Ziplock's Dead Engine

[Behemoth60]

So, Ziplock did the thing it did to Bruce after the Ruby-con... No oil pressure, burning oil smell, engine stalled when the clutch was put in. I drove it onto the shoulder with the starter motor so the engine wasn't siezed... yet. Started the engine again, but the starter struggled to turn over the motor, and when it caught there was a bad knock. Shut her down, and a vulterous tow truck driver got my tow. Haven't started it since, but I am guessing it won't self heal this time.

My guess is a spun bearing. Looks like Ziplock is out of commission for a while. Timing is poor, as I take posession of my new 'project' house on Friday.

So here's the question... if you were rebuilding a 13B-T, what would you do to it to enhance performance... polished head, balanced drivertrain and bigger turbo seem obvious. What else should a guy do?

 

[nickw]

I guess it depends on how reliable you want it to be.
Balancing is always a good idea if you have the money.

If you do care and want more power and still want it to be reliable and last:
Intercool it and add pyro and boost gauge and adjust fuel and boost accordingly.
This should give you plenty of power and still have reliability.
I am guessing this would add 30-40% more power over stock.

If you don't care and want is much power as you can get:
Turn your boost up (20-25psi?) and add propane injection.
But I would not count on it lasting for years to come.


Reliability and power don't typically go hand in hand with small engines.
You usually can only have one or the other. Take your pick.

Something to note: A larger turbo will not necessarily add power, it depends on when the wastegate opens. A larger turbo is able can add more boost, but it also takes longer to spool. I bet a stock turbo wastegate could be shimmed to allow as much boost as you want or need.

Cheers,
Nick

 

[crushers]

wicked idea for you...
do it stock?

 

[roscoFJ73]

Supercharge it so it doesnt need to rev so high to produce torque
You could also play around with the drive pulley diameters to alter the engine rpm to blower rpm

 

[Behemoth60]

Any wastegates on this future engine will be safely welded shut.

Balancing isn't too expensive. Pistons and rods can be done at home on an inexpensive scale to within 1G which is plenty for a slow rotating diesel. All the engine shop should need to do is balance the crank, which is relatively straight forward for these engines, which I believe are balanced on the harmonic balancer. I had the 3B in TippyR balanced and full assembled (exept accessories) by a shop for me for only $1,100.

20-25psi is a good start for the first stage of compression.

The only reliable reliability comes in the form of a back-up vehicle or two, so that you're not without wheels while 2-3 other projects are on the go at the same time.

Maybe it's time to finally get into ceramic coating so that I can run much higher engine temps. Hmmm....

Peter Straub

 

[brownbear]

On turbine engines they go to higher temps by keeping the heat off the metal. That is controlled by air flowing over the metal. Not saying you are going to be redesigning the engine.... but if you went supercharger/turbo setup and figured out a way to drill into the head to make many little passage ways then you could direct air blasts across the inside of the head to blanket the surface. ......... Set up that maybe 20-30% of the compressed air to the engine flows in this way.

Option on the bottom end try to increase the flow of oil to the bottoms of the pistons. Maybe by increasing the nozzle size and increasing oil pressure(flow).

Possible you can design your own pistons and have them machined out of inconel or monel. Ceramic coated, chrome rings.

If you want to go electronic ignition, try a modified system from a cummins, going common rail(high pressure) just need to use only 4 injectors, see if anyone can hack the cummins computer to fire the four only......

This is of course some crazy talking...

 

[denis]

If you have a bit of room in the engine compartment -> dual-stage turbocharging Just drop the biggest cummins holset or whatever you can find ontop of your current turbo and you'll have best of both worlds. Ditch the stock manifold and build a ported, individual runners, custom one with one huge external wastegate port to power the big turbo. Build a new ported intake manifold with individual runners and bellmouths in a plenum to bump the VE of the engine. Have the cam reground for the highest lift piston/valve interference will allow, then put bigger injector nozzles and pump plungers

 

[Behemoth60]

Ah, brownbear, you're talking dirty to me, aren't you?

Some of the most practicle ideas I've seen in a long time. I like it.

BTW... there are a number of 4cyl. common rail injection systems out there. No need to re-invent that wheel - just adapt. Liberty CRD, VW TDI... A little small, maybe, but it's just a matter of the right sized nozzles.

But alas, the problem is more mysterious...

I stopped by the shop last night on another errand, and on a lark, decided to test out Ziplock. Checked the oil. Lotsa oil. Looks good, doesn't smell burnt. No oil leaks, or fresh drips under the truck. Cranked the starter. It lept to life, engine started and ran smooth (as smooth as a cold diesel ever does). Revved it up, and got the satisfying gurgle of a scarcely muffled 13B-T that I have come to enjoy.

I've been driving the engine very gently for several months now... wheeling trips where it is mostly at idle, to the car wash, to the grocery store, to the RMLCA meeting. All trips under 15 minutes in length. The trip out on Sunday, much like Bruce's trip after the Ruby-con, was the first time since May long weekend that this engine actually got to full temp. Engine temps were fine with nothing unusual on the coolant gauge.

Why would a hot engine have oil smoking out of the engine compartment, run like s***, and have a bad knock, but when it cools off, it's just like normal. Did I fill it with gear oil instead of engine oil at the last oil change (which was right before Rubicon)?

The only thing odd about the engine lately is that it has seemed a little sluggish, and maybe a little rougher than I remember it. My impression was that I should run some 'Diesel Purge' through the injectors. It still easily pushes those 38" boots down the highway without hesitation and idles down as low as you want it to go, so it hasn't been demonstrating any 'imminent death' symptoms. But it's been maybe a little rougher that I remember it. I don't drive it all that often, so I am not overly certain of that.

Any ideas?

 

[brownbear]

On a wild thougt. Maybe one injector is staying open. flooding the one cylinder causing no combustion, smoking and knocking.

Causing bypass to add pressure the crankcase, burning off the excess fuel and venting out the engine compartment some how......

Just pure random thoughts tho