Diesel Mechanics Let Me Down- Need help in Kansas City Area

[johnny.k]

Hi All,

I am at my wits end and need opinions and advice. Last March, I was in Afghanistan with the Army when a close friend said he'd found a great diesel mechanic and he would pick up my SIII and drop it off for a rebuild- when i returned in May it wasn't running and my truck hasn't run since. Well, long, long story, I am now in school at FT Leavenworth, Kansas and my truck still is not running. Had to tow it here- took it to another mechanic who was as incompetent as the first. Then, I took it to an antique tractor mechanic who has it running a bit, but not good. he says it needs to go to someone who is smarter on diesels.

So, the machine work is done and it "runs", but it doesn't have power to get to 4th gear. My question is in two parts1. does anyone know of a mechanic who can work on my SIII diesel in the Kansas City area and 2. How hard is it to rebuild a diesel engine? I've done petrol engines, but don't know much about a diesel. This has gone on so long that i am willing to sacrifice my spare time to complete the job.

I've had my hands under the hood since i was about 15 and i have access to the auto craft shop bays and lift tools on post. my brother-in-law works at a fuel injector rebuild shop, so i can mail the pump to him- just not sure if there is anything specific to a diesel that might be out-of-range for me. I won't be touching the fuel system, except to disconnect and mail. Is there anything I wouldn't know from a petrol engine and won't figure out on this diesel?

i will say i am more competent than the last two mechanics i've taken my truck to.

anyway, I would appreciate your thoughts on rebuilding a 2.5 Diesel or mechanics who are competent in the KC area.

best regards,

johnny

[antichrist]

You haven't said how the engine was running before the work done on it. How did it perform then?
Also, what was done during the rebuild?

[johnny.k]

it was running fair to midland. it smoked some and leaked a lot of oil. had the engine rebuilt. boiled the block. new bearings, new pistons-.040, the incompetent mechanic put it back together wrong- but i dont know where. matter of fact, they decided to remove the glow plug resistor and wire them parallel..... i've replaced them. i think ive settled on rebuilding so i can ensure it is done to my standard. i will move in june, so i have till then to complete it.

[johnny.k]

with one more try- the fuel has possibly been sitting for 10 months. i asked mechanic #2 to rremove it, but.... he.... well, seeing that the glow plugs were fried, this guy took the new ones and tried them out again.... thanks to the guys a DAP who tested them for me to see if i was needing a third set.... only lost one that time. so i am going to flush the tank and try some fresh fuel before i rebuild.

[antichrist]

Different glow plugs are wired differently. Some are parallel, some are wired in series. Without going out to look I'm pretty sure the later ones are parallel. If you wire the series type parallel you'll fry them.
It's probably just a timing issue. Could be as simple as the pump timing being way off, or the timing chain gears weren't aligned properly.

[johnny.k]

Tom,

Thanks. It's an '80 SIII and definitely is wired in series..... but the mechanics thought otherwise...... 2-1/2 sets of glow plugs later and it is correct.

I didn't think to look at the fuel pump timing gears. I haven't really looked that deeply into the whole system yet, but i will. Does that require pulling the engine? I am pretty sure i am doing the work myself from here on out. also, the steel lines make setting the timing difficult. does anyone make flexible hose that meets all the requirements to use for HP fuel on a Landy?

[antichrist]

You don't have to remove the engine to set the pump timing. Also, setting it doesn't require a lot of movement so you can do it with the steel lines. If you don't have the shop manual Haynes makes one that covers it.
Actually, I have an extra copy I've been meaning to put on ebay if you're interested.

[johnny.k]

i have the shop manual and the haynes book. been reading and it seems that the pump only needs to turn about 1mm or so? could it be the gears are out? i know the guys who last worked on it are smart guys and worked with the timing, but couldn't get it running well. i am thinking maybe three things are wrong. 1. it was put back together incorrectly by the 1st mechanic 2. the injector pump is bad (old) 3. timing is way off. maybe a combination of the three. i am only hoping that the first guys didn't do any damage to the engine. the last guys say that the pump wont hold pressure- all the fuel drains back out. is that normal?

[antichrist]

The pump is driven by the camshaft, so if the camshaft isn't right in relation to the crank then it won't run right. IIRC you can remove the front cover and check those. However, I'd do the easy task first and just try the pump. If it's running worse than it was before the rebuild I'd suspect the camshaft/crank relationship, or the pump setting. There really isn't any reason for the pump to get messed up during a rebuild.

[johnny.k]

thanks again Tom,

I think you've given me a very good place to start.

best regards,

johnny

[antichrist]

The only reason I can think of for the injection system to be the issue, other than out of timing, would be if the person wasn't careful to keep everything clean and got dirt in it.

[roverandom]

I'm thinking it's a pump issue.....but who knows at this point.

Seeing as you are an Army guy, perhaps you can get a sweaty military tech to look at it for you? They should be used to old school mechanical diesel equipment, especially the older guys.

Or take it to any pro shop that deals with industrial/farm equipment or heavy duty rigs and they will have the tools necessary to diagnose this correctly. LR diesels are very simple. Try to find a place where at least one mechanic is an old fart. They just don't teach the old systems as much as they should any more and shop experience with these mechanical units can be limited if the guys are under 25 and they mostly do modern stuff.

Failing that, or if you would rather do it yourself, get onto the Land Rover forums based in the UK. Plenty of diesel knowledge there. Not many LR diesels in the USA.

[johnny.k]

unfortunately, I am at FT Leavenworth, where diesel mechanics are few a far between. The last set of mechanics I took it to were antique tractor mechanics. Also unfortunate, as they don't need the headache- i think after looking a little at what the first morons did, they wanted no part of it. seems that diesel "mechanics" nowadays, only know how to read instruments and replace parts- no theory. i've decided to do the work myself. just need to get rid of all the snow drifts on the landy.

[johnny.k]

Tom,

Just wanted to say thanks for the direction. After pulling the engine and giving it a good inspection, I've found that the mechanics did do the work i paid for, including new pistons, but.... the injection pump was set 180 out. the master spline was set at 10 o'cloxk instead of 4. I'm in the process of cleaning, properly painting the parts and will start reassembly when i return from holiday. thanks again- johnny