14BT Rebuild (1 Viewer)

[crave reFleXion]

Hi Rosco
Actually I just double-checked in the FSM and the 29 I mentioned above is kPa at idle... I had misread this as 29psi (stupid mistake), which means that I have plenty of oil pressure as 29 kPa would equate to only 4 psi (that seems way too low, but anyway)… As I'm driving around and the motor has warmed up the oil pressure is around 40 psi. On startup it gets to around 70-80psi, which should be enough, so I don't think this is necessarily an issue now. One thing that worried me I guess is that before the rebuild the oil pressure always hovered around 29 psi, and then after with the run-in oil it was only about 15 psi. Now that it is back to the same pressure pre-rebuild I don't think this is such an issue.
*29psi is from a dash gauge

 

[crave reFleXion]

Also, I pulled the radiator last night and hopefully I will get it back this afternoon with a new filler neck on top of the radiator, water return line for turbo plumbed into top of the radiator, bottom outlet moved further to the side with an angled down outlet. Will psot some photos later of the changes.

 

[crave reFleXion]

I'll probably post this question separately, but just in case anyone following has an idea... I was thinking about plugging a water inlet that goes to the lower thermostat housing. I think it would have been originally part of the heater system? As I don't have a heater and don't plan on plumbing one in soon, I was thinking about plugging the water return line. It comes out pre water pump, runs through a short fitting and then back in above the bottom of the thermostat... does that make sense? You can see what I'm talking about in this photo below: I would plug the red circle on the thermostat lower housing, and move the water temp gauge in green to the bottom where the brass fitting currently is. Basically, this would mean that that small loop would be deleted. Currently, it seems that the 'loop' would always be circulating cooler water (pre pump) directly into the body of the thermostat between the top and bottom... that seems counter-intuitive to me? Shouldn't water coming directly from the block determine the opnening and closing of the thermostat?

The following is the lower thermostat housing and I am considering blocking off the upper left threaded inlet. The second inlet with a thread is for a temperature gauge. Therefore, the only water going to this before the thermostat opens would be from the head/block... any ideas?

 

[roscoFJ73]

Shouldn't water coming directly from the block determine the opnening and closing of the thermostat?

I think so. The thermostat needs to be getting the real coolant temp. It probably doesnt make difference once the engine is fully warmed up, but it may make the thermostat open later from a cold start.

 

[crave reFleXion]

Quick update:
Got the radiator back yesterday... basically a new radiator. New four-row copper core, new top and bottom tanks, filler neck on top of radiator, turbo return line plumbed in and bottom outlet moved to the side with a 45 degree bend. Very happy with the job they did. I reinstalled the radiator last night and spaced the radiator fan shroud further from the radiator so now there is currently a 12mm gap from the back of the radiator to the face of the shroud (before it was in virtually in contact with the back of the radiator. Also, regarding the lower thermostat housing I mentioned above, I had the flow of water messed up in my original post/thinking. The 'loop' is actually just like the bypass at the bottom of the thermostat housing, so in fact it is always hot water coming from the block (rather than cold water coming from the radiator side). This means that once the thermostat opens and closes the bypass to allow water to the radiator, the 'loop' is in fact still sending hot water directly back to the block. This seems stupid to me, so I have put a bung in and moved the temperature sensor to the lower thermostat housing. (photos below)
First photo shows the new upper thermostat housing (no more stupid blue tower) and new radiator. The second photos shows the 'loop' delete.
Just have to get a bottom radiator hose tonight, fill it with straight demineralised water, and take it for a drive (fingers crossed!) To be honest I'm not confident that it will fix the coolant pressurising/being pushed issue, but expect it will help the situation.

 

[crave reFleXion]

Well I have some good news... just took Frank for a drive, which included some highway speeds, and his temperature was perfect the whole time sitting on 76 degrees. I really can't believe it... I'm not sure if it is one thing in particular or a combination, but fingers crossed it looks good!

Woo hoo!

 

[Gengis]

Costly radiator repair

 

[crave reFleXion]

Costly radiator repair

Tell me about it... (the wife said the same thing). I still think the rebuild was necessary from the condition of the liners and damage to one of the pistons, but I wish I had done this work previously. I'm not sure it was the new radiator (I had the old one rodded and flushed), but changing the upper thermostat housing, closing the extra bypass loop, relocating the filler neck to the radiator and improving the flow of water out the lower radiator outlet.
I still need to do more testing, but yes, it was a costly repair in hindsight.

 

[FJBen]

Great work!

Bad cooling systems, plugged radiators, leaking hoses cause many good engines to eat it too soon.

An old hose blew on mine for the previous owner, overheated, blew headgasket and scored the liner. I did a full rebuild, refreshed radiator, all new hoses, IP/injectors rebuild, turbo all because of a blown coolant hose.

 

[Gengis]

I always remember an old timer telling me that the best spare part one can carry is "Peace of Mind" and you have a hell of a lot more of that now.
Enjoy.

 

[crave reFleXion]

Absolutely agree...

 

[crave reFleXion]

On another note... Just went for a good highway drive and everything went well again (76-78 degrees all the way), but something I've noticed is my oil pressure is slightly higher now? How can that possibly work? I understand that engine running temperatures obviously affect the viscosity of the oil and, therefore, oil pressure, but when I was driving previously and stopped at lights and the water temp was around 78 degrees the oil pressure was maybe 29psi, but now when I'm driving around and stop at lights it is more like 40psi? How does that work?

 

[Gengis]

The new bearings, main and big ends, possibly cams, may account for this, although the old one would have had to be quite bad,
Did you replace the oil pump internals?? Did you replace any of the idler pullys or thrustplates , these also affect oilpressure.

The old Mk1 B and 3B could run cam bearings and cause a lower pressure.

On another point, what did you do with the Turbo cooling line which went into the top of the old waterpump tower??


G

 

[crave reFleXion]

Didn't replace the oil pump internals, pulleys or thrust plates. I don't have an oil temp gauge, but what I think was happening is that the oil temperature was perhaps higher at 78 degrees (water temp) before I fixed the issue, but now that it is fixed, the oil temp is lower? Therefore, the oil pressure is higher...
Also, you can see the turbo water return line going back into the top of the radiator in the next photo:

 

[Gengis]

Cheers Crave
Just to be clear to others, I was refering to the idler GEARS which drive the cam and IP not the external alt and air con pullys
.
Starting on a 12HT rebuild this weekend myself, look out for posts.

Looking good for you, enjoy muchly.
G

 

[crave reFleXion]

Happy as a pig in the proverbial mate. I'll definitely keep an eye out for your 12HT rebuild. They are a great engine.

 

[doug720]

Great results and to many miles of confident motoring!

Nice work!!!

 

[crave reFleXion]

Just a quick update, went for a run along a beach today and everything went really well. Very happy with the engine and so far it looks to be doing really well. Temps sit between 76-80 degrees Celsius in all aspects of driving (up hills/highway/in sand/around town) so i'm happy as! Had him up to 125 km/hour on the highway on the way back and still had plenty to go, but to be honest, I'm happy just sitting on a 100 and plugging along. On a flat run on the highway without a head wind, boost sits at about 5 psi, EGT pre-turbo sits at about 430 degrees and post-turbo EGT is about 330 degrees, water temp is around 78 degrees Celsius and Oil psi is about 60 from memory.
Anyway, very happy now that everything seems to be running as it should. Some pics:

 

[AussieHJCruza]

That thing is sweet!

 

[crave reFleXion]

That thing is sweet!

Cheers bud