Maintenance...Water Pump, T-Stat, Oil Cooler, Flush Engine/Radiator, now head-gasket blown :( (1 Viewer)

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Am I the only one who would rather be hanging out with @flintknapper lapping valves and talking cruisers instead of sitting in front of a computer??

Cool thread!

I was literally just thinking the same thing!!! Haha.
 
Lapping Valves.

"We're having fun now.....eh kids"? :frown:

Intake valves and seats in the head are excellent and won't be any problem.

Exhaust valves and seats are pretty rough though, they will need attention later when I pull the engine for a re-fresh.

For now...I can make them 'better' to some degree. Just a lot of work.

But what the Hell....I'm retired....so as long as God doesn't 'pull the plug' on me before I get finished, it should all work out.


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Very nice to see the old school "hands-on" approach to inspecting, cleaning, lapping, assembling for a change instead of shipping it off and throwing it back on. This is exactly what's planned for mine I (as most) have good valve clearances but need guide seals badly. Especially like the idea of changing torque sequence to compensate to the tiny warpage as that was my thought. I am surely assuming you're checking the head bolt thickness and reusing.
 
Very nice to see the old school "hands-on" approach to inspecting, cleaning, lapping, assembling for a change instead of shipping it off and throwing it back on. This is exactly what's planned for mine I (as most) have good valve clearances but need guide seals badly. Especially like the idea of changing torque sequence to compensate to the tiny warpage as that was my thought. I am surely assuming you're checking the head bolt thickness and reusing.

^^^^
Affirmative. With 'spares' just in case.

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Very nice to see the old school "hands-on" approach to inspecting, cleaning, lapping, assembling for a change instead of shipping it off and throwing it back on.

Well....lapping in this case, was needed to lightly clean up my seat surfaces. Generally...I would caution against it, especially if you've never done it before. When I get around to pulling my engine and refreshing it...the head will be sent out for a 'proper' valve job. Ideally, you want your seats precision cut and valves ground to fit. Lapping done poorly or excessively can actually cause you more problems.

I did mine just enough to create a concentric, gray ring that the valves will contact. Even so...it is stop-gap measure predicated on cleaning things up until they can be done right.

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Big Brown Truck showed up today. Brought a few 'while you're in there' parts.

Got a new Aisin Fan Blade...since mine was original and probably getting brittle. Got it mated to my juiced up Blue Hub fan clutch.

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Yuck......!

Chasing the Spark Plug Holes, found more Carbon and grime than I thought there would be.

New plugs (test fitted) go in smoothly now.

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When installing new Valve Stem Seals, be aware that they are slightly different (not internally), but the Exhaust Seals have a 'flange' at the bottom. The purpose of which...I know not. Perhaps helps to dissipate heat.

VS Seals1.jpg

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The seals sort of 'snap' into place on the Valve Stem Guides when fully seated. It isn't an audible thing...but tactile (you can feel it). Or at least you can feel it on most of them. If in doubt....after you have them all in place, just take whatever you have (doesn't need to be anything fancy) and check them all for height. It isn't critical....just 'go_no go'.



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How are things coming along? I know I'm not the only one looking for an update!! Hahaha.
 
How are things coming along? I know I'm not the only one looking for an update!! Hahaha.

Sorry guys, other things around the ranch have taken up my time this past week. That and waiting on parts. I have discovered that there are certain things that just make sense to do 'While You're In There' and I am addressing some of those. So the 'hurry up' and get the head back on thing....has been modified to a more reasonable 'it will be done when it's done'. I have 3 other vehicles I can drive.

Yesterday however, I pulled the Alternator (original to the vehicle, 23 yrs. old, 316K miles). I have never touched it...except to change belts or tension them. Figured I'd better take a look at it and replace the brushes and maybe the bearings. I can hardly believe this one is still working fine.

I have to tell you....I am so impressed with the simple design of this thing and the thought that went into making it what it is: THE SHERMAN TANK OF ALTERNATORS.

I'm going to post a series of pics in the next few replies along with a little text for the sake of posterity. I hope this won't bore anyone...but for those seeking to go a little deeper into the alternator than just replacing brushes it might be helpful. I won't post every pic of the alternator since this isn't meant to be a 'tutorial', but perhaps it will give folks some idea of what it looks like when disassembled.
 
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This is my 'Original 80 amp Toyota/Denso Alternator:


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When I pulled my Brushes...they were clearly worn....but could have gone even further. I have these on order.

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Notes on bearings next post:
 
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A few words on replacing bearings (many will NOT need to do this).

I could easily have reused my bearings as they were, but I figured after 23 years the grease in them HAS to be drying out and I was correct.

Dissembling the alternator is not difficult. Removing the Brushes, Regulator and Rectifier is just a matter of removing a few screws and lifting them off. When done the back of your alternator will look like this:

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Then separate your two halves, do NOT tap on the end of the rotor shaft (as I did) or you'll damage the phenolic end. It can be repaired satisfactorily, but not refurbished.

