Parts, finally
It's about bloody time the new valve and the cam alignment tool arrived. Nice of them to turn up the week I have final exams from the Summer semester.
So far, reassembly has consisted of lapping the valves in. This is simple, mating up the valves and their seats, using some grinding compound to ensure a good seal between the two. This eliminates one potential source of compression loss (the other being the piston rings, and I'm not in the mood to haul the rest of the engine out for that anytime soon. Besides, compression test pressures are supposed to be 165 psi plus or minus ten. The good cylinders clocked in at 160 when I checked it out in the process of troubleshooting, which consisted of long periods of screaming and cursing in the driveway punctuated by moments of clarity in which I performed simple, sensible mechanical checks.
The neighbors think I'm batshit insane after my recent activities in the driveway, but at least I haven't had to shell out a few grand to have some mechanic make a mess of the repair.
Valve lapping is nice and easy. Once the valve is seated, with a liberal amount of compound applied to the seating surface, one only has to rotate it back and forth for a couple of minutes. The best way to do this is to attach a suction cup to the valve and run it between your hands as if trying to light a fire. I'm sure that some people just chuck the valve stem into a drill and let a drill do all the work, but I have more confidence in results achieved by hand. It's possible with power tools to wear down the seating surfaces too much.
I would post pictures, but Blogger isn't permitting uploads at the moment. Turds.
Showing posts with label Jaguar maintenance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jaguar maintenance. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
More Jag housekeeping
Grinding wheels and fingers don't mix
Since I'm still waiting on parts, I decided to make today a continued cleaning day. Remember this unkempt, sooty mess of a cylinder block?
Here it is after about an hour with a wire brush, a few turns of the crank, and a couple more bloody knuckles:
I have now left enough blood from skinned knuckles on this car for it to be a relative. After I finished scrubbing the bores and tapping the bolt holes, I took another crack at the exhaust valves with a new wire brush and a cordless drill. No more carbon. Period.
Tomorrow I'm finally going to J-B Weld the cylinder head, since the valve I need probably won't turn up for another day or two anyway.
Since I'm still waiting on parts, I decided to make today a continued cleaning day. Remember this unkempt, sooty mess of a cylinder block?
Here it is after about an hour with a wire brush, a few turns of the crank, and a couple more bloody knuckles:
I have now left enough blood from skinned knuckles on this car for it to be a relative. After I finished scrubbing the bores and tapping the bolt holes, I took another crack at the exhaust valves with a new wire brush and a cordless drill. No more carbon. Period.
Tomorrow I'm finally going to J-B Weld the cylinder head, since the valve I need probably won't turn up for another day or two anyway.
Monday, July 16, 2007
More advances
Work! Must! Progress!
Taking advantage of an unexpected off-day from work, I took the freshly-stripped cylinder head to a local machine shop. In the interest of giving props where due, Engine Machine Shop on Old Shell Road here in Mobile performed the hot-tanking on the cylinder head free of charge. When I finally get off my duff and tackle the Toronado's engine, they'll have my business.
At all events, with the exception of some small, especially stubborn carbon deposits in the exhaust ports, the head is now clean, but one more wipedown with solvent will be in order before I begin reassembly. I'm going to take another crack at the last of the soot tomorrow too:
After I got back from the machine shop, I began the "grinding" task of removing the built-up deposits from the valves. The intake valves took about 2 minutes each, but the exhaust valves took considerably longer, as the deposits seemed to be hard-baked on the metal. From the burning-oil smell of the dust when I was grinding, I figure the heavier deposits on the exhaust side were engine oil that got past the valve guides while the engine was off, only to get baked on later.
This car was left undriven for months at a time over the course of her lifespan before I took possession, so I figure that oil must have congealed on the valves, only to be baked on by high engine temps when she was driven. It's been said that Jaguars run better the more they're driven. Now I can see a convincing reason why.
Here are before-and-after shots of one of the valves:
That was an intake. One of the easy ones. Some of the exhaust valves still have deposits that I haven't managed to crack yet, but I'm going to give them another go tomorrow before I begin hand-lapping the valves back onto their seats.
When I began this project last week, I set a personal goal of reaching a halfway mark by this Tuesday. Once the valves are lapped in, the head will be ready for reassembly tomorrow afternoon; Barring laziness or bad weather, I'm also going to clean the carbon off the pistons and tap the cylinder head bolt holes. Once that is all in order, readiness for reassembly is my halfway mark!
Taking advantage of an unexpected off-day from work, I took the freshly-stripped cylinder head to a local machine shop. In the interest of giving props where due, Engine Machine Shop on Old Shell Road here in Mobile performed the hot-tanking on the cylinder head free of charge. When I finally get off my duff and tackle the Toronado's engine, they'll have my business.
