Engine Overhaul Kama 554

[3RRL]

Hi guys,
Well, below is a better photo of the new gasket and it did feel slick.
But too late, it's already on and I used a thin film of sealer. I don't think it should hurt. Ron, I hope your eyes are OK. I used to get like that on Friday nights at the bowling alley.



To answer schmalts question, I didn't check the spring pressure either.
It was brought up with a friend but after a discussion, and knowing the low hours and low rpm, we thought they were (probably) ok as is. I'm not sure about the dimension you asked for...the installed spring height. I did not see any reference in the manual about it.

So like I said above, I did get some progress done.
I got one of those ring closing things to install the rings and pistons into the engine block. They rings were pretty springy so I'm glad I got it. I slid the pistons in using that apparatus. BTW, I learned it was better to turn the crank so the journal was up when inserting the pistons. I insert one piston with the crank journal down and the bearing on the connecting rod fell off.

 

[3RRL]

I have an S&K 1/2" drive 250ft/lb torque wrench.
It's a fairly decent wrench where you can dial the desired torque. It has both N/m and ft/lb scales on it.



I went underneath to put on the bearing caps and torque in 3 steps to spec.
I put the oil pan back on which has a re-usable rubber gasket. It was in good shape. Then I re-installed the front drive shaft. So now the entire bottom end is done and buttoned up.
After that I put the head on, and the rocker arm assembly. I torqued the head to spec in steps using a small amount of oil on the bolts as stated in the Manual. But I just snugged/tightened the rocker arm assembly.



I'm not sure if there is a torque value for the rocker arm assembly?
Somewhere I had written down like 65/70ft/lbs, but I couldn't find a torque spec in the manual for that. Right now they are just snugged up. Does anyone know the torque value for that?
Anyway, I'm making progress slowly.
I still have a lot of cleaning and other re-assembly to do today, so I will check the forum this afternoon before I set the valve lash.
Please let me know that torque value...

 

[IH3444]

Looks great Rob. I agree with you on the spring heights. Not a big concern, unless the seats were cut deep, or high hour engine. Just get-er-finished up. Bleed the injector lines. Fire-er-up. it's going to run sweet.

 

[Bob Rooks]

Maybe I should have mentioned earlier, or maybe you already knew about making sure the piston rings were installed correct side up. On some engines it does make a big difference. Usually the rings are marked with a dot or the word "up".

 

[Momboy007]

Hello Rob,
Great work as usual, when you keep talking about the manual, are you referring to the Chinese manual, because I can barely understand mine.
Thanks and once again, great thread
Rick

 

[doxford jim]

RRL wrote:

I'm not sure if there is a torque value for the rocker arm assembly?
Somewhere I had written down like 65/70ft/lbs, but I couldn't find a torque spec in the manual for that. Right now they are just snugged up. Does anyone know the torque value for that?
Anyway, I'm making progress slowly.
I still have a lot of cleaning and other re-assembly to do today, so I will check the forum this afternoon before I set the valve lash.
Please let me know that torque value...[/QUOTE]

Hi Rob,

I have just looked at the manual for the engine in my Jinma 554 - same size engine so I assume similar values for torques.

I couldn't find anything for the specific valve train securing bolts, but did find this chart. Just use the size closest to the bolt you are concerned with and it will give you a torque range. The bolt on my rocker gear is around 7/16" or 1/2" dia. Using the metric equivalent puts you at the figures you have , but in Nm.

Bolt sizes (mm) Torque (Nm)

M6 6 ~ 12
M8 16 ~ 26
M10 37 ~ 52
M12 60 ~ 75
M14 80 ~ 92
M16 90 ~ 120

I don't know the grade of these bolts but would think at least grade 5 maybe 8

HTH

Cheers

Jim

 

[3RRL]

Thanks Jim,
I got that information and torqued them accordingly.
I think they were M-10 but the head is cast, so I torqued to 40ft/lbs.

Rick,
Yes, I'm talking about that Chinglish Engine manual.
You have to read everything twice to be sure you're doing what they suggest. Some parts are clear though.

Bob,
There were instructions about which way was up for the rings.
I made sure I got them all correct. Also the orientation of one ring gap to the other.

IH3444,
Yeah, that's just what I did.
I put it all together tonight and started it up. Here's some photos.
-Set the valves
-Filled it with oil
-Filled the radiator with Fleet Charge
-Filled the diesel tank
-Put the hood back on



And fired it up.
I cranked it for about a minute with the decompression lever. I also used the hand pump on the injection pump just prior to that. It wanted to start but maybe there was not enough fuel in it yet. So I waited a couple minutes and did the same thing.
It caught and started running ... very smooth too.
I am jazzed!!!



I went through the recommend start up...
5 minutes low rpm
5 minutes medium rpm and
5 minutes full rpm

Looks like I got my Christmas present early.
I want to thank ya'll for helping out wo much with this project. It's all done now. All I have to do is put on the fel and I can start working on the pond project again.
Many thanks and Merry Christmas!!!

 

[IH3444]

Great news. The only other thing I was thinking, that with your machine shop right there, was to weight the pistons, and besure they all weight within 1 gram of each other. Then also do the connecting rods the same way. This makes a difference with the smoothness of the engine also. You just put the piston, with the rings removed into the lathe, connecting rod end outwards for machining. Then just trim a bit off from inside the piston if necessary. The rods are a bit different if trimming is needed. A rod balancer is not necessary, but helps. Then you trim the bottom end cap if necessary, and then if necessary to bring the rod back into balance, the top of the rod, and a bit under the wrist pin boss. Sounds like you didn't need to do any of this. I rebuilt the engine in my Jetta diesel, and did the above practice, but I made the pistons all weight within 0.1gram, (well, exactly the same to be completely honest) and the same for the connecting rods. It's a smooth running puppy, with some pep. Great job Rob, and done in a timely fashion, without cutting any corners. Excellent work!

 

[doxford jim]

Hi Rob,

Great to read that you have finished the job and now have it running. Ya gets a good feeling when it bursts into life again, doncha

Thanks for taking the time and effort into doing the write up. It is both interesting and very informative to those that need that little extra help - you have just made their life a little easier.

Well, once you have the FEL back on, you should be ready to go outside and do a few doughnuts and wheelies eh That machine of yours is sure gonna last a long time now it has been rebuilt - all that is left now is the transmission - right

Another good job well done.

Jim

 

[PAGUY]

Congratulations Rob on a job well done. It brought back memories when I worked on a 6 cyl engine in a Ford Falcon in my twentys. I'm in my sixtys now so I doubt I'll ever do it again. Took that car from an oil burner to a car that could burn rubber. Thanks for the memories.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU AND LORETTA.

PAGUY