given the catastrophic nature of the engine failure, I'd need to get an engineering shop to carefully check it over before it would be re-used, but I haven't chucked it away...

Good news is that the windy gun got the retaining bolt off easily enough. The crankshaft timing gear cam off by tapping the oil pump housing...

I'm still not quite sure how to get the timing gear off the engine's crank in situ... I can't get my puller arms behind the gear

Click to expand...

To test the crank for cracks, you can do the "bell" test. Simply hang it in one hand and tap a counterbalance weight with a light hammer in the other hand. If it rings like a bell then it'll be crack free. If it has a harshness to the sound (like Big Ben), then it's cracked somewhere I'd be surprised if it's damaged after throwing a rot though, the K cranks are very strong.

Back to your K.

Try tapping the sprocket as I said earlier. It's scrap anyway so it won't matter. Otherwise you'll need to take the plastic cover off so you can access the rear. Use a stout screwdriver or chisel as a lever.

I’ll give that a go tomorrow

Naughty Donkey!

Throws up what looks like a big job, which then looks like a quick and simple job, but then turns out to be a bit of a PITA job.

Such a pain working on stuff at the belt end of the engine, often so little space and you can't see what you're doing. You look like you've got it covered though, well done.

LOL yes - it is rather turning out that way... Hopefully I can get this sorted tomorrow - assuming that nothing else unexpected crops up...

Done. I’ve even repaired my undertray (6 of 8 large-head pop rivets had been pulled out - gulp!)



Replacement gear in foreground: spot the difference. The old gear came off easily in my hand - what a relief! Replaced the power steering belt and the engine runs beautifully smooth - and I even topped up the oil (when it got stuck on its side leaving the evil exit lane from Salisbury Plane, it looks as though some of the oil came out of the sump...)

Odd vibration on full lock is still there - not sure if that’s not my battered undertray hitting its new resonant frequency? I think this needs further investigation, but l’ill donkey is back!

Good work Rob. You tightened the bolt properly this time, I hope. I use my buzz gun to do them as I can never remember that correct torque setting.

I know I torqued the bolt correctly last time - but there’s a chance that my torque wrench didn’t bring it to the correct torque as 205Nm/ 151lb.ft is right at the top limit of my torque wrench... I buzzed it up this time to FT using the windy gun - and rechecked with the torque wrench. That bolt should not be going anywhere. I just hope that there isn’t any other potential causal problem lurking?

Still, I bought l’ill donkey to learn stuff - and that’s paid off in spades!

Great news, well done

Thanks mate

But... I’m still not sure I’m out of the woods yet. I can’t shake the feeling there may be something not quite right with the bottom end. It may be my imagination, but the crank pulley appears to vibrating/ moving as it rotates and there is a coarse vibration to the engine - and may be a bit of a knock too??? It’s possible I’m looking for trouble when there nothing to worry about, but I think I shall have to investigate further. Or wait for it to go bang. Whichever comes first

Yeahhhh..

L'ill Donkey is still kicking....

Cheers

It’s a stubborn mule Neil lol

I had the belts changed on my L Series because I "felt" there was something wrong. I took it to a couple of garages who I would have parted with cash at, and they thought I was bonkers - so I probably was. I still had them changed though.

Depends if you think any problem will cause a "big bang" or get worse before going bang. If its the bottom end, is it going to give you notice before going bang, so you could hang out until it becomes obvious maybe?

The fastest thing you can do is an oil pressure test. You'll need to rig up a temporary gauge, but it'll give you an indication of the bearings condition. I can't see it being a bottom end problem as they are very reliable.

GrumpyGel said:

I had the belts changed on my L Series because I "felt" there was something wrong. I took it to a couple of garages who I would have parted with cash at, and they thought I was bonkers - so I probably was. I still had them changed though.

Depends if you think any problem will cause a "big bang" or get worse before going bang. If its the bottom end, is it going to give you notice before going bang, so you could hang out until it becomes obvious maybe?

Click to expand...

That's kinda the approach I was thinking of taking I can't put my finger on it, the odd noise may not be the engine, but rather either a transmission (CV joint??) or undertray zizzz vibration... The engine runs smoothly enough and seems strong?

I should remove the under tray and see what happens to the noise - that will eliminate one potential source.

Nodge68 said:

The fastest thing you can do is an oil pressure test. You'll need to rig up a temporary gauge, but it'll give you an indication of the bearings condition. I can't see it being a bottom end problem as they are very reliable.

Click to expand...

That had been my thought too - the bottom end of these engines is generally unburstable. But mine had been badly neglected prior to my collecting it - had clearly been overheated, the head had turned to soft cheese, and the cam bearing/journal surfaces had score lines - I junked them in favour of good replacements that Dave Andrews very kindly gave me. Oil/water emulsion probably isn't the best lubricator in the world, so there is a chance that the crank bearing surfaces/ big ends may not be in the best condition? I haven't checked end-float: perhaps I should.

The oil pressure gauge is a good idea - I just need to buy one.