Builds BJ42 Restoration

[Crescent Wrench]

I have a question about the cylinder head on the 3B. Why can I see all my push rods through a hole in the side of the cylinder head. Won't this contaminate the engine? What if water gets in there and leaks past the lift and onto the cam and then into the engine. I never took anything off of this part of the head, if there are any diesel owners there could you please check that there isn't a pressed plug or something like that in this location.

 

[Crescent Wrench]

Pictures of the exhaust side of the head.

 

[Crescent Wrench]

Here are some pics on the progress, slowly plugging along. It takes quite a bit of time to give everything 2 coats of acid etch primer and two coats of paint. She is staring to look like a real engine again, but it's not looking good for getting it back in the frame this week because I'm still waiting on one parts and I haven't found anyone with a small sand blaster to clean uo my brackets , crank pulley and motor mounts, etc. I might just have to wire wheel them and then sand them down.

 

[Crescent Wrench]

I went to Toyota today in Nanaimo and at first they said the head should have plugs to seal the holes leading to the push rods. Then they got a mechanic who also agreed it should be sealed. Then the mechanic and I went into the back and looked at 2 different 3B diesel engines and they all had the same ports. Consensus? It comes like that from factory even though no one knows why. It obviously doesn't shorten the life span of these amazingly long running engines, so for me it's case closed.
And also a special thanks to Vanisle for sending me some pictures of his 3B yesterday.

 

[lostmarbles]

I have a question about the cylinder head on the 3B. Why can I see all my push rods through a hole in the side of the cylinder head. Won't this contaminate the engine? What if water gets in there and leaks past the lift and onto the cam and then into the engine. I never took anything off of this part of the head, if there are any diesel owners there could you please check that there isn't a pressed plug or something like that in this location.

I went to Toyota today in Nanaimo and at first they said the head should have plugs to seal the holes leading to the push rods. Then they got a mechanic who also agreed it should be sealed. Then the mechanic and I went into the back and looked at 2 different 3B diesel engines and they all had the same ports. Consensus? It comes like that from factory even though no one knows why. It obviously doesn't shorten the life span of these amazingly long running engines, so for me it's case closed.
And also a special thanks to Vanisle for sending me some pictures of his 3B yesterday.

I'm so surprised you've had no comments on this...( I saw you mention this 4 days ago but was unable to respond till now).

Here's a pic of my engine in that vicinity:

I can't see any hole left open through to a pushrod anywhere there!

And here's a photo that Dieseler posted a long time ago in this thread: Help me plug my hole

... If he has a hole there then his lift-bracket must be sealing it..

Whatever the case (and ignoring your "Case Closed" statement ) I wouldn't be content at all myself with leaving that hole open.

 

[Crescent Wrench]

My engine

 

[Crescent Wrench]

This pic shows the holes in between each exhaust port. No plugs

 

[Crescent Wrench]

This picture is from Vanisle showing his 3B diesel.

 

[Crescent Wrench]

Lost Marbles I have checked (4) 3B diesels over the last two days and none of them had these holes. I will check the part number you pm'd me with Toyota. I think all 3B engines have these ports open and i can't for the life of me understand why, it makes no sense but these engines run for so long that it obviously doesn't have a negative impact. Thank you again for all your help.

 

[lostmarbles]

Lost Marbles I have checked (4) 3B diesels over the last two days and none of them had these holes. I will check the part number you pm'd me with Toyota. I think all 3B engines have these ports open and i can't for the life of me understand why, it makes no sense but these engines run for so long that it obviously doesn't have a negative impact. Thank you again for all your help.

I think we must be experiencing confusion about which holes we're talking about.

If you can see a moving pushrod through a hole then there's no way in the world it should be left open. That's my honest opinion.

If it were to be left open, then dirt, grit, cockroaches and whatever would enter. Hell. Even water would pour directly into the engine if you were ever tempted to ford in deep water.

It is a shame that all Toyota line-drawings look at these heads from the intake-manifold side rather than from the exhaust side. (If that weren't the case, I'm sure these drawing would solve the confusion.)

 

[Crescent Wrench]

I 100% agree with you and that's why I asked the question because it's bothering me. I asked the Toyota mechanic about contamination and he agreed. I said even if the lifters can keep the water and grit out the other end of the lifter goes through a fairly large hole into the rocker assembly and there's no way that that's watertight. Once water got to that point it would be in your engine oil. He said yea but the run snorkels on these engine and submerge them all the time, It just doesn't make sense. I have to look at it again tomorrow very closely, I'm working 12 hour days so there's not much time for me to play in the garage. I'm totally knackered when I get home and I just want to go to sleep but I have to figure this out.

 

[lostmarbles]

Watch those long hours. Your health is one of the most precious things you have and overwork is not conducive to good health.

I've got more time now to look at this subject and I now reckon there's no real confusion (other than earlier in my head) about which holes they are and that it is more to do with simply whether they should be plugged or not.

When you first posted this pic, I somehow thought that larger open hole was "a stand-alone hole" that sits behind the front engine-lifting-bracket:

I was right about it being located behind the engine-lift-bracket but this other pic of yours proves it is just one of four matching holes:

Now the EPC does not show that side of the head but it does show enough to show that each of those holes should be sealed with a frost plug.

See 11116A? That is a frost plug for a 3B head on a BJ42 and on that side of the head your last photo immediately above shows there is nowhere else for these FOUR identical frost plugs to go than in your four pushrod-exposing-holes.

How do I know the head uses FOUR of those frost plugs? Well here is a further search I did that shows where I got both the part number and size (12mm) that I gave you in that Private Message:

You can see that in the Quantity column the number 04 is given.

So now we have to ask why this photo from Vanisle appears to show one of the very same holes without a frost plug:

I think either you Canadian's have unconventional engine reconditioning practices over there where you leave out frost plugs or else there's a frost plug in there but it's been driven in much further than normal. (The lack of visible oil around the holes does suggest to me that the latter answer is the more likely one.)

 

[Grant Woodbridge]

My BJ 40 has come from Germany and it also has no plugs there.

Are you guys sure it's a push rod you see? Mine has paint on them like they don't move?

 

[Weber Sarge]

Those holes are similar to some of the older Perkins engines - and they did use some pretty thin/small frost plugs to close those holes . I know it was general practice not to use the replacement plugs when rebuilding the engine , but use thicker aftermarket plugs to prevent them from rusting out easily .
I agree , there is no way they should be exposed to the elements .

Sarge

 

[Crescent Wrench]

My BJ 40 has come from Germany and it also has no plugs there.
View attachment 1164808
Are you guys sure it's a push rod you see? Mine has paint on them like they don't move?

I don't know what else it could be, I will make time to look at it later and maybe I can remove the rocker assembly and pull the push rod. I might as well do it now before I get too far along. I'll report back later today.

 

[Crescent Wrench]

Watch those long hours. Your health is one of the most precious things you have and overwork is not conducive to good health.

I've got more time now to look at this subject and I now reckon there's no real confusion (other than earlier in my head) about which holes they are and that it is more to do with simply whether they should be plugged or not.

When you first posted this pic, I somehow thought that larger open hole was "a stand-alone hole" that sits behind the front engine-lifting-bracket:

View attachment 1164784

I was right about it being located behind the engine-lift-bracket but this other pic of yours proves it is just one of four matching holes:
View attachment 1164783

Now the EPC does not show that side of the head but it does show enough to show that each of those holes should be sealed with a frost plug.
View attachment 1164787
See 11116A? That is a frost plug for a 3B head on a BJ42 and on that side of the head your last photo immediately above shows there is nowhere else for these FOUR identical frost plugs to go than in your four pushrod-exposing-holes.

How do I know the head uses FOUR of those frost plugs? Well here is a further search I did that shows where I got both the part number and size (12mm) that I gave you in that Private Message:
View attachment 1164788
You can see that in the Quantity column the number 04 is given.

So now we have to ask why this photo from Vanisle appears to show one of the very same holes without a frost plug:
View attachment 1164789

I think either you Canadian's have unconventional engine reconditioning practices over there where you leave out frost plugs or else there's a frost plug in there but it's been driven in much further than normal. (The lack of visible oil around the holes does suggest to me that the latter answer is the more likely one.)

Thank you LM for your thorough research. I knew I asked the right guy when I came across this. I'll phone Toyota about the frost plugs because I love it when they tell me "that part is no longer available"
Like I mentioned before I have looked at 4 different 3B engines and none of them had frost plugs, having said that if I can get them I think I will put them in because I will sleep better. Stand by to standby, I will know more by this evening.

 

[Crescent Wrench]

Ok just made some calls, Lost Marbles is spot on they are avaliable from Toyota for 8 bucks each but they only have 2 of them in Toyota land, so I phoned the machine shop and he doesn't have that size in his master set, the closest may be a bit too loose. So i Google 12mm plug (.472") and I come up with a Napa number of SEP3812160, now I figure if Napa has them so will Lordco auto parts whom I have a very good account with. Price you ask? .57 cents each... Toyota strikes again.
So the 12mm (.472") frost plug is available, they show it on the Toyota parts sight yet not a single 3B engine that I have come across came from the factory with them. Now I am really get a good laugh when I see cruisers with snorkel kits, because you have 4 holes open to the elements about 2.5 feet below your snorkel intake haha. I ordered them and I'll be installing them just for piece of mind. I may go one step further and ask Toyita Canada why they did it this way.
Thank you Lost Marbles for reopening the case so I can close it properly

 

[lostmarbles]

We're getting to the bottom of this now I think..

Yesterday it was blowing a gale here so lifting the bonnet of my BJ40 to take pictures was a bit difficult but today has dawned calm....

So checking the B-engine in my BJ40 just now I see no frost plugs in any of those mystery holes.. But looking deep into the holes, I also appear to see dead-ends in them all as shown here:

The exhaust manifold makes it difficult to look inside those holes but I at least managed to get the camera to peak right inside this one..

So then I looked at my spare 2977cc B engine and low and behold, I find one of the four holes has a frost plug in it:

So maybe on some heads, machinists bored some of those holes deeper than others, necessitating frost plugs only on those holes that had been bored right through?

 

[Crescent Wrench]

I figured it out, I had my valve cover on to keep the engine clean and.what I thought was a pushrod is instead a head stud. I pulled the valve cover today and the pushrods are on either side of the hole. Now everything makes sense, thank you for your help Lost Marbles. I think I will still install the frost plugs. Man I can't believe that fooled me for so long, I've been working too much I must be tired haha.

 

[lostmarbles]

I figured it out, I had my valve cover on to keep the engine clean and.what I thought was a pushrod is instead a head stud. I pulled the valve cover today and the pushrods are on either side of the hole. Now everything makes sense, thank you for your help Lost Marbles. I think I will still install the frost plugs. Man I can't believe that fooled me for so long, I've been working too much I must be tired haha.

Easy mistake to make...

But with the absence of any oil around any of the open holes we've seen it did start to look very unlikely for any of them to really open out into the engine's internals.

I think I recall a thread where someone had rusty coolant oozing out of one of them from a head gasket failure..