At all events, with the exception of some small, especially stubborn carbon deposits in the exhaust ports, the head is now clean, but one more wipedown with solvent will be in order before I begin reassembly. I'm going to take another crack at the last of the soot tomorrow too:
After I got back from the machine shop, I began the "grinding" task of removing the built-up deposits from the valves. The intake valves took about 2 minutes each, but the exhaust valves took considerably longer, as the deposits seemed to be hard-baked on the metal. From the burning-oil smell of the dust when I was grinding, I figure the heavier deposits on the exhaust side were engine oil that got past the valve guides while the engine was off, only to get baked on later.
This car was left undriven for months at a time over the course of her lifespan before I took possession, so I figure that oil must have congealed on the valves, only to be baked on by high engine temps when she was driven. It's been said that Jaguars run better the more they're driven. Now I can see a convincing reason why.
Here are before-and-after shots of one of the valves:
That was an intake. One of the easy ones. Some of the exhaust valves still have deposits that I haven't managed to crack yet, but I'm going to give them another go tomorrow before I begin hand-lapping the valves back onto their seats.
When I began this project last week, I set a personal goal of reaching a halfway mark by this Tuesday. Once the valves are lapped in, the head will be ready for reassembly tomorrow afternoon; Barring laziness or bad weather, I'm also going to clean the carbon off the pistons and tap the cylinder head bolt holes. Once that is all in order, readiness for reassembly is my halfway mark!
Friday, July 13, 2007
Jag repair continues
A little co-operation from the parts stores would be nice
After a nice, long afternoon nap while waiting for the storms to subside, I got back to work.
All that remained was breaking the head bolts and lifting that 90-pound beansucker off the engine. I wasn't exactly surprised by what I saw.
There wasn't much corrosion to speak of, but there was a lot of built-up scale blocking some of the head's coolant passages. The engine must have been running hotter than the temp gauge led me to believe.There was also an incredible amount of carbon build-up in the bores and combustion chambers:
Now that the head's off, the culprit is identified. here's the burned-up exhaust valve on #5 cylinder. There's a vacuum line on the intake manifold near the passage for #5, there must have been a leak that allowed that one cylinder's air-fuel mixture to lean out enough to cut through that valve like an acetylene torch:
Now that the head's off, I've relocated to the back yard, to the porch of the workshop out back. I would set up shop indoors, but the workshop is pulling duty as a storage room, piled to the rafters with crap because I'm too cheap to do mini-storage. At least I have a roof over everything now.
The cylinder head, balanced on a pair of sawhorses, was ready for final disassembly. As the bearing caps, camshafts, tappets, and valve shims came out, I placed them on a pre-marked piece of cardboard to keep them organized so I can put them back in their exact places once the job is done:
I did say this required some organization, didn't I?
As always, Murphy has put in his two cents too. To finish the disassembly of the head so I can clean everything up and replace the barbecued valve, I need a valve spring compressor. Unfortunately, and in spite of the prevalence of overhead-cam engines, two hours of phone calls failed to yield up a solitary store with the correct compressor available. I guess that tool manufacturers expect consumers to take it in the shorts from mechanics rather than tackle a simple valve replacement.
Oh well. I'll see if I can get the spring compressor tomorrow before work; I won't get all the parts I need for a few days anyway.
After a nice, long afternoon nap while waiting for the storms to subside, I got back to work.
All that remained was breaking the head bolts and lifting that 90-pound beansucker off the engine. I wasn't exactly surprised by what I saw.
There wasn't much corrosion to speak of, but there was a lot of built-up scale blocking some of the head's coolant passages. The engine must have been running hotter than the temp gauge led me to believe.There was also an incredible amount of carbon build-up in the bores and combustion chambers:
Now that the head's off, the culprit is identified. here's the burned-up exhaust valve on #5 cylinder. There's a vacuum line on the intake manifold near the passage for #5, there must have been a leak that allowed that one cylinder's air-fuel mixture to lean out enough to cut through that valve like an acetylene torch:
Now that the head's off, I've relocated to the back yard, to the porch of the workshop out back. I would set up shop indoors, but the workshop is pulling duty as a storage room, piled to the rafters with crap because I'm too cheap to do mini-storage. At least I have a roof over everything now.
The cylinder head, balanced on a pair of sawhorses, was ready for final disassembly. As the bearing caps, camshafts, tappets, and valve shims came out, I placed them on a pre-marked piece of cardboard to keep them organized so I can put them back in their exact places once the job is done:
I did say this required some organization, didn't I?
As always, Murphy has put in his two cents too. To finish the disassembly of the head so I can clean everything up and replace the barbecued valve, I need a valve spring compressor. Unfortunately, and in spite of the prevalence of overhead-cam engines, two hours of phone calls failed to yield up a solitary store with the correct compressor available. I guess that tool manufacturers expect consumers to take it in the shorts from mechanics rather than tackle a simple valve replacement.
