L555 Deluxe V1902 Crank won't rotate

[chrisepp]

I got a L555 deluxe from a neighbor, it had a blown head gasket. Expected a possible cracked head. It was turning over when I got it. 6 months later I took the head off to start the work and sure enough blown head gasket and intake valve stuck open from cylinder 1 (from flywheel). Cylinder 2 had the blown head and was full of coolant so there was some rust. Cleaning that all out, I am unable to turn over the crank from the fan side at all. I got a new head on the way as the old one had a small crack, but I can not get it to turn over. Is there something else that could be doing this or is it simply the rust on the rings? There was rust in cylinder 1 as well I assume from the intake valve being open when it was sitting there. Thanks

 

[Ivan]

Rings rusted to cyl wall. Put pentrating oil in the cyl and leave it sit. Every couple days try to turn it

 

[foton]

Rings rusted to cyl wall. Put pentrating oil in the cyl and leave it sit. Every couple days try to turn it

does the engine oil look ok? it is possible water got down in the crankcase too. but yes thin oil let sit rock engine in both directions with long bar ,tapping top of pistons might help too. use wood block , use good judgement as how hard you strike it. maybe use a helper and do both things at same time. you will need to be careful when hitting that you are hitting the block on the correct downward stroke of piston. good luck

 

[Ivan]

does the engine oil look ok? it is possible water got down in the crankcase too. but yes thin oil let sit rock engine in both directions with long bar ,tapping top of pistons might help too. use wood block , use good judgement as how hard you strike it. maybe use a helper and do both things at same time. you will need to be careful when hitting that you are hitting the block on the correct downward stroke of piston. good luck

Tapping will work just make sure you tap on th outside of the piston and not much in the center as they are not very thick in the center. I like to cut a block of wood that just goes in the cyle so the 4 corners are making contact with the out edges of the piston . They should not be rusted very bad yet but the sooner you free them up the better. If you have rust in the cyliners from sitting you may have tear the engine down and hone the cyl

 

[chrisepp]

does the engine oil look ok? it is possible water got down in the crankcase too. but yes thin oil let sit rock engine in both directions with long bar ,tapping top of pistons might help too. use wood block , use good judgement as how hard you strike it. maybe use a helper and do both things at same time. you will need to be careful when hitting that you are hitting the block on the correct downward stroke of piston. good luck

Thanks guys. Oil looks fine, no coolant in there thankfully. I used several products. Krud Kutter got rid of almost all rust right away, but didn't free the rings. How much pressure can I put on the 46mm nut on the front of the crank on the pulley side? I cut a wood block to cover most of the piston but a block that just goes to the outside seems like a good idea. I heated up the pistons to 60c with a propane torch and put in some liquid wrench to let sit overnight again. I hear getting the two bolts out of the pump to pull the engine is a nightmare so I am really hoping I can get it this way. It seems way more solid than I would have expected.

 

[Ivan]

Thanks guys. Oil looks fine, no coolant in there thankfully. I used several products. Krud Kutter got rid of almost all rust right away, but didn't free the rings. How much pressure can I put on the 46mm nut on the front of the crank on the pulley side? I cut a wood block to cover most of the piston but a block that just goes to the outside seems like a good idea. I heated up the pistons to 60c with a propane torch and put in some liquid wrench to let sit overnight again. I hear getting the two bolts out of the pump to pull the engine is a nightmare so I am really hoping I can get it this way. It seems way more solid than I would have expected.

I you remove 4 bolts the engine will come right out. 2 motor mt bols and under your seat break the hydros apart using the last sey of bols that hold them togehter. There is one on each side. You have a lot of stuff to take off to get the motor out. I removed the rad and oil cooler . Then picked up up and straight back Don't forget the hoses. But beore you do that on your pullt end there is a splined shaft. Pad that real good and use a big pipe wrench onit. Not the correct way to do it but it will wok. Put pressure on the wrench and smak it with a big hammer. If you mix transmission fluid and rubbing alchol together it makes a great pen atrating oil. Just take your time

 

[foton]

I you remove 4 bolts the engine will come right out. 2 motor mt bols and under your seat break the hydros apart using the last sey of bols that hold them togehter. There is one on each side. You have a lot of stuff to take off to get the motor out. I removed the rad and oil cooler . Then picked up up and straight back Don't forget the hoses. But beore you do that on your pullt end there is a splined shaft. Pad that real good and use a big pipe wrench onit. Not the correct way to do it but it will wok. Put pressure on the wrench and smak it with a big hammer. If you mix transmission fluid and rubbing alchol together it makes a great pen atrating oil. Just take your time

I do not think you need to be worried about over torqueing a no doubt hardened 46 mm crank bolt with hand tools . Just as a guess 500 ft.lbs should be no problem.

 

[chrisepp]

I do not think you need to be worried about over torqueing a no doubt hardened 46 mm crank bolt with hand tools . Just as a guess 500 ft.lbs should be no problem.

Thank you for all the advice. Last night I took a MAP torch and just heated up all the pistons to about 65C. Not a lot of heat, but just warmed the up nicely to get a little bit of expansion and help penetrating lube get in. After that I sprayed them with Liquid Wrench and let sit overnight. This morning I torqued one way with nothing, and the other direction and got a bit of movement. After that within about a minute I had fully freed pistons. A bit of heat and penetrating lube, after using krud kutter to get rid of all the rust in the cylinders and it's all good. With it all cleaned out, I notice a little bit of missing metal on the top of two pistons. Not valve strikes or anything, hard to describe. a couple blotches of where there is a slight recess. (think fraction of a mm). Is that a real problem with these? Do I need to get a pic of it? If not, I should be good to reassemble. Cheers, Chris

 

[chrisepp]

Thank you for all the advice. Last night I took a MAP torch and just heated up all the pistons to about 65C. Not a lot of heat, but just warmed the up nicely to get a little bit of expansion and help penetrating lube get in. After that I sprayed them with Liquid Wrench and let sit overnight. This morning I torqued one way with nothing, and the other direction and got a bit of movement. After that within about a minute I had fully freed pistons. A bit of heat and penetrating lube, after using krud kutter to get rid of all the rust in the cylinders and it's all good. With it all cleaned out, I notice a little bit of missing metal on the top of two pistons. Not valve strikes or anything, hard to describe. a couple blotches of where there is a slight recess. (think fraction of a mm). Is that a real problem with these? Do I need to get a pic of it? If not, I should be good to reassemble. Cheers, Chris

Hmm, after cleanup, this piston is the worst. It's worse than I said. If engine was out I would replace pistons and rings, but can I keep running with this OK? https://photos.app.goo.gl/VaHYVR7pchFhw2hr7 I'm new to diesel engines...

 

[chrisepp]

Hmm, after cleanup, this piston is the worst. It's worse than I said. If engine was out I would replace pistons and rings, but can I keep running with this OK? https://photos.app.goo.gl/VaHYVR7pchFhw2hr7 I'm new to diesel engines...

I don't know how to embed photos in this forum, here is a clickable link to the piston Piston Pic

 

[chrisepp]

I you remove 4 bolts the engine will come right out. 2 motor mt bols and under your seat break the hydros apart using the last sey of bols that hold them togehter. There is one on each side. You have a lot of stuff to take off to get the motor out. I removed the rad and oil cooler . Then picked up up and straight back Don't forget the hoses. But beore you do that on your pullt end there is a splined shaft. Pad that real good and use a big pipe wrench onit. Not the correct way to do it but it will wok. Put pressure on the wrench and smak it with a big hammer. If you mix transmission fluid and rubbing alchol together it makes a great pen atrating oil. Just take your time

Ivan, do you think the pistons could be replaced without pulling the motor if I had to? When you worked on yours was there enough room to drop the oil pan and get to pistons from the bottom when it was in the L555? I don't know how thick the crown of those pistons are.

 

[Ivan]

Ivan, do you think the pistons could be replaced without pulling the motor if I had to? When you worked on yours was there enough room to drop the oil pan and get to pistons from the bottom when it was in the L555? I don't know how thick the crown of those pistons are.

It would be very hard to do. Maybe if you could get themahineup high enough to work under it, If it was me I would not try it may bad things could happen. How bad is the piston is it just on the outer edges. I don't remember how far down the first ring is but I thing ids is a 1/2 inch or so. If it was mine I would try running it that way. Check compression in the cyl after you put the head back on

 

[chrisepp]

It would be very hard to do. Maybe if you could get themahineup high enough to work under it, If it was me I would not try it may bad things could happen. How bad is the piston is it just on the outer edges. I don't remember how far down the first ring is but I thing ids is a 1/2 inch or so. If it was mine I would try running it that way. Check compression in the cyl after you put the head back on

Thanks Ivan. That's what I thought. Edges are all good, it is more on the surface. The one pic I shared a link is by far the worst. The other two have wider ares but not nearly as deep. So either run with it or pull engine to put in new pistons. That one is maybe 2-2.5mm deep.

 

[chrisepp]

Thanks Ivan. That's what I thought. Edges are all good, it is more on the surface. The one pic I shared a link is by far the worst. The other two have wider ares but not nearly as deep. So either run with it or pull engine to put in new pistons. That one is maybe 2-2.5mm deep.

Did you see the pic of the pit I shared a link to Ivan?

 

[Ivan]

Did you see the pic of the pit I shared a link to Ivan?

I saw the pict ure after I replied. I don't think I would run that. Whats the other ones look like. Cheapest place to get them and rings is e bay

 

[chrisepp]

I saw the pict ure after I replied. I don't think I would run that. Whats the other ones look like. Cheapest place to get them and rings is e bay

The other two with pitting are these. https://photos.app.goo.gl/hpx41q1D23GWCmGb9 https://photos.app.goo.gl/iJVV421hPw3Xoaay7

 

[chrisepp]

The other two with pitting are these. https://photos.app.goo.gl/hpx41q1D23GWCmGb9 https://photos.app.goo.gl/iJVV421hPw3Xoaay7

One of the pits was really deep. Thinking this was detonation from the water in the head from the head leak. Coolant was in oil when drained, however it was not mayonnaise that I am used to seeing. So all the aftermarket pistons are the same, I believe OEM had a slight weight difference for the 2 centre pistons. I can't find anyone saying they had issues with that or using aftermarket. Anyone have info on that? Cylinders and crank pins are all in spec still, so that's good.

 

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I’d get rings and pistons. Pull the motor, put it on a stand, clean the cylinder walls and check for scoring. If it’s not bad, run a hone on a drill to get the crosshatching back (as much as possible), change the pistons and rings, and re-assemble. It’s not the technically correct way (which would be to do bearings, as well, and have a machine shop do it) but it will probably be ok.