Series 60 Bubbling Coolant

[DMoedave]

good for you Richard! way to hang and geter done. Heading south for the winter or the rally by any chance?

[RichardEntrekin]

Well, doo doo.
Went to drive the bus today, and after it idled for about ten minutes warming up, the sound of the engine suddenly changed and it started running rough and blowing copious blue smoke. I am thinking the turbo siezed. I did see some oil in the compressor side outlet hose. I wrote it off to the oil/coolant mixture blowing around the seal. I suppose the bearings in the turbo don't like glycol either.
I'll get the intake boot off today and see what I can see. I will also bar the engine a couple of revs to check for anything mechanical.

Am I thinking about this correctly. No power, max boost is about 7 lbs, lots of blue smoke, and it did run good for about an hour total before it started behaving this way.

Dang it.

[blue_goose]

Before you take the turbo off check all the boots for leaking.  If you have a leek it will kill your turbo pressure.
Jack

[RichardEntrekin]

Thanks Blue Goose, I will do that.

It's not the turbo. I pulled the intake elbow and it spins freely. No play, and no signs of damage.

I also barred the engine a number of revolutions with no tight places. I checked my timing marks while I was at it. No problem

A fellow on a diesel site suggested that I may have an injector problem.

I'll pop the hatch, and use a temp gun to scan the exhaust manifold. I am thinking if I have an injector problem then that cylinder should be colder than the rest.

If I had the DD interface on a computer, I think you can shut one cylinder down at a time. That would be the trick. Try them until the smoke goes away and you have the culprit, that is if injector problems are the source.

Perhaps one of the connections came loose or a wire got pinched.

I am still trying to figure out a root cause that would explain why it did not do this when I first cranked it.

[RichardEntrekin]

Ok, Homer did something dumb. Du huh.

The exhaust valve lash adjustment was backed all the way out on one cylinder. The exhaust valves were not opening on one cylinder.

I know in reflection what happened. I used a big wrench to loosen all the lock nuts on the valve lash adjustments at one time when I set the valves. I simply missed those two when I went through the valves. As the engine ran, the lash adjustment simply unthreaded.

That explains how the engine started out fine, but starting running poorly after 30 minutes.

I ran out of time and warmth last night so I didn't get to button it back up and try it.

Hopefully the snow will let up enough to today for me to finish.

[lostagain]

Sounds great! I am glad to hear this kind of thing happens to other people...

All the best. Let us know if it works good after fixing this.

JC

[Zeroclearance]

Richard >>   "A" for effort in this engine rebuild.   

As far as your turbo, depending on how much glycol dilution that you had will determine the life of your turbo.   The main thing is with glycol present, we lose the ability of the oil to cool and lubricate the bearings.   Usually we will score the bearing housing.  Keep and eye on the axial play.   Wheel rub quickly becomes the next failure.

[RichardEntrekin]

I replaced the tappets on the two rockers that I boogered up, ran all the valves and injectors again just to be sure, and buttoned in all back up.

It fired and ran great from the git go. No smoke, and a smooth idle. After checking for leaks, I took it for a fifty mile spin. No problems, and the turbo built 30+ lbs on one hill when I stayed in the throttle.

Thanks to all, and especially Clifford for the advice and encouragement.

On to the next project now. I did notice the gennie starting to run a little rough and smoke. I guess while I'm still covered in oil, that'll be the next adventure.

[lostagain]

Got 'er done! Good for you. Isn't it a good feeling!

JC