Volvo A25c project

[Jam]

This is my project for the winter months this year. Il have a few questions along the way so any help is very welcome

 

[Richardjw~]

thats a fair project you have......whats the history of the machine and whats the plan after its done up?

 

[Jam]

The motor is worn out 23k hrs so pulled the heads, liners, pistons and oil pump to get things started. I could nearly slide my finger between the rings and liners! My plan is to go through her properly and work her away next year. When I'm happy with the drivetrain il give her a sand blast and some paint. If you see this tc, you mention the bypass valves in the filter head in your thread. Would these be under the two cover looking up to the heads? Are they available as pieces or is it buy a filter head?

 

[Jam]

thats a fair project you have......whats the history of the machine and whats the plan after its done up?

She gave all her life in a limestone quarry. It was fairly well serviced over the years but the engine got tired and when things turned down here it was parked up. If I can get it going right again I'm gonna work it away with a bit of luck

 

[lantraxco]

23K hours, I would call that a good and faithful friend and give her a pat and a "Well done lass".

Be sure to keep plenty of pictures coming when you make progress, love to see it come back to work ready.

 

[tctractors]

Jam, the control valves are under plugs in the filter head and are colour coded for correct location, I still get the odd job on A25C's and love working on them, they are very easy to work on compared to the more modern mounts, your bin looks very rusty possibly needing a blast and paint? my usualy jobs on them now is back beam bushings and transmission changing as I have the lifting frame for the tran's swap thing, the engines are not to bad a task as the Volvo kit is so well built, if you have the service book it gives you a tool section and explains how to make tooling for some of the jobs you might get into, the A30 dumper that I have split in 2 parts with a knackered vertical joint has a VHS tape in the Cab as an Opp's Manual??? its some fun to read without my TV and all the stuff to put the tape in, possibly not Volvo's best idea?
tctractors

 

[Strachan]

Just some thing else to check with the poor starting is the top hats on the injection pump drive and the drive plates had a fair few wear and give starting problems and I seam to remember spill timing and have a tube some where but it's been a few years since I seen a good old Volvo engine

 

[tctractors]

Strachan, you might be confusing Jam with the Top Hat thing, I did mention them (delivery valves) in the kick off, is it worth bringing up the Alpha Drive as the front is stripped out and the injector pump is on the "Healing Bench" the pump can be spill timed but is usualy only set via the tooth and plastic peg method, I could just do with an A25C engine rebuild to get me away from all the crap jobs I seem to pick up, as for getting a service manual a parts manual is also very handy, but the Operators manual is realy good at helping sort the fuse and relay thing out, plus the dash warning bulbs and controls can become a brain tease, the Ops' book sorts this part well.
tctractors

 

[Jam]

Just a small update
I pulled the wheels off to get them shot blasted and painted. I found good disks but all the pads were fairly shot. When she has been sitting for so long I'm going to resell all the callipers but 26 of the 32 pistons are corroded so have them ordered. Iv sent the rad off for a new core as well and cleaned the hydraulic tank for some piece of mind. Still waiting for my service manual but does anyone know where the transmission filter is and roughly how much oil? I presume it's check after while warm and running?

 

[Jam]

 

[Jam]

Another update
Got all the main bearings in handy enough and the bottom end built back up. These are a really nice engine to work at il have to say I'm very impressed with Volvo so far. Rad came back with a new core and all my wheels came back powder coated and lovely.

 

[sfrs4]

transmission filter is in the front right hand corner of the bottom of the transmission, and it takes 18 litres of atf.

 

[Jam]

transmission filter is in the front right hand corner of the bottom of the transmission, and it takes 18 litres of atf.

Thanks for that. I changed it out last weekend and thank god everything looked spotless.

 

[Jam]

Ran into my first real problem today. I timed the injector pump at 8 degrees btc on the compression stroke. Engine fires instantly but won't rev up past about 1500rpm. Iv a new lift pump delivering plenty of juice and iv cleaned the fuel outlet valve on the back side of the pump but still no joy. Have I the timing wrong?

 

[Jam]

After working on it for another while I think iv the timing wrong for sure. If I hold the throttle open it will heat fairly quickly and it's well down on power. I put the valves for number one cylinder rocking. Then turned the crank around nearly one turn until I could see the timing marks on the flywheel. I set that at eight degrees and then adjusted the pump until I could see the little pointer through the Allen head window. Rotated the engine two turns and check again. Anyone know what I'm after missing because I'm stumped??

 

[tctractors]

The plastic peg for timing the pump is in the pump you remove it from its store position and insert it through the timing set hole that you have been struggling to see into, you do this with the coupling loose on the pump drive, on the engine rotation thing well it all sounds good enough if both rocker arms are loose and you are turning the engine clockwise from the front, the usual issue with under speed is down to cable adjustment or worn out foot peddle, so pull off cable from speed control also remove or make sure the 2 (Two)stop control cables are not holding things in the wrong spot, the 1 stop cable goes to the Hydraulic tank shut off lever, then try things with your hand on the pump speed control, the rev counter works off the alternator via the connection marked W this puts out A.C. power 12 volt to the rev counter, the g/box will not select a speed if the engine speed at idle is over 900 rpm, the hydraulic fan speed should go to high blow at I think around 1600rpm, all this detail should be in your service book, I will check on the engine data for static timing as I cannot recall but there is also dynamic timing data, all that involves is engine running at pre set speeds to check the Alpha drive to the pump.
good rims tctractors

 

[Jam]

The plastic peg for timing the pump is in the pump you remove it from its store position and insert it through the timing set hole that you have been struggling to see into, you do this with the coupling loose on the pump drive, on the engine rotation thing well it all sounds good enough if both rocker arms are loose and you are turning the engine clockwise from the front, the usual issue with under speed is down to cable adjustment or worn out foot peddle, so pull off cable from speed control also remove or make sure the 2 (Two)stop control cables are not holding things in the wrong spot, the 1 stop cable goes to the Hydraulic tank shut off lever, then try things with your hand on the pump speed control, the rev counter works off the alternator via the connection marked W this puts out A.C. power 12 volt to the rev counter, the g/box will not select a speed if the engine speed at idle is over 900 rpm, the hydraulic fan speed should go to high blow at I think around 1600rpm, all this detail should be in your service book, I will check on the engine data for static timing as I cannot recall but there is also dynamic timing data, all that involves is engine running at pre set speeds to check the Alpha drive to the pump.
good rims tctractors

Thanks for the reply tc
Where is the plastic plug stored? I'm using a mirror to look in the hole and I can see a little spur looking back at me. I thought I found a setting of 8degrees btdc but I reckon it should be more. Maybe 13/14 because it's sounds fierce soft. No hint of a diesel bark?

 

[Cmark]

Here's a little outside the box thought for you Jam;

Does it have the butterfly style exhaust brake? Reason I ask is that we had an A25 that developed similar symptoms and it turned out the exhaust brake was stuck on.

I realise you have just rebuilt this, but is it possible that you've got the linkage back to front or something?

 

[Jam]

Cheers Cmark
I opened the 3bolts this evening to check the brake and everything is working as it should. My gut is saying il have to do some more routing around for the pump timing degrees. She sounds lovely at tick over but as you bring up the revs with no load she's fighting herself a bit and you can nearly see the heat in the exhaust manifold. Water temp rises quickly at the same time?

 

[Cmark]

To me the symptoms you describe sound too severe to be just a timing problem.

If not an exhaust restriction then maybe a parasitic load? Hydraulics loading up? Hoist lever stuck in the down position?