Dave WM

I think just for the heck of it I am going to hook up my simpson 260 VOM to that oil pressure sending unit to see what 40psi looks like on the resistance reading. I will also repeat the test with a teaspoon of oil poured into each spark plug hole. Just want to see how consistent across the cylinders the readings will be. Based on what I am seeing so far, I don't see a need in a engine rebuild. This is a spare to try stuff out on (like replacing the valve guide seals). The preliminary results of these test tell me the engine while not in great shape, it certainly is in good shape and would prob be fine as is.

compression test using starter (thank Jeff!!)

pretty cool starter setup.

I put it away for the day, filled the cylinders with marvel oil, will let that soak in, then drain out. I have a trans that I can bolt on, have to get a starter. Not sure I want to go the whole start up route, just would like to know the mechanicals are sound. I do have the complete EFI, harness and all the manifolds that came with it. Maybe if I get motivated...

Nope, was all geared up to do a complete disassemble, take head to a shop, etc... but I am in no hurry so the idea of a baseline run with minimal work seems logical. My best cylinder reading now is around 90/83 lowest is 90/75. I am working on the lowest some more this time with marvel mystry oil.

I know I have been accused of talking to myself, but this was just too interesting not to post about. I started out with a 90/30 ish leakage about 67%. I tapped on the rocker (exhaust) and the low number jumped to about 50psi (more tapping did not have any gains). Next I tilted the engine and with the leakage happening I poured some fuel injector cleaner into the exhaust port, letting it boil from the leaking air. let it do that for a few min the tapped the rocker again, with a rag over the port so I don't spray cleaner all over. You can hear it pop of course but the more I did it the less of a hiss I got. I did this over several cycles, until I got to the 78psi on the low number (about 13% leakage). Next up I did the borescope, the piston top and the valve looked much cleaner from what I could see (not easy to see as bore scope has limited movement in the tight space). I compared my reading to the best cylinder (#6) which were pretty much the same low pressure of about 75-78. I tried using power tools to spin the crank for a direct pressure reading, could not get it to work, but with a breaker bar I did hand turn it about as fast as I could thru one compression stroke and came up with about 75-78 psi on both #1 (treated cyl) and #6 (untreated). I check the timing chain marks, they were correct (line centered in V) but I did notice the chain seemed to have a lot of slack, perhaps that is correct with no oil pressure, but I also noted the long guide seems very warn (had a deep groove where the chain runs). At this point I am hesitant on what to do. the motor was purchased as a spare, and something to practice on. I am tempted to just bolt it back up as is to a transmission bell and install a starter to get a better read on the compression. then do the treatment to the remaining cylinders to see the effects.

I did some googling and found this article Exhaust Valve Seat Leakage 971638 A 1.9L four cylinder engine was evaluated for leakage of cylinder charge through the exhaust valve seats. Fast FID HC analyzer traces reveal leakage. Static leakdown tests do not correlate with the Fast FID measurement, unlike previously published reports for a different engine. The causes of exhaust valve seat leakage are likely to be Flakes of cylinder deposits lodging in the valve seat Valve seat distortion due to the thermal and pressure loading of the cylinder head structure Because deposit related effects are very history dependent, it is very difficult to obtain quantitative results. Some experimental observations: Static pressure leakage measurements show variation of leakage area with cylinder pressure, caused by flexing of the valve head. Dynamic leakage results are history dependent. Leakage is reduced after running at high speed/load, and gradually build up during extended light load low speed operation. Valve closing forces can apparently affect leakage Particles of cylinder deposits are present in the exhaust port. These particles have composition similar to cylinder deposits but lower in carbon content and higher in oil ash. Particles were observed having 20-200 micron size. These deposits can lodge in the valve seat and contribute to leakage.

Got one of those, will look at it today. Only issue I have had in the past when into the plug hole is you can only see the top of piston. Maybe looking in thru the ports may show something.

I forgot to mention the plugs showed heavy carbon fouling and the exhaust ports had heavy carbon deposits lining them. I wonder if there could be some carbon build up around the exhaust valves make it hard for them to seat? The plugs were black with dry carbon. I can't think of a way of telling that short of pulling the head.

any different from these? (other than price). https://www.ebay.com/itm/Datsun-280Z-1975-78-L28-L28E-Engine-Intake-Exhaust-Valve-Set-12-Valves-070-071/223310282539?epid=1434116639&hash=item33fe547f2b:g:qc8AAOxyRhBS8URB:rk:13:pf:0

I wonder if these are any good https://www.ebay.com/itm/Exhaust-and-Intake-Valves-Fits-75-80-Nissan-280Z-2-8L-L6-SOHC-12v-L28E/253866960206?hash=item3b1ba6654e:g:rGsAAOSwa1ZcBvPQ:rk:44:pf:0

thought about it (the air wrench), even tried just spinning over by hand (on the damper nut) some psi readings of about 25 on a fast turn on the compression stroke. That's when I decided it just made more since to use the leak down tester, gives more info and does not require spinning.

This is the one I had the broken bolt on the exhaust manifold. Next up was a leak down test. Only #4 and #6 passed (about 80psi/75psi), on the rest it was more like 80/30 and you could feel the air coming out of the exhaust port. The valve lash was loose but I will check it again anyway, prob do a video. So now I will pull the head and learn about valve seats and valves. There are several machine shops in the Orlando area, I plan to call https://southeastcylinderhead.com/ Monday and see if they have experience on L28 heads. I did not bother to pull any of the crank shaft caps to inspect the bearings. will do that after I get the head worked out. I did not do a reg compression check since I don't have a way to spin the engine while its on the stand.

the OTC tool is very simple, but precision made and works very well. The only thing is having the engine on the stand makes everything a lot easier as far as setup and drilling. I suppose you could do it with the engine in the car, just a bit harder to get good access for the placement of the drill. a 90 angle driver would prob make life easier if that was the case. part 4 note: In this video you can see the alignment tool installed incorrectly. I reversed it so the bushing that is bolted to the head could be over the hole to be tapped. The reason being the bushing has a much larger hole (8mm) that let me use it to make sure the tap was going in straight. Its not designed for this but it did help with the start of the tap process.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxMsHgfGwCVtyRrqXVtll-g?view_as=public

I did not want to clutter up the site, just click on my channel they are all there.

5 part series (short) since youtube does not have a video editor anymore.

this is my adventure in rebuilding

get a hand held impact driver (the kind you strike with a hammer) to release those torx screws. Also make sure you know which direction to turn the output shaft nut to loosen. Pretty sure its a CW to loosen, CCW to tighten (reverse of normal). this guy has some good videos

grooves are normal.

roger wilco.

Just got off phone with Hung, they are shooting for the end of the month (Jan 2019). Will keep everyone posted on how it goes.

Left a message on the phone, wanting an update on when I can expect a ship date, been about 7 weeks now. Anyone else have any contact lately?

so that is what it looks like. Thanks for the pic.

My renu guy told me he re positioned the pickup tube to get it closer to the bottom (after removing the pickup tube filter). I also run a prefilter to keep the larger chunks out of the pump. This is a purpose designed pre filter for use in front of the pump. I had a G-3 fram but was scolded for using bad advise (not the right filter for a pre filter). I did experience some noise with the old filter, None now with the current setup. The only bad side effect is if the tank is low, like 3 gallons or less, a hard left turn will cause it to stumble for a few seconds. I presume its getting some air in the pickup. I have the low fuel light come on when its about 14 gallons low, I have put in as much as 16 gallons, fuel gauge was indicating right on E at that point.