Last year I had to rebuild the 201 in my 555A due to a porous cylinder. The machine shop sleeved all three cylinders and decked the top of the block as he has found that a lot of BSD blocks aren't flat. I bought the machine used and it only shows 1900 hours, but based on its condition I believe that may be correct. Replaced the rods and mains but didn't grind the crank. It had headland pistons, but I replaced them with standard pistons for fear of the headlands coming apart. When I checked the piston protrusion I found it was right at the top of the spec. due to the decking. I also had the injectors checked and cleaned. It starts and runs great, but has an occasional metallic ping especially when under load. Maybe it isn't a big deal, but now that I know it is there I'm sensitive to it. Would the higher compression ratio from the decking cause the ping? Should I try backing off on the timing a little? If it was a gas engine these would be an easy "yes" but I'm not sure if the effects are the same on a diesel.
- Thread starter lfc
- Start date
Bern
Well-known Member
- Location
- Mount Vernon, WA
If the piston protrusion was within specs, then the compression ratio should not be too high. What did you come up with for a measurement? Did you have the head surfaced? If so, was valve recession within spec?
Those later 201s did knock a little anyways - I attribute it mainly to early fuel timing. If you feel it's too loud, or if it bothers you, you could always back your pump timing off a little. That's really easy to do on that engine.
Those later 201s did knock a little anyways - I attribute it mainly to early fuel timing. If you feel it's too loud, or if it bothers you, you could