Of late I've sourced a new ECU and so set about rebuilding the engine over the past couple of days. Engine is all back together now and I believe should be ok. Tonight I tried firing it up again.
It sounded strange on the starter, like its not getting full compression in 2 of the cylinders. I'm pretty sure the cam was timed properly (gulp!). The thing was trying to fire on what sounded like 1 cylinder, though even with a bit of throttle it wasn't sustained. Before I had much chance to play the alternator belt on the car (I was starting it off) let go. Superb. Faaantasstic. How come these things happen all together?
However a friend has suggested that the hydraulic tappets may be all pumped up with oil now with the engine being apart for a while and therefore valves not closing properly. That would certainly explain it. The cam has only been in the engine 2 days and not turned much so would not have had the chance to sort themselves out yet. With it sitting in one place its maybe sorted out two of the tappets but not the others depending what position the cam was left in hence explaining the 1 cylinder thing. I'm hoping thats all it is though I gotta sort the car out now before tweaking any more...
N
Smart engined 800cc turbo diesel triumph tiger. 100mpg (imp)
Belfast to Kathmandu overland, 2010/2011 - http://www.suckindiesel.com
Bangkok to Sydney ???
Crazymanneil wrote:However a friend has suggested that the hydraulic tappets may be all pumped up with oil now with the engine being apart for a while and therefore valves not closing properly. That would certainly explain it. The cam has only been in the engine 2 days and not turned much so would not have had the chance to sort themselves out yet. With it sitting in one place its maybe sorted out two of the tappets but not the others depending what position the cam was left in hence explaining the 1 cylinder thing. I'm hoping thats all it is though I gotta sort the car out now before tweaking any more...
N
Or particles between valve(s) and seat(s)
It often happened that I had to taw a car after working on the cilinder head , because the startermotor did not rotate fast enough to start the engine.
After few seconds all dirt was gone and it ran on all cilinders
Quite right Nanko, thats the other possibility. There was a bit of dirt left when I'd cleaned the head as best I could. Better jumper cables may help to get some voltage to the starter. I may also resort to taking the inlet manifold off again and blowing compressed air though it.
n
Smart engined 800cc turbo diesel triumph tiger. 100mpg (imp)
Belfast to Kathmandu overland, 2010/2011 - http://www.suckindiesel.com
Bangkok to Sydney ???
Thank you to all you guys who helped me. Be it suggesting things to try, pointing me to the right people or simply offering words of encouragement. I could not have got this far without you.
Now its on to the good bit...
Neil
Smart engined 800cc turbo diesel triumph tiger. 100mpg (imp)
Belfast to Kathmandu overland, 2010/2011 - http://www.suckindiesel.com
Bangkok to Sydney ???
Yep, nice one Neil Every potential dieselbike that fires up is another two fingers up at the big boys who say it can't be done. Best of luck with your project
Stuart. M1030M1, Honda NC700S, Grom!, Toyota Corolla 1.4 Turbo Diesel. Favouring MPG over MPH.
Cheers guys. Yes I'll work away at it. Might get it pulled together in a month or maybe not. Either way I intend to go to the rally this year even if its just in the car. There's always Hamm...
n
Smart engined 800cc turbo diesel triumph tiger. 100mpg (imp)
Belfast to Kathmandu overland, 2010/2011 - http://www.suckindiesel.com
Bangkok to Sydney ???
COOL ! Great stuff Neil, you must get a AAAA for patience, common rail diesels can be really tricky from reading info both on this forum and locally. The good side of these engines are smooth running and great fuel consumption figures for healthy engines.
Hi Crazy,
Word of advice, retorque the head after a few hours running. My daihatsu head bedded in and was 30% looser than when initially tightened.
John.
Cheers guys. Couple of bits to source and then its time to break out the welder! I'll take pics etc once she starts going together.
JFB, you make a good point about retorquing the head. I remember the older VW IDI's had to have their head retorqued after first 1000 miles. The thing is I don't know what torque the head is done to. It uses stretch bolts which are torqued by angle. I am hoping that means it does not need checked. At the moment I'm happy that it runs, even if it broke and I ended up buying a new engine
Think I need a new turbo or reconditioning job at the moment though. There's play in the shaft which I suspect is from the initial time the engine started and revved right out on its own due to the leaky injector (turbo was not connected to inlet manifold at the time either). Live and learn...
N
Smart engined 800cc turbo diesel triumph tiger. 100mpg (imp)
Belfast to Kathmandu overland, 2010/2011 - http://www.suckindiesel.com
Bangkok to Sydney ???
I've successfully rebuilt a turbo on a old Mercedes diesel.
Mine, like many others, ran in bushes rather than roller bearings. The bushes have holes that oil is pumped into so that the shaft in effect floats on a bed of oil in the bush.
If I remember right, there was play even with the new bushes fitted.
As long as the blades aren't touching the housing - Id fit it and see how it performs. Maybe if you get a chance have a wobble on another smart engine for comparison...
Sounds like good advice Darren thanks. Its a KKK turbo I think, a really tiny thing! My only concern would be if it was fitted that it could potentially fail and spit a load of metal in through the engine. I'll have another look at it to see if the blades are rubbing as you say though and will try to find another engine to see what its like. I know that the turbo on my 1.9 TDi A4 has extremely little endfloat in comparison though.
n
Smart engined 800cc turbo diesel triumph tiger. 100mpg (imp)
Belfast to Kathmandu overland, 2010/2011 - http://www.suckindiesel.com
Bangkok to Sydney ???
My turbo had a bush/big fat washer thrust bearing, once again with holes for the oil to be pumped through.
If your turbo is variable vane I'd check for contact with the vanes in all position.
I guess end float may well be different from one type of turbo to another. Not sure how important it is as, I think I'm right in saying, the load is always in one direction.
Great stuff Neil, you must get a AAAA for patience, common rail diesels can be really tricky from reading info both on this forum and locally. The good side of these engines are smooth running and great fuel consumption figures for healthy engines.
.