valve seat/guide (?) dropped in my 2B cilinder... now what? (1 Viewer)

[Folkert]

Hi all,

Last sunday, i started my BJ44 with 2B engine ( 130.000 kms ) and a loud knocking came from the engine, i stopped the engine right away. repeated the starting procedure a few times to pinpoint what was going on.
Decided to transport the car to the garage of a friend of mine, and yesterday they pulled the head.

He explained me a valve guide/seat (don't know the name anymore) dropped into a cilinder and damaged the piston head. Fortunately not while driving, but still it ran in total 10 seconds knocking during starting anyway.

He also mentioned that cilinder nr 2 had a loose pre-cup.


We are now at a moment where to decide what route to take:
- budget rebuild, just pistons, rings and rebuild head. (i'm low on budget, so this is tempting)
- full rebuild, to be sure in case the crankshaft bearings got too much damaged by this and will give up shortly after.
- donor engine, possible a 3B instead of a 2B, but no real knowledge of history/technical shape on a donor engine (I got a running one offered with 117K kms on it, will know price tomorrow)



i'll show you the pics and would love to hear your thoughts to help me decide what path to take:

 

[lostmarbles]

Must be No. 1 exhaust valve seat that broke apart and fell in....

No 2 precup doesn't look like it's been moving to me. (It may be able to be lifted out with comparative ease now the head is off but when the head was installed it looks to me that the head gasket was still keeping it pushed into its seat OK.)

130,000kms sure is low. If it is genuine/true and the engine hasn't been abused then everything should be pristine...

But I'd be keen to know why the valve seat failed before making a decision on what to do.

For that seat to fail the engine has probably undergone something dramatic... such as having been overheated/cooked at some stage in its life..



PS. The coolant looks very rusty .... which may be a pointer towards overheating being the cause behind this valve-seat failure.

 

[lynchmob]

I would definitely be concerned about the piston pin bushing and the rod bearing on that cylinder. The rod could even be a little bent

 

[Folkert]

hm yes,

im a little worried indeed for using the same engine again and take the risk to keep on driving with worn/bent parts.

but then again, buying an engine from someone else... don't know what happened with that one either.

so best option would be a complete rebuild including bearings and pin bushings (and hope the rod is still ok)?

could the radiator be that case of all the rust? where does it come from and how to prevent?

 

[IanB]

How does the cylinder bore look where the piston was getting dinged up?

 

[lostmarbles]

......could the radiator be that case of all the rust? where does it come from and how to prevent?

Your radiator is normally made of brass which doesn't rust.

The rust will be coming from all the cast iron waterways in the block and head etc. And when it is that bad, it often ends up blocking the smaller passageways in both the head and the radiator to cause overheating (either localised or full).

Prevention involves using proper coolant additives (preferably mixed with demineralised water rather than just tap water) and regularly changing your coolant as part of normal maintenance..

 

[Folkert]

@IanB : i will ask my friend about the cylinder tomorrow

@lostmarbles: yes tom, i need to clean/flush everything before reinstalling, i guess theres a lot of rusty water/mud in there, that never got removed properly.

Update:

I am now facing the following option:

I am in the situation where i can buy a 1982 BJ42 with a 3B engine with 76.000 kms on it from a farmer
the car is butt ugly, all painted over rust. very honest car in the way that the owner never tried to hide the rust, he just painted it over.
He claims the Kilometers are real, And i believe him. Considering the looks of the car, he doesn't seem to be the type that turns back the kms cluster. it also goes to 1million, so it couldn't have made a full clock.

The car costs 2500 euro. Runs great (he claims, will see it this weekend) and it just had its yearly technical test needed by dutch law.

So i was thinking, maybe i should buy the car, drive it through winter and if the 3B engine seems to be good, drop it in the BJ44 in spring.

what do you think?

I think its better than buying a separate engine i can't hear, see or drive before i drop it in. and I also think the 3B engine will drop straight in.
it's also 24V like my 2B.

will post pics of the car this weekend

 

[Jan-78FJ40]

That sounds like the perfect solution!

 

[Estancio]

You have a good plan that will also leave you with a parts vehicle.

 

[Folkert]

Exactly what i was thinking!

You have a good plan that will also leave you with a parts vehicle.