Broken Diesel, advice wanted, please.
Discussion
Car is a '93 Corsa 1.5 TD ( approx 140,000 miles young ). We have had it half its life, and it has always been reguarly serviced, and WAS running very well ( as it always has done ).
Several months ago, I was on a dual carrige way, and engine was at normal temp before a suddenly failing. By the time I was stopped, the front of the car was under a large cloud of steam and smoke and the temp gauge was off the top of the scale.
When I got home, all the coolent had gone, and the radiator had split at the bottom. I am not sure whether this caused the sudden loss of coolent, or split due to the water system being pressurised by the engine failing. I took the head off, which was cracked.
I tried to find a second hand engine, but could not find one at a realistic price. I did find a second hand head, which I got pressure tested & skimmed. The top of the block had a bit of light corrosion around the water and oil ways. Bores etc looked OK. I took the sump off, and everything down there looked OK.
Put it all back together, but it would not start. I double checked it was on the timing marks. When I slackened an injector pipe, it was getting fuel. My compresion tester does not have an adapter small enough for a glow plug. However, I screwed a piece of cardboard into each glow plug hole, and when I turned the engine over, all 4 shot out at similar spead. It turns over well. It fires, but it won't start. I noticed an oil leak from round the front of the engine that appeared to be coming from the head gasket. When I turned the engine over with my hand there, I could feel a puff indicating the new gasket was blowing.
I took the head off again, and the oil was leaking from the same area as the corrosion. However, what really surprised me was that the middle two units ( 2 & 3 ) are all carboned up and have been firing. The outer units ( 1& 4 ) are perfectly clean and look like they have not fired at all. This is obviously why it won't start.
What could be causing this? Could it be the ( mechanical ) fuel pump? I think it is a bit much of a co-incidence that two injectors could have failed completely at exactly the same moment. Or is it irrelevent if the block face is that corroded that a new gasket won't seal?
So far, I have spent nearly as much as the car is worth. Do I carry on, or just throw it away ( anyone want a project?? )
The corrosion on the block is in the middle of the engine ( where the units were firing ). So I have two issures. One is why the other two units were not firing. The other is how to make the gasket seal ( take the block out & get that skimmed )?
Any advice or comments appreciated, just don't be too sarcastic!
The only upside is that I am getting to drive a slightly more fun car to work everyday.....
Several months ago, I was on a dual carrige way, and engine was at normal temp before a suddenly failing. By the time I was stopped, the front of the car was under a large cloud of steam and smoke and the temp gauge was off the top of the scale.
When I got home, all the coolent had gone, and the radiator had split at the bottom. I am not sure whether this caused the sudden loss of coolent, or split due to the water system being pressurised by the engine failing. I took the head off, which was cracked.
I tried to find a second hand engine, but could not find one at a realistic price. I did find a second hand head, which I got pressure tested & skimmed. The top of the block had a bit of light corrosion around the water and oil ways. Bores etc looked OK. I took the sump off, and everything down there looked OK.
Put it all back together, but it would not start. I double checked it was on the timing marks. When I slackened an injector pipe, it was getting fuel. My compresion tester does not have an adapter small enough for a glow plug. However, I screwed a piece of cardboard into each glow plug hole, and when I turned the engine over, all 4 shot out at similar spead. It turns over well. It fires, but it won't start. I noticed an oil leak from round the front of the engine that appeared to be coming from the head gasket. When I turned the engine over with my hand there, I could feel a puff indicating the new gasket was blowing.
I took the head off again, and the oil was leaking from the same area as the corrosion. However, what really surprised me was that the middle two units ( 2 & 3 ) are all carboned up and have been firing. The outer units ( 1& 4 ) are perfectly clean and look like they have not fired at all. This is obviously why it won't start.
What could be causing this? Could it be the ( mechanical ) fuel pump? I think it is a bit much of a co-incidence that two injectors could have failed completely at exactly the same moment. Or is it irrelevent if the block face is that corroded that a new gasket won't seal?
So far, I have spent nearly as much as the car is worth. Do I carry on, or just throw it away ( anyone want a project?? )
The corrosion on the block is in the middle of the engine ( where the units were firing ). So I have two issures. One is why the other two units were not firing. The other is how to make the gasket seal ( take the block out & get that skimmed )?
Any advice or comments appreciated, just don't be too sarcastic!
The only upside is that I am getting to drive a slightly more fun car to work everyday.....
My best advice is that the 2 outer cylinders got water in them when the head cracked/gasket blew and connecting rods got bent due to the non-compressable liquid in the cylinders (thats why the are clean). The engine won't start because of the still leaking head gasket and the bent rods not allowing it to build enough compession to start and run.
I would try to find a way to do a compression test and a cylinder leakdown test.
I would try to find a way to do a compression test and a cylinder leakdown test.
180 deg out?
The engine has locking bolts in both the cam and fuel pump sprockets. When I first took it apart I made sure both these were locked. The fuel pump could not have moved as the locking bolt was the last thing to come out before starting. The cam was on its timing marks, at that point, as was the crank. When it first would not start, I did think it was the timing, so have checked several times.
2 bent conrods? Possible. When the first head came off, there was water on each piston. When I turn the engine, I had not noticed that those two pistons were not coming up as high as the others, but I expect only a slight difference would make a big difference to compression. When I am next over there ( the car is in the garage at a different house - just to make life easy ) I will put a dial gauge on to see. I also did not notice anything when I had a good look when the sump was off, but again, it would only be a small bend.
The engine has locking bolts in both the cam and fuel pump sprockets. When I first took it apart I made sure both these were locked. The fuel pump could not have moved as the locking bolt was the last thing to come out before starting. The cam was on its timing marks, at that point, as was the crank. When it first would not start, I did think it was the timing, so have checked several times.
2 bent conrods? Possible. When the first head came off, there was water on each piston. When I turn the engine, I had not noticed that those two pistons were not coming up as high as the others, but I expect only a slight difference would make a big difference to compression. When I am next over there ( the car is in the garage at a different house - just to make life easy ) I will put a dial gauge on to see. I also did not notice anything when I had a good look when the sump was off, but again, it would only be a small bend.
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