Re: busted deisel

[EldonMcf@domain.elided]

   <<Hey all you deisel guys (especially Eldon if he's dug out of the drifts
yet).>>

   Andy,

     Most of the snow is melted already, the digging out part is cleaning up
the mess of broken trees. The storm was very unusual, normally a early snow
here just melts when it hits the ground. since we had not had a killing frost
yet, most of the trees still had all their leaves. Add to that a heavy, wet
snow, cold temperature, high wind, and you have a real mess. There's trees
down everywhere, from small branches to big mature trees. This caused alot of
problems with power and phone lines. I was without power for about 3-1/2
days. I am fortunate to have a emergency generator, some were without power
for over a week. I had a limb on top of the Scout, a Chineese Elm landed on
my K-3 - both are fine, everything else was ok except my '74 RHD parts Scout
had a dent in the top when I finally got it uncovered. :-(


      <<I looked at a rust free (meaning no holes- plenty of light surface
rust) 78
2wd with the Nissan deisel today. There was a hole in the case just behind
the pump- looked like a rod had come apart and hit the side of the case on
the way up.
The things that make me leery about using that engine are:
a) busted rod- is it possible that a decent STM (shade tree mechanic) could
just replace that rod?
b) never been inside a deisel
c) the engine is an 81. If the original engine and the replacement engine
both went out inside of 120k, what good is fixing or replacing it? 
The Nissan deisels have a good reputation, but I don't know if I want a
whole new world of experiences.....>>>

   The rod thru the block is unusual, and just means it had a problem - the
operator should have stopped sooner when it started knocking, or missing,
etc.. This type of failure usually does more damage than is apparent at
first. If the block has a hole in it, then it is likely the rod also hit the
camshaft on the same side. the piston is also likely to be damaged, as well
as anything in the path of the spinning rod, oil pump, pickup tube, pan,
etc..

a)  Shade tree or pro the first step to determine if its repairable would be
to dissasemble and evaluate the condition of the major componants. (block,
crank, cam,etc..)    {since we no longer have shade trees locally, our
available workforce is reduced by 80%}

b) You don't know what your missing!! What are you waiting for?

c) The life of any engine is affected by many factors such as proper
application, proper operation, and proper maintenence. Whenever there is a
Catastrophic failure like that I would suspect some sort of abuse was the
cause, like using the wrong type of engine oil, running out of oil,
overheating, pulling a 40' reefer, etc..

    <<Why not stick a straight six in there? It hasn't run for a few years
and it
looks like more trouble than I may want to deal with except that having an
all original rig is attractive and I'd have to take off those neat deisel
emblems.
Of course I don't know if a six would fit, but that's the problem after
this problem.>>

     The only true bolt in replacement would be the Nissan, anything else
would require at least some modification.The Nissan Diesel is a well built
engine with alot of heavy duty features, and a reputation for long life and
dependable service. Here's what I would do:  find a tubocharged '80 Nissan
Diesel engine. That would bolt right in, use the busted one for parts -
sounds like the best thing for that one anyway. That way you would keep it
original, you keep those neat DIESEL emblems, and if it falls off the ferry
your ignition won't get wet!! :-)

    Good luck

     Eldon Mcfarling
     Ceresco, NE
     '80 Scout II Turbo Diesel
     http://members.aol.com/EldonMcf/scoutd.html