Blackdragon Top End Work

[waterdog]

So with low and imbalanced compression and a bunch of white smoke, off comes the head.    Some quick work on the valves and a new head gasket and it should all go back together, right?    But wait.   It's all out now.   Throw in those new glow plugs that are hanging out with the spares inventory, they'll go nice with the new injectors.   And doesn't it make sense to pop open the thermostat and make sure it is working.   How about that new K&N filter?   I will not put crumbling stainless back in the vintage air filter.    And wait, look at that!  Will I ever have easier access to the heat exchanger?   Off it comes, back to home where the big boy tools are.    And the coolant tank, since we bought a can of paint today, it should come home too.   And Foster who has just finished fixing a stud on the alternator and has the exhaust elbow unwrapped in the cockpit leans over into the companionway and says, "There is not much left, should we just pull out the rest of the engine and bring it home too?"   I shudder.

Though I know in my mind I need to drop the oil pan.   I thought I drained all the coolant before I pulled the head, but as it came off, I heard the sound of a lot of coolant rush out of the head.   A lot of it will be in with the oil.   So how many changes does that take before the oil is no longer contaminated with the 3/4 drain system we have?   2? 3? 4 oil changes?   Might as well drop the pan, give it a coat of paint because I can feel a little rust under there.  How much more work would it be to pull the pistons?  Six little cap screws and up they come.  No. No. No.   Must stop now.

I wish I was Mainesail and had the patience and skill to properly document this.  But I'm in a hurry.  

These little engines are amazing.   I would have thought after 25 years it would be all seized bolts and broken studs, cursing, drilling and retapping.   But there has been none of that.   The engines hold up remarkably.  They are easy to disassemble, and when in doubt it is amazing what you can find on Youtube.  

I didn't mean to do this.    Friday night I decided to get a new engine, but since the distributor wasn't open until Monday, I thought I might as well pull the head and have a look.   And one thing led to another.  I still have four evenings left to put it all back together before we leave for a two week sail...

[waterdog]

Local Universal dealer #1:   "Let me see if I have the gaskets you need.   I will call you back."  Never called back.
Local marine dealer #2:   "The head gasket will take two weeks.    I don't have pricing yet.  There are two kinds of gaskets for the elbow we don't have either of them in our system..."
Universal Distributor:   "Head gasket is $168 - it will take ten days. You need three exhaust, they are $11 each, I only have one in stock..."
My favourite tractor dealer:  shut down
Tractor dealer #2:   "What kind of transmission does your B7200 have?   Really?   Oh I'm not comfortable on marine applications there always a little bit different, call this industrial guy..."
Industrial Kubota dealer:  "A D950?   Yep you need full top end kit.    Has everything from your valve cover gasket to the copper washers for your fuel injectors, head, exhaust, intake everything.    $102 I have it in stock.   You can pick it up this afternoon."

[lazybone]

Hey Steve, I know its a pain but few pictures are always welcome.

No need for long explanations or narratives.

[waterdog]

I can't possibly take pictures.  Stu would know that I still have a bronze coloured hose and I would lose his respect forever.   

[Andrew Harvey]

Unfortunately my overhaul of a 1986 turned into a nightmare. Had a local mechanic service my tired engine
Ran very well at the beginning but deteriorated badly by August. "shake rattle and roll"
Mechanic had a heart attack over winter so no warrantee coverage..
Turned the job over to the marina mechanic with little success but lots of money.
The engine vibration became steadily worse.
Decided to cut my losses and go with a new engine.
Installing a new Beta engine that should be arriving tomorrow.
Will keep all posted on the project and end result.
Andrew

[Ron Hill]

ANDREW : GLAD YOU SAW THE light!!

Once you start to have problem with a 25+ year old engine it's time to get a new one!!

My thought

[waterdog]

Nice supportive post in this thread. Thanks Ron.

[waterdog]

Here are the bits painted up and ready to get reassembled on the engine.    The colour is "whatever they have at the auto parts store copper".   I haven't got the hoses painted yet.    But I did get a fresh coat on the heat exchanger zinc as it seemed to be pretty badly corroded...

[waterdog]

This one I find deeply disturbing.    Foster was with the mechanic and they noticed smoke from the back of the engine coming out from under the exhaust wrap.   It turns out that the joint where the exhaust goes into the first elbow was loose.   Easily unscrewed by hand.   Here is the disturbing part.   