Oh well. I'll see if I can get the spring compressor tomorrow before work; I won't get all the parts I need for a few days anyway.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Fun in the Sun
Alabama driveway, or sixth circle of hell?
On the 4th my car began acting up about 40 miles from home. I noticed a sudden loss of power and a rough idle; I also had to deal with a highly unpleasant stall in an afternoon thunderstorm which dropped enough rain to reduce visibility to 25 yards for a while.
After limping the car home, a compression check narrowed down the problem to two possibilities, both of which involve a prohibitively expensive (with a mechanic, anyway) removal of the cylinder head. It's either a blown gasket or a burned-up valve.
Most people hear the words "head gasket" and their eyes glaze over. It seems to be an insurmountable challenge. It's actually not too complicated for a do-it-yourself-er. It is an involved process that calls for a small degree of organization and preparation, but it's not too difficult. If not for the the sweltering July Alabama heat, it would almost be fun. It feels as though the sun is only a few feet over my head out in the driveway all day; if not for the two gallons of water I drank out there I wouldn't have been able to function.
Also helpful are a little bit of common sense, careful reading of the manual, a smattering of advice from the knowledgeable (Pete, I owe you a case of beer so far,) and grease up to your deltoids. You are going to get dirty. Accept it. I must have gone through an entire tub of Gojo in the shower this evening while removing grease and grime that went all the way up past my sleeves.
In the first hour of work, I had her up on jackstands, the collector pipe below the exhaust manifold was removed, and the coolant was drained from the radiator and the block. Removing the plug wires was the first order of business topside.
Another hour's work saw the manifolds unbolted and cleared away. I pulled the exhaust manifolds, but just unbolted the intake. I'm really not interested in re-rigging and re-wiring the fuel rail right now.
After a few breaks and some re-organization, it was time to tackle the valve cover, chain tensioner, and camshaft sprockets. This is where the screaming and cussing began. I removed the chain tensioner before breaking the bolts on the cam sprockets, so the cams moved a little bit out of true as the bolts came loose. I'm glad I made index marks on everything.
By nightfall, I was done for the day. All that's left are the head bolts, then it comes off and I find out just what the hell is wrong in there. If I'm lucky, it's just a head gasket. Conveniently, the new gasket set arrived via UPS right as I reached the point where I'm going to need it.
If I'm not so lucky, there's a burned-up exhaust valve on cylinder #5. If so, it's no matter. I need to adjust the valves anyway, so I shouldn't complain about spending a few hours lapping the valves and putting in some shims.
Stay tuned!
On the 4th my car began acting up about 40 miles from home. I noticed a sudden loss of power and a rough idle; I also had to deal with a highly unpleasant stall in an afternoon thunderstorm which dropped enough rain to reduce visibility to 25 yards for a while.
After limping the car home, a compression check narrowed down the problem to two possibilities, both of which involve a prohibitively expensive (with a mechanic, anyway) removal of the cylinder head. It's either a blown gasket or a burned-up valve.
Most people hear the words "head gasket" and their eyes glaze over. It seems to be an insurmountable challenge. It's actually not too complicated for a do-it-yourself-er. It is an involved process that calls for a small degree of organization and preparation, but it's not too difficult. If not for the the sweltering July Alabama heat, it would almost be fun. It feels as though the sun is only a few feet over my head out in the driveway all day; if not for the two gallons of water I drank out there I wouldn't have been able to function.
Also helpful are a little bit of common sense, careful reading of the manual, a smattering of advice from the knowledgeable (Pete, I owe you a case of beer so far,) and grease up to your deltoids. You are going to get dirty. Accept it. I must have gone through an entire tub of Gojo in the shower this evening while removing grease and grime that went all the way up past my sleeves.
In the first hour of work, I had her up on jackstands, the collector pipe below the exhaust manifold was removed, and the coolant was drained from the radiator and the block. Removing the plug wires was the first order of business topside.
Another hour's work saw the manifolds unbolted and cleared away. I pulled the exhaust manifolds, but just unbolted the intake. I'm really not interested in re-rigging and re-wiring the fuel rail right now.
After a few breaks and some re-organization, it was time to tackle the valve cover, chain tensioner, and camshaft sprockets. This is where the screaming and cussing began. I removed the chain tensioner before breaking the bolts on the cam sprockets, so the cams moved a little bit out of true as the bolts came loose. I'm glad I made index marks on everything.
By nightfall, I was done for the day. All that's left are the head bolts, then it comes off and I find out just what the hell is wrong in there. If I'm lucky, it's just a head gasket. Conveniently, the new gasket set arrived via UPS right as I reached the point where I'm going to need it.
If I'm not so lucky, there's a burned-up exhaust valve on cylinder #5. If so, it's no matter. I need to adjust the valves anyway, so I shouldn't complain about spending a few hours lapping the valves and putting in some shims.
Stay tuned!
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