Talk Morgan Forums Community Vehicle Talk (non-Morgan) TDC and tappets

If it isnt broken , dont fix it.

Personally, I'd get the thing running and then see how noisy the tappets are.

Save yourself a job!:

Arwyn

Thanks for the replies.

Graham .... the motor looks in good clean condition with no corrosion so maybe I'll be lucky 🙂

Richard .... with no visual access to the front pulley I think I'd be pushed to accurately place the crank at 360°

Howard ... had crossed my mind ... but as I've just got it and don't know the service history I'm doing some preventative servicing for peace of mind

Arwyn ... engine runs fine and the whole machine is working well .... just that the tappets sound a bit 'ticky' .... however with my head under the cowl of a small unknown diesel in a confined space it's hard to tell.

Won't be a long job to bodge up a turning spanner so I'll give it a go ..... if it looks like the glowplugs don't want to shift I may well let sleeping dogs lie rather than pursue perfection ! 😁

K

I used to work on a old Perkins diesel in a log forwarder, rattled like a bastard when cold but like a watch when it got up to working temperature!

Arwyn

In a noisy engine bay it might be worth using the stethoscope/long screwdriver method to ensure that the clearances sound uniform across all cylinders..

I remember watching a mechanic setting clearences with the engine running at tick over... I guess he went through more feeler gauges than most.

I guess finding the rocker with the widest clearance and turning the engine a tad with the spanner to ensure it is at it`s max clearance then checking and adjusting as necessary... With that one done look for the next rocker with widest clearance and repeat the process and on and on and on. If you have the firing order then I guess it will not take too long to work things out..?

Best of luck K

I was showing somebody how to take seized injectors out of an old forklift years ago, we loosened the clamp bolts and cranked the engine with the fuel supply disconnected and they refused to budge so I put 24v to the starter, cranked for a few seconds and four injectors punctured holes in the roof, took ages to retrieve them.
Happy days back then..

David Byrne

Nothing that drastic here ... I've taken out the glowplugs (they came out clean and easy) unfortunately the injectors get in the way of putting a rod down to the piston. On the good side with the glowplugs out the motor can be turned over by hand via the fanbelt .... will try setting the tappets tomorrow.

K

Brilliant!

That brought back memories of a similar situation, though with a small single cylinder hand/ electric start standby diesel in a kinda bomb proof building with a thick concrete roof... I had suggested that the engine be turned over by hand while tapping the body of the injector in a bid to free it.... Unfortunately the large chap chosen to initiate the process did not tune into the general idea and leaned on the starting handle as if he was trying to start the machine.... Yeah the threads in the injector were somewhat mushroomed, to say the least when they made contact the sturdy roof .. Live and learn, live and learn... Just lucky that no one was hurt..

Well that's the job done .... taking out the glowplugs didn't give access to use a rod to find TDC .... seems the glowplugs and injectors sit in a small side chamber to one side of the cylinder so there's no access to the piston.

However taking them out meant that I could follow the advice of my new mate 'bubbagoat' from the States, somewhere south of the Mason-Dixon line that with them out the engine can be turned over using the fan with a little pressure on the belt to snug it up .... the joys of international tractor forums!! 🙂 ... saved me loads of time and skinned knuckles.

In the end I turned it over until the valves were closed and the tappets at max slackness and set them there ... a few were a bit wide but not worryingly so, but it sounds sweeter for giving them a nip up.

Please fon't stop with the dangerous diesel anecdotes just because the job's done ... I'm enjoying them 😁

K