The mechanic explained to Foster that this was just oil on the exhaust burning off.   A little strange since the oil mess was on the other side of the engine.   

I would preferred if the mechanic had said, "That could be an exhaust leak.    Don't be hanging out in the aft cabin with the engine running until your dad unwraps the exhaust and does a complete inspection.   This is potentially dangerous."     But then again I may just be an overly protective parent trying to keep all the kids I can.

All the wrap in that area was completely black.    I tightened the pipe with a big wrench.    Everything was otherwise in good condition.  No deposits inside the pipe.   

[waterdog]

Everything is installed.   I had to take the afternoon off work to get it done.   It runs!   Haven't had a chance to warm it up yet and do a second adjustment on the valves.  Hopefully it will achieve it's max RPM under load, give up it's smoking habit, and otherwise behave well.   Definitely need to a do a little clean up.     But first, sleep.

[patrice]

Just WOAWWW !!!
What else can I say     

Nice job.

[Ron Hill]

Steve : WOW!! Talk about one thing leading to another....!!

I was surprised to see that your riser was black pipe.  There's nothing wrong with black pipe, it just doesn't l have the longevity of stainless.

Don't blame Stu as I'm the one that gets after C34owners when I see a bronze colored hose!

I don't know how many hours you have on your engine, but when I ran into trouble with my engine it had 5000hrs (21 years old).  After I removed it the second time our friendship began to wane!!  That's why the third time was enough (October & end of season) - hence a new engine.

If you did remove the oil pan I still recommend that people move the oil drain to the rear of the pan.

Good Job and hope that all goes well for years to come.   My thoughts

[Ron Hill]

Guys : BTW, The first two problems were with the rear crank shaft lip seal.  Seals are susceptible to "old age", so be forewarned. 
The "last straw" was the crankshaft bearing of #1 cylinder went - I always used Mobile 1 and the engine was never low on oil!! 

A few thoughts

[waterdog]

First the good news.   The oil on my dipstick has never been so clean.   Compression is up on all the cylinders.   I now have some cool new tools and have learned some things.   

Now the bad news.   #2, the bad cylinder,  only came up 10 psi.   It is still way low on compression.   Still have tons of white smoke.  No power.   

Compression PSI before and after valves:

#1 before 240, after 340; #2 before 170 after 180; #3 before 275, after 300 

So I needed a valve job, just not as badly as I needed a ring job.   We are supposed to sail tomorrow.   Options are as follows:

1) It's a sail boat, why all the fuss over the engine.   Tow it out of the harbour with the dingy, sail across the Straight of Georgia, tow it through Porlier Pass and bob around the Gulf Islands for a couple of weeks, mostly anchored living off solar power.  Do a rebuild in the winter.

2) Drop the pan, pull the head, pop the pistons replace the rings, dress the cylinders.  Throw it back together and be off.   

3) Call the distributor in Nanaimo.   Have him ship the new M25XPB to Vancouver.   Pull the old one, slip in the new one.  Be happy forever.

4) Do an oil change with something really thick and hope to get enough compression for #2 to fire.

To me #1 is seems romantic, but wind is not so reliable here in the summertime.   #2 is probably within my Youtube developable skill set, but is a half-ass rebuild just inviting me to come back and do bearings, seals, and other things later.    I enjoyed the valve job as an experience.  Gives me some comfort that one day if I'm stuck in the Marquesas with no diesel mechanic, I can sort things out, but my back is sore and I don't want to tear the engine apart 3 times which is where I would likely end up.  Number #3 has some level of risk.  I am really comfortable on the electrical, fuel, plumbing connections.   Some level of concern on the shaft alignment, but perhaps it is doable in a couple of days.   Number #3 is the least likely to waste my time which is important.   

Damn shame. It was looking so pretty.   I'm out about $200 in parts and about 20 hours of labour + whatever the bill from the mechanic will be for the useless advice.   Win some.  Lose some.  I could always run some LED strips lights around the engine bay and invite people over to admire the pretty thing that used to propel the boat.

[waterdog]

Installing a new Beta engine that should be arriving tomorrow.

Andrew, keenly interested in your decision to go with the Beta engine. What was the tipping point in your decision to go that way vs. another Universal?