I broke my T3! 0 compression

[IbrokemyT3]

Hello all,

This is my first post here. I have no mechanical experience and I bought a running T3 as a project and to cut my teeth.

The van is an early 1985 1.9L auto DG.

I removed the engine, cleaned it out and replaced the O rings on the piston sleeves and put on new head gaskets. I had to drill and tap new studs for the exhaust as the existing bolts had sheared off.

I put the cylinder heads back on and tried to fire her up and she was coughing like she wanted to start but struggled. I found the crank was really stiff and kept jamming at TDC on the first cylinder.

Took her apart again and found 3 obvious problems.

I had bent 2 push rods on the number 2 cylinder.
The piston head ring (the one between the head and the piston sleeve) on cylinder 4 had slipped and gotten crushed between the head and the cylinder sleeve.
I’d failed to properly lubricate the piston in cylinder 1.

So, I replaced the crushed ring and push rods, lubricated all pistons liberally and adjusted all the tappet screws using a technique I saw on YouTube and replaced the head gaskets.

Put her back together and… she turns but has 0 compression on all cylinders. Sounds awful. At least before it felt like the engine was trying to start, now it just sounds like an overloaded washing machine.

I can’t see any leaks in the head gasket, though inside the cylinder head I did notice tiny cracks between the valves. Could these be responsible?

Is there anything else I should check?

Thanks all!

[R0B]

Welcome to the forum. Here is a thread about the crack.
https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink/topic? ... source=app

[Stesaw]

Sounds like when you reassembled you haven't sat the pushrods correctly. Also always turn it over by hand before trying to start so you know the pistons aren't gonna come into contact with valves, otherwise you're gonna have a bad time.

[davidoft1]

I would say the valves aren’t set correctly

[IbrokemyT3]

I would say the valves aren’t set correctly

The way I did it was I put the crank at TDC for cylinder 1, then I finger tightened the tappets, tightened them 1.5 more turns and then locked them in place with the nut. I then did a 1/2 turn counter clockwise and repeated for cylinders in order. Did I do something wrong or miss a step?
 

Sounds like when you reassembled you haven't sat the pushrods correctly. Also always turn it over by hand before trying to start so you know the pistons aren't gonna come into contact with valves, otherwise you're gonna have a bad time.

I agree about the push rods. This time I got new push rods and made extra sure they were set correctly and I believe they are now. I will definitely take your advice about turning over by hand first.

I've uploaded a short video of what the engine sounds like when I turn it. What on earth have I done?

https://youtube.com/shorts/Q8hXHb2QfrE? ... zdRhJDOHZ3

[IbrokemyT3]

Welcome to the forum. Here is a thread about the crack.
https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink/topic? ... source=app

Thank you. From the discussion on that thread, the cracks in between the valves don't seem to be my issue. My cracks are much smaller than those.

[Aidan]

I then did a 1/2 turn counter clockwise and repeated for cylinders in order.

pretty sure the procedure is rotate 180' clockwise
and iirc you adjust them in firing order so 1 - 4 - 3 - 2 where 1 is front right looking from rear, 2 is rear right, 3 is front left and 4 is rear right, if you mix up direction but do the firing order sequence then you'll be adjusting the wrong cylinder on 2 and 4

[Stesaw]

As Aidan says. The firing order is 1.4.3.2.
So you start tdc number one, then you can either clockwise rotate 180 for number 4 etc or counter clock wise for 2 etc

[davidoft1]

As Aidan says. The firing order is 1.4.3.2.
So you start tdc number one, then you can either clockwise rotate 180 for number 4 etc or counter clock wise for 2 etc

Valve valve setting you turn counter clockwise

Set to tdc set number one 180, anticlockwise set 2 etc etc

[davidoft1]

I then did a 1/2 turn counter clockwise and repeated for cylinders in order.

pretty sure the procedure is rotate 180' clockwise
and iirc you adjust them in firing order so 1 - 4 - 3 - 2 where 1 is front right looking from rear, 2 is rear right, 3 is front left and 4 is rear right, if you mix up direction but do the firing order sequence then you'll be adjusting the wrong cylinder on 2 and 4

It’s anti-clockwise

[davidoft1]

I would say the valves aren’t set correctly

The way I did it was I put the crank at TDC for cylinder 1, then I finger tightened the tappets, tightened them 1.5 more turns and then locked them in place with the nut. I then did a 1/2 turn counter clockwise and repeated for cylinders in order. Did I do something wrong or miss a step?
 

Sounds like when you reassembled you haven't sat the pushrods correctly. Also always turn it over by hand before trying to start so you know the pistons aren't gonna come into contact with valves, otherwise you're gonna have a bad time.

I agree about the push rods. This time I got new push rods and made extra sure they were set correctly and I believe they are now. I will definitely take your advice about turning over by hand first.

I've uploaded a short video of what the engine sounds like when I turn it. What on earth have I done?

https://youtube.com/shorts/Q8hXHb2QfrE? ... zdRhJDOHZ3

Don’t turn 1.5 turns , they will pump up a little, I do zero turns first then turn over a few times or run for a few minutes then set properly

[Porkscratching]

[quote

It’s anti-clockwise
[/quote]

Thank you David, with all these blitherington Americans I was going give up on the thread.

[Aidan]

As Aidan says. The firing order is 1.4.3.2.
So you start tdc number one, then you can either clockwise rotate 180 for number 4 etc or counter clock wise for 2 etc

Valve valve setting you turn counter clockwise

Set to tdc set number one 180, anticlockwise set 2 etc etc

Bentley says clockwise

[IbrokemyT3]

Thanks for all the replies. Did anyone see the YouTube video I linked? It doesn’t sound like it’s turning properly. I don’t know how to describe that sound other than awful.

[davidoft1]

As Aidan says. The firing order is 1.4.3.2.
So you start tdc number one, then you can either clockwise rotate 180 for number 4 etc or counter clock wise for 2 etc

It’s wrong , I’m gonna check it out
Valve valve setting you turn counter clockwise

Set to tdc set number one 180, anticlockwise set 2 etc etc

Bentley says clockwise