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The Front bearing is captured by an overkill retaining plate. Just remove it and then you can tap the front bearing out of the housing.

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Alt7.jpg



Continued next post:
 
Once your front bearing is out... you'll notice as I did, the obvious 'heft' of it. It's heavier than it looks. This is because it is a very substantial bearing...designed to hold up to the rigors of the pressure put on it. I had intended to simply replace mine, but curious to see inside it... I removed the two seals.

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What I found inside were perfectly good components and only slightly degraded grease. I also noticed that the seals are exceedingly thick and tough. Almost as if they were intended to be reused. So instead of waiting a week to get a new (and unnecessary) bearing, I purposed to 'service' this one with new grease (we have the technology).

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Done! Seals snapped right back in place like new. So unless yours is completely dry and gritty, just re-grease it.

Continued next post:
 
Awesome thread, I look forward to daily updates!:steer:
 
The rear bearing is another story. Not that it isn't a 'good' bearing but it's smaller and exposed to more contaminants. This bearing (at least mine) is a NSK and has metal seals and covers. This doesn't permit it to be as easily serviced as the front bearing, BUT...it can be done if you are very careful.

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I'm somewhat divided on what to tell you about the rear bearing....except to say IF it feels OK (not dry, dragging or gritty) LEAVE IT ALONE.

I am going to replace mine..although strictly for experimentation... I DID manage to re-grease it and get the metal seal back on. So it IS possible.

The trouble with 'replacing' this bearing..is that there is very limited room to get underneath it with a puller of any type and 'prying' on it with other tools is likely to damage your fan. I have a few special pullers on order and will report back when I receive them and remove the bearing, but if at possible...reuse it.



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Lastly to expand on why I am impressed with the design of this alternator (and I've seen all kinds):

The rotor alone is a massive piece of steel and copper, very solid. A 5 lb. piece by itself.


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Instead of using a single externally mounted fan, it incorporates two fans (front and rear) and wisely made them internal where they will not be damaged and function to cool the unit in a very efficient way.

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Just little details...like asymmetric fan blades and pattern. This pulls air through the Alternator housing but also creates 'turbulent' air which is important to help dislodge foreign matter.

All kinds of good quality seals, retainers, etc...

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All of my Valve Springs checked out OK (within tolerances) so I will be reusing them (for now). But I did order a couple of new ones....curious to see what new one's spec out.

Valve Springs are not an item you can prejudge the 'wear' based solely on mileage. The same as other components that are not mileage dependent (I.E. Brake Pads, Suspension Parts, etc) these are subject to varying degrees of 'use' and thus wear.

Probably worth having a machine shop check the values when a head goes out for service...but odds are they can be reused.

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Looking good! Good timing on cracking open the alternator. Mine has developed a slight whining noise which I presume to be a bearing. I ordered a Denso reman. Going to take my original apart and get after these bearings to keep as a spare. Looking forward to seeing how you get that last bearing off.
 
Looking good! Good timing on cracking open the alternator. Mine has developed a slight whining noise which I presume to be a bearing. I ordered a Denso reman. Going to take my original apart and get after these bearings to keep as a spare. Looking forward to seeing how you get that last bearing off.

I intend to use a two jaw puller (perhaps modified) to pull it. It will have a slight 'press' fit, but once moved...it should come off pretty easily. Since I have already damaged the phenolic (insulating) end of the shaft, it presents no problem. I have a dozen or more pullers...but none small enough for this task.

Fortunately, most any measure to restore that insulation will suffice. It doesn't ride against anything. The phenolic cap simply prevents arcing between the shaft and copper commutator and also the case (which has another insulator as a redundancy). JB weld is an insulator and I also have 1/2" O.D. fiberglass washers, so I will fashion something once I am done replacing the bearing.

I did not look closely at the phenolic end and a such... did not realize what it was. So...don't tap on it to remove the rotor from the case half.

I will post up my 'fix' for this later when I am done. 😞
 
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Poor radiator had not been out of the vehicle for a good cleaning in 7 years. So today was the day. I had already flushed it (inside) of course, but it was pretty dirty on the outside and some of the fins needed straightening.

Got it all cleaned up, a little paint on it and then hung out to dry.

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Actually it's a very smart thing to set a time when an engine reaches a given mileage and start taking things apart. In the aircraft world these items are called time change items. When they reach a certain hour flight time they are automatically changed. Also the aircraft is involved in Phase dock where aircraft goes in the fasedock. large components are taken apart and inspected for corrosion and cracks and so on. Also do a spin test on all the bearings such as idle tensioner. Water pump. I wouldn't use the test for the alternator because rotor has mass behind it so it's really hard to tell if the bearing is dry or not. But if the tensioner rotates more than three-quarters or just spins freely in the bearings are dry there's no grease dragging the ball bearings.
 
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