pjflyer
Well-Known Member
Hi all, I didn't know whether to post this here or under forestry. We have a JD 440a skidder with a 219 engine. We rebuilt the engine having the crank turned and getting a rebuild kit with a 20 over (if I remember correctly) for the crank grinding.
New pistons, rods, liners, and bearings. Everything went together except when we tried to match up the numbers on the main bearing caps to the block, they were binding. We found they only fit correctly flipped around (???), we could spin the crank by hand easily, torqued everything, timed everything including static timing of the IP. With everything hooked up it cranked pretty hard. We figured it's because of the new parts. We also hold in the clutch just to keep the transmission drag off the engine. Bled the injector lines at the injectors. When we tried starting it, it started but with a higher RPM than idle (maybe 1500). We shut it down within five seconds, and checked what was wrong. We thought the throttle linkage needed to be adjusted so we did it and tried again. Once again it started to run higher than idle again (1500), so within three seconds we shut it down. When we did, it stopped almost immediately, but no unusual noise, bang or thud. Upon investigation of the IP, there was an aluminum shim inside the IP shaft holding the metering valve mostly if not fully open. It was probably put in there to keep the weights from falling out, so we removed it. We missed that one putting it on. When we tried to start it all we got was white smoke. We tried adjusting the IP timing from one stop to the other (by turning the IP). The best spot seemed to be where the initial static timing line is, but it won't start.
Suspected the IP, rebuilt it, no change. Tried the rebuilt IP on another running 219 and the other machine ran fine, so we left that pump on the other machine and installed the known running IP on the rebuilt engine. Same thing. Tried new injectors, still white smoke. It smokes and almost starts but not quite. What combustion is going on helps it spin faster, as when you kill the IP it slows down quite a bit. It just doesn't seem to get over the threshold of actual running. We tried checking the compression, but we don't have a diesel compression checker. We tried to rig up an a/c pressure gauge, but found it hard to hold in as it's supposed to be 350, but it did register about 180.
We pulled the head and checked the valves which seemed to be fine. This head was not shopped as the condition of the valves and head seemed to be ok. We then took the gear cover off and rechecked the timing. Everything still lined up, cam, balancers, and IP gear. Later we tried another head that was previously on a running machine with no luck, setting the rocker arm gap at .014 intake and .018 exhaust as before. With the newly installed head we get black smoke now, but it still won't start.
We have checked the intake filter, no problems, tried it with the exhaust off, checked the fuel transfer pump - good fuel. The fuel that's in it is about 5 months old.
We have tried to hand crank the engine, but can't. Even when we took the head off, we couldn't spin it by hand from the front pulley bolt, but from the top, the pistons looked fine and seemed to move up and down as they should. We did bolt down the liners before we spun it without the head. We tried to pry it from the timing hole in the bell housing but still couldn't get it to move. The starter spins it fairly good, and when what little combustion we get happens, it helps it a bit more. We don't know if this is a big issue or what. We've rebuilt several 219 engines without having problems.
We are thinking about the cam, but it's hard to check the valve travel without being able to hand crank it. The starter whips it over too fast to get an accurate reading. That's the latest thing we thought of.
Simply; we've been chasing our tail for a week or so now trying to figure out what's the problem. We're also starting to wonder if anything happened when it first started at a higher RPM. Also if it being so tight is normal on a rebuild or not. The other engines we did, I don't remember hand cranking them after the rebuild, they just started and ran.
Any experience, suggestions, or opinions would help.
New pistons, rods, liners, and bearings. Everything went together except when we tried to match up the numbers on the main bearing caps to the block, they were binding. We found they only fit correctly flipped around (???), we could spin the crank by hand easily, torqued everything, timed everything including static timing of the IP. With everything hooked up it cranked pretty hard. We figured it's because of the new parts. We also hold in the clutch just to keep the transmission drag off the engine. Bled the injector lines at the injectors. When we tried starting it, it started but with a higher RPM than idle (maybe 1500). We shut it down within five seconds, and checked what was wrong. We thought the throttle linkage needed to be adjusted so we did it and tried again. Once again it started to run higher than idle again (1500), so within three seconds we shut it down. When we did, it stopped almost immediately, but no unusual noise, bang or thud. Upon investigation of the IP, there was an aluminum shim inside the IP shaft holding the metering valve mostly if not fully open. It was probably put in there to keep the weights from falling out, so we removed it. We missed that one putting it on. When we tried to start it all we got was white smoke. We tried adjusting the IP timing from one stop to the other (by turning the IP). The best spot seemed to be where the initial static timing line is, but it won't start.
Suspected the IP, rebuilt it, no change. Tried the rebuilt IP on another running 219 and the other machine ran fine, so we left that pump on the other machine and installed the known running IP on the rebuilt engine. Same thing. Tried new injectors, still white smoke. It smokes and almost starts but not quite. What combustion is going on helps it spin faster, as when you kill the IP it slows down quite a bit. It just doesn't seem to get over the threshold of actual running. We tried checking the compression, but we don't have a diesel compression checker. We tried to rig up an a/c pressure gauge, but found it hard to hold in as it's supposed to be 350, but it did register about 180.
We pulled the head and checked the valves which seemed to be fine. This head was not shopped as the condition of the valves and head seemed to be ok. We then took the gear cover off and rechecked the timing. Everything still lined up, cam, balancers, and IP gear. Later we tried another head that was previously on a running machine with no luck, setting the rocker arm gap at .014 intake and .018 exhaust as before. With the newly installed head we get black smoke now, but it still won't start.
We have checked the intake filter, no problems, tried it with the exhaust off, checked the fuel transfer pump - good fuel. The fuel that's in it is about 5 months old.
We have tried to hand crank the engine, but can't. Even when we took the head off, we couldn't spin it by hand from the front pulley bolt, but from the top, the pistons looked fine and seemed to move up and down as they should. We did bolt down the liners before we spun it without the head. We tried to pry it from the timing hole in the bell housing but still couldn't get it to move. The starter spins it fairly good, and when what little combustion we get happens, it helps it a bit more. We don't know if this is a big issue or what. We've rebuilt several 219 engines without having problems.
We are thinking about the cam, but it's hard to check the valve travel without being able to hand crank it. The starter whips it over too fast to get an accurate reading. That's the latest thing we thought of.
Simply; we've been chasing our tail for a week or so now trying to figure out what's the problem. We're also starting to wonder if anything happened when it first started at a higher RPM. Also if it being so tight is normal on a rebuild or not. The other engines we did, I don't remember hand cranking them after the rebuild, they just started and ran.
Any experience, suggestions, or opinions would help.
