1979 HJ45 spitting oil from breather (1 Viewer)

[davway]

Just bought a 1979 HJ45 (Diesel) today and drove it home.
Drove fine for what it is, however, its spitting oil out the breather pipe that hangs out the side of the engine and points at the ground.
I assume this pipe is a breather of sorts for the engine.
I would assume it isnt meant to be spitting out oil.
Its spat that much oil in 120km, the whole underside is covered with oil, my other car which was following behind is covered in oil (had to wash the windscreen clean twice and degrease the entire front end when we got home).

The guy did mention he thinks he may have over filled the engine oil - would this be the cause or is there something else the problem?

 

[Christian]

good news or bad news first...

Bad news; in all likelyhood your engine is in need of an overhaul. Spitting oil from the breather line is usually indication of either worn rings, or a bad head gasket. The latter being more likely on the H engine. A more precise description of the problem is that the sleeves in the bores has a tiny lip that goes up over the block. If (and I have no idea why) the injectors aren't changes or renovated at no later than 100,000 km's that lip will crack and you get blow-by.

The story about overfilling the engine is a straigt lie IMHO! If there had been poured that much oil in it, the crank would hit the oil causing all kinds of mayhem! Btw didn't you check the dip-stick?

Good news:

You got a cruiser, congrats mate!!!
And a fine opportunity to add a 5 speed and a 2H engine.

I had the exact same thing happen to me a month after I bought mine, and I got a 5 speed and a 2H in it in two days... And I'm no master mechanic!

 

[davway]

How would the headgasket have this effect?
I can understand the rings, but i dont get the headgasket?

 

[RufusTheDufus]

A head gasket can leak cylinder pressure a number of different ways. Excessive blowby could be a head gasket, but I'd suspect rings if the engine runs well. Get yourself a diesel compression tester off of Ebay. It will be helpful in diagnosing the health of your engine. It's a good place to start.

How many miles/kms on the engine?

An overfull crankcase could cause some extra misting of oil but it shouldn't be enough to cause that much of a mess.

Attach a section of garden hose to that breather pipe. Leave it long enough that you can access it while working the throttle. Run the engine for a while to be sure it's up to operating temp. Put your thumb over the hose to feel the pressure. If the pressure is strong pulses or hose is smoking like an exhaust pipe you might have bad rings.

Of course you should check the oil level too.

 

[davway]

I think im gonna have to go with rings.
First start up this morning was a huge plum of smoke.
Even at operating temp, it puffs a bit out.
Someone can jump in and say its something else ................... please?

Im doing an oil change now so ill see what happens.

What sort of $$$ would i be talking for a new set of rings to be installed?

 

[RufusTheDufus]

You can most likely find a complete 2H in decent shape down there cheaper than you can install a set of rings. depending on how many kms are on the engine you may need pistons in addition to rings. If that's the case the head gasket, pistons and rings might be more than an older 2H. Check the wreckers or Ebay.au.

I did pistons and rings in my H. I think the parts alone were about $US400 a couple of years ago. I assume they are more expensive now. The head gasket will cost $100 and usually comes as part of a kit including other gaskets and seals. The 2H isn't as common here in the US since there are no production vehicles that use it. I was lucky that my cylinder bores were barely within spec otherwise I would have had to re-sleeve the engine. If I was in AU or Canada I would have swapped in a 2H since they are more readily available than parts for the H.

 

[davway]

Does a 2H bolt straight in though or is there modification required?
I dont have a welder or even a shed to work in so im trying to take the easiest route.

 

[RufusTheDufus]

I haven't done the swap so I can't say for sure if it drops in place as a bolt-in. I think the flywheel, clutch and bell housing/engine mounts are all different. I'm not positive though. The H to 2H is a very common swap. There has to be some people here that have done it. I'd assume there are some topics here covering it in the diesel forum.

 

[davway]

Spoke to a Diesel Mech today and explained the situation.
We are going to do a compression test first to see where we are at.
He suggested a couple of reasons why it was spitting, other than rings, but we both agree it is most likely rings.
Anyway, we will find out in the morning.
He said he might know of a replacement engine locally, if it came to it and im sure i could rally a few mates together and swap it out if i have to.

 

[Christian]

I have seen more than one H where the lip of the sleeves had failed, but as I said it could be rings...

There are a number of threads on the H to 2H swap , do a search and you shall find...

 

[davway]

Anyone know what the compression is meant to be?
(not that it will be that after all these years anyway).
Want to get a feel for what is low.

 

[davway]

So, yesterday i dropped the oil - seemed like there was too much oil in it to start with.
Done the filters and gave the intake a clean.
Since then, it hasnt spat oil from the breather and the plume of smoke on first start up is much smaller.

Results of the compression test:
Factory specs are 2200 - 2700kpa (320 - 390psi with an acceptable range of 20-29psi).
lowest i got was 380psi on number 3 and highest was 410psi on number 6.
rest were 400 and 405psi.

Now, i know this is higher than what the factory says, but this was done by a qualified diesel mechanic and the test was done twice on each cylinder.
His opinion is that the bores and rings are fine and that it not having much use in recent years, old diesel fuel and a lack of oil changes, are most likely the cause for the smoke and spitting (too much oil in crankcase).

He thinks that a few tanks of fresh diesel, a bit of use and an other oil change and it will all come good.
I tend to agree as the smoke has been less with the more use its had and with the oil change.

So, thats good news!

 

[Christian]

Congrats!

I'm happy that you have proved me wrong!

 

[RufusTheDufus]

I ran a couple courses of Auto-RX engine cleaner through the engine in my HJ45 when I was trying to "fix" a stuck ring. The stuff works. I eventually needed to replace the pistons in my engine. I was amazed how clean the inside of the engine was. All of the sludge was gone. I'd recommend it on any old engine that may not have had the best attention to oil changes.