Time for a Re-fit

**Johnno1969** · 16th November 2013, 10:10 PM

Speaking of failure, as the third anniversary of my "It'll all be over by Christmas" prognostication looms, it's time for an update.

Finally, after a hiatus of some weeks (never get a bleedy moment to work on the Landy) I got back into things today. I brought my brand new, you-beaut valve spring compressor into play and changed the valve seals on the motor. It was very easy with the nifty little tool.

With any given piston at Top Dead Centre, the valve can't drop down into the cylinder, so I set the motor at TDC, did numbers one and four, then marked and rotated the crank pulley 180 degrees and did two and three. It was just a matter of compressing the valve springs, removing the collets and springs, changing the seals and then refitting springs and collets.

I'll attach a photo of the valve spring compressor at work.

The alignments of the rocker arms on number one inlet and number four exhaust are still a concern. Though not all the rocker arms line up absolutely dead centre on the top of the valve stems, those two are noticeably out of alignment. Interestingly, when I took the rocker shaft and rockers away from the motor, I could detect no significant uneven wear on the rocker arm pads with my fingertips. All the same, I can't see why those two valves would "need" to align differently to the others and would not like to find it causing uneven wear in the valve guides. I am going to look at the whole assembly tomorrow to see if it has been reassembled in the past with rockers out of correct sequence.

If those two arms should be the way that they are, could somebody please let me know?

I'll attach a few photos here of the two rocker arms in situ, and the wear on the pads of the arms.

Cheers,

John

**Johnno1969** · 16th November 2013, 10:15 PM

By the way, when I bought some valve seals a few weeks ago, the supplier (as well as a few other online shops) pictured the exhaust valve seals as having a spring. I queried this in the technical forum, and received some good advice to the contrary, which also matches with what the Rover manual stipulates. All indicators point to: Springs in inlet seals only, exhaust seals rubber seal with no spring.

**Johnno1969** · 17th November 2013, 02:06 PM

Things are progressing. I have swapped over the two offending rocker arms and, hey presto, things line up again....

**JDNSW** · 17th November 2013, 04:28 PM

Originally Posted by Johnno1969

Things are progressing. I have swapped over the two offending rocker arms and, hey presto, things line up again....

I think you said that the engine had not been overhauled - but that does not mean the head has not been off and possibly the rocker gear disassembled to check the bushes (and the rockers mixed up). Worth noting that there are four different rockers, two of each. the wear marks on the rockers suggest that they have been like that for a long time!

John

**Johnno1969** · 17th November 2013, 07:06 PM

Originally Posted by JDNSW

I think you said that the engine had not been overhauled - but that does not mean the head has not been off and possibly the rocker gear disassembled to check the bushes (and the rockers mixed up). Worth noting that there are four different rockers, two of each. the wear marks on the rockers suggest that they have been like that for a long time!

John

Yep, that's right John. When I did the rebuild on the engine in 2001, as there was no play in the rocker shaft and all was nice and tidy I put it all back on exactly the way it was beforehand. But there's no saying that somebody had not had a bit of a play with it all earlier. I really should have looked at it all more carefully. Motto: trust nobody, especially previous owners.

I've noted all the part numbers for the rockers in the order in which they "first" sat, and how I have them arranged now, for future reference.

Cheers,

John

**Johnno1969** · 17th November 2013, 07:12 PM

Here are a few photos of the rocker cover being cleaned up. Familiar domestic scenes for any Land Rover owner....

**JDNSW** · 17th November 2013, 07:17 PM

Yes, you are right to use the sink - do not use the dishwasher on aluminium parts, as the dishwasher detergent is very alkaline and will dull them.

John

**dreamin'** · 17th November 2013, 08:06 PM

Congratulations on sorting out the rocker problem.

Where did you get the valve spring compressor? It looks a beaut.

Roger

**Johnno1969** · 17th November 2013, 09:39 PM

Originally Posted by dreamin'

Congratulations on sorting out the rocker problem.

Where did you get the valve spring compressor? It looks a beaut.

Roger

Hey Roger,

I bought it at the local Town and Country tool supplier. The princely sum of $43.90 and it was mine. While I was using it, I was thinking "I have wasted $44 on some rubbish in my life, but this is not one of those times." It was really easy to use and a well-made bit of kit.

Cheers,

John

**dreamin'** · 17th November 2013, 11:17 PM

Thanks John - sounds like you got lucky

Is there a brand name on it?

R

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