L26 Engine

andrew muir

Club Member
An interesting read.
Iam just about to do the same to an L28..I have also never stripped an engine before so looking forward to it.
Cheers:thumbs:
 

Huw

Club Member
Hi Paul

Good job mate, sounds like you have been very busy. Any pictures?

If you are looking to install the engine somewhere dry, have you thought about one of those DIY self service garages where you can hire a bay for a day or two?

There is one in Bristol I've heard about: http://ramp-it-up.co.uk/home

There maybe other places, just a thought

I would be interested in knowing how much the machining cost on the head you have done btw.

If you need a hand installing the block, always happy to help.

Regards

Huw
 

Farmer42

Club Member
H Huw

Have now managed to get a couple of pics of the nearly-finished article. I have attached a couple that show the 'before' and a few that show the 'after'.

I have made some enquiries at the place you mentioned and it will cost me about £90 a day to hire the ramp with tools and equipment. I reckon I will probably need a minimum of 2 days & that then hoping it will start to allow me to drive it away when I have finished. It would certainly be handy that I am able to leave it overnight. but it is quite a drive from where I live. Will probably look at doing the change after Christmas. Thanks for the offer of help though.

Coincidentally, the owners have just posted up on Facebook that they have got hold of a couple of S30 Zeds (280Z I think).

The Head work cost me more than it should have cos I had it started by one machine shop who then quoted me silly money to finish the work which I couldn't afford so I paid them for the work done & gave it to Country Engineering to complete it after getting a recommendation. All in it cost me about £320 (£210 was Country).
 

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Farmer42

Club Member
Well, after months of waiting due to weather and ill health, it's finally in!!:D. I admit I cheated and had my local garage help with installation as I wasn't really fit enough to do it on my own and I don't have the facilities to do it at home anyway.

The new clutch lined up fine and the block and gearbox went together sweet. Connected everything, swapped over a few parts from the L20 engine and topped it up with oil.

We decided to crank it over before filling it with water to make sure everything was fine so made sure there was no possibility of a spark and turned it over without the spark plugs. All seemed well, no large bangs or rattles indicating something shearing or breaking. We compression tested each cylinder and there was good even compression across all so we connected all the ignition bits and turned it over again. It fired up after about 5 turns :thumbs:

All seemed good. Had good oil pressure and it ran smooth with no noises and no oil leaks. There wasn't even any need to tune the carbs but the ignition timing needed a tweak. Then the problems started. :(

Suddenly the rear carb started spurting fuel out of the overflow like a fountain. Took the float chamber lid off and reset the float level and checked the valve. Put it together - success.

We then decided to fill it with water. Fired it up. Again, good oil pressure and running nicely then I noticed the radiator draining rather rapidly.:eek: I had already expelled all the air from the system and I also noticed the oil pressure dropping sharply. No water on the floor or spurting out of anywhere so we started doing the checks.

It was only when we checked the oil that we realised what the problem was due to the nice creamy texture on the dipstick and the oil filler cap. Immediate thoughts were head gasket but we sort of ruled that out as the compression was still at the same levels and also there was water in the oil but no oil in the water. Normally with a head gasket failure, it would mix in both. Also the failure would not be that quick and catastrophic so as to drain all the water in to the sump. The next thought was a failure in a bore lining but there was no trace of evidence when the spark plugs were removed and again there was no oil in the water.:confused:

Finally, I remembered that there was a small crack in the front timing chain cover. I didn't think it was anywhere near a water channel but on closer inspection it was closer to the water pump housing than I thought. I reckon that this has opened up and the water was pumping straight into the cavity around the timing chain and straight into the sump. This sort of makes sense as the level on the dipstick had doubled.

Luckily I have a spare timing cover and will shortly be getting some more gaskets from Mr F so that I can swap it. Hopefully that will cure it otherwise the Head will have to come off to change the gasket unless anyone thinks of another cause.

I'll keep you all posted.
 

jonbills

Membership Secretary
Site Administrator
You'd get a similar effect if the timing cover gasket was displaced or failed around the water pump housing.
Did you seal it in that area with rtv or simillar?

Don't want to worry you, but how much water went in the sump and what sort of revs? Oil/water emulsion round your bearings wouldn't be great
 

Farmer42

Club Member
You'd get a similar effect if the timing cover gasket was displaced or failed around the water pump housing.
Did you seal it in that area with rtv or simillar?

Don't want to worry you, but how much water went in the sump and what sort of revs? Oil/water emulsion round your bearings wouldn't be great

Jon, I think you may be right. The crack is not near the water pump so I reckon it was the gasket or seal that was not working where it flows from the block into the water pump housing. It didn't feel as though it was sat right against the block.

A fair amount of water went into the sump but it was mainly on tickover. I had to get the car out of the garage workshop so it had a few revs to do that. Hopefully no damage was done to the bearings. Would an oil flush & change remove the emulsion or do I need to do something else?
 

jonbills

Membership Secretary
Site Administrator
Jon, I think you may be right. The crack is not near the water pump so I reckon it was the gasket or seal that was not working where it flows from the block into the water pump housing. It didn't feel as though it was sat right against the block.

A fair amount of water went into the sump but it was mainly on tickover. I had to get the car out of the garage workshop so it had a few revs to do that. Hopefully no damage was done to the bearings. Would an oil flush & change remove the emulsion or do I need to do something else?

Sounds like it should be fine then. I'd just drain it and refill. any residual water would be driven off quite quick when you're running again.

I put a smear of RTV on both sides of the gasket in the area of the water holes.
 

stuart barrie

Club Member
Once you have the gaskets replaced and all looking good.
You could check for leaks before the engine is run again with the use of a radiator presure tester fill with coolant or just water for checking and presure up system and see if it holds presure.
If the presure drops then get looking for leak is there a chance of hiden crack in block?
 

Farmer42

Club Member
Once you have the gaskets replaced and all looking good.
You could check for leaks before the engine is run again with the use of a radiator presure tester fill with coolant or just water for checking and presure up system and see if it holds presure.
If the presure drops then get looking for leak is there a chance of hiden crack in block?


I would if I had one! I suppose a crack in the block is possible but I am pretty convinced it was around the front cover area.

Thanks for the advice Jon. I had put gasket sealer around the area first time round but if the cover hadn't seated properly when I fitted it, it wouldn't have made a difference. Will drain the fluids tomorrow and start taking the timing cover off.

One good thing to come out of today is that I got the gaskets from Mr F. Now that is service for you! Ordered midday yesterday and arrived this morning. Fair play:bow:
 

Farmer42

Club Member
It lives!!!:party:

Found the cause of the water ingress into the sump. It was the timing cover not seating properly due to the bolt bracket for the timing chain guide getting in the way. Basically all the water went straight from the block into the sump. The water pump housing was as dry as a bone. Undid the bolt and levered the guide gently and did it back up and bingo, the cover went on lovely.

Had a horrendous mess when I drained the oil. First came about 4 litres of water then the creamy mess. Have now flushed it through with 2 fresh lots of oil and put a new oil filter on. Will change it again in about 300 miles or so.

The downer was the problems I had with the timing after I got everything back together. I was very careful marking positions of everything but had to take the dizzy & oil pump out to change the timing cover. When it went back together, it just wouldn't line up in the right place. The gearing on the drive shaft would not go in at the position that would get TDC on number one cylinder, or any for that fact. The problem was that I couldn't be in 2 places at once to hold the dizzy & rotor arm in the right position whilst I clambered under the car to install the oil pump. The amount of times the drive shaft dropped out - very frustrating.:banghead:

4 hours later I cracked it & it fired up and kept running - no leaks or creamy texture in the oil. Success!!

The problem I now have is that there is a lot of coughing & spluttering from the carbs. I just can't get them running right. When I rev, it just dies. Sounds like fuel starvation but both float chambers are filling with fuel to the right levels and both carbs are feeding to the jets. ticks over although a bit lumpy but touch the throttle and it kills it.

Had enough for one day so will have another look tomorrow when my patience is a little better.
 

jonbills

Membership Secretary
Site Administrator
Well done. Nearly there.
Sounds as likely to be running over rich as lean. The choke's not out, is it?
Do you have a colourtune? They're very useful in these situations.

If you ever have to do the oil pump/dizzy again, you don't have to fit the pump and drive to the dizzy, "all" you have to do is put the engine at TDC, line up the marks on the pump and drive shaft and slot it in so it looks like this:
f07ef6c37b47954de3b47b0afeaea736.jpg
 

johnymd

Club Member
Timing correct? Vac advance connected and working? (suck on the pipe to test). Chek the plugs to see what each cylinder is doing.

Basics first before you start looking further. Cam timing would be another thing to verify.
 
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