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Thursday, September 10, 2015

I try to do a simple engine swap and kind of fail...

I have been avoiding decisions. I really have no clue as to what I should plant. I got pretty far behind this summer stacking for the neighbors and did not get ground worked early in preparation for then end of summer rains.
Part of the problem was also a dead 2-155.
The 2-155 that was abused by the Smiths in Mo to be exact.
If you all remember it lost oil pressure whilst chopping clover silage. Since then it was been parked at the edge of the field. I haven't found anyone who wants to haul it home for me.
So, I pulled the engine and brought the engine home.

It turned out that the idler gear which drives the oil pump was not tightened properly and worked back and forth on the shaft until it wore out the key.
We pulled the pan and found that the engine was really pretty worn out.
I just happen to have two Hercules LDT 465s diesel engines sitting in large crates in the back yard.
It seemed like a good idea to just install the Army truck engine.
It is not so hard...
You just have to swap manifolds, injector pump, oil pump pick ups, oil pan, timing gears, front engine cover, bell housing, clutch, injectors, and oil filter assembly.
I've never really rebuilt an engine before and so there were a few issues.
My helper and I would spend the day putting it together wrong and then in the evening I would take it apart and put it together correctly.

Getting the timing correctly was an issue.
There were supposed to be timing marks on all he gears. You just lined everything up.
I put both engines on TDC so the pump would be in the right place and all the gears would be correct when I took the engines apart.
However, I got the mark wrong on the injector pump gear and lined the pump up at TDC.
When I got the front cover and front pulley on I lined up the mark on the front pulley and discovered the pump is timed for 20 degrees before TDC.
It seems simple. You pull the pump and rotate the gear one tooth. But, there is not enough room in the front housing to turn the gear and the front cover and front pulley had to come off.
Yesterday was the biggest screw up.
I mixed and matched exhaust manifolds as they are a two piece manifold and the one that I took off had a crack. I have several manifolds laying around.
My helper was doing the final tightening and heard a ping. Broken manifold.
My stupidity was soon evident.
When you overhaul an engine you often resurface the intake and exhaust manifolds. If you mix and match parts you get manifolds with different thicknesses. 

This can be a problem.
So... A new $350 manifold from Iowa and a week to ship and then it has to be surfaced.
Meaning I am short a tractor still.


  1. That is a lot of work. More than I would attempt. That cast iron is pretty unforgiving and inflexible stuff.

  2. I bet that's the biggest engine your truck has ever had in it. It looks like you put it in backwards though.

  3. You had better rinse off your tailgate. I would bet the EPA would be interested in that "large" spill you have there!

  4. This is far beyond my mechanical ability. I understand engines and the TDC issue from setting the timing on my 1966 VW back in the day. Thanks for sharing. Everything I work on is incomplete, broken or missing key integration...none of this is on mechanical stuff. Your challenges & determination in this give me hope that I'll get something done one of these days. Fall snuck up on me, also.

  5. Any way to get paid for driving around loaded down with interesting broken history? If you actually try to fix stuff it kind of violates the lazy concept.

  6. "Your comment will be visible after approval." Dagnation. This was the last place I could post loutish comments without approval. The spammers has touched us all.

  7. "Meaning I am short a tractor still."
    If you had a tractor still, and you distilled tractors, wouldn't you be in trouble with the feds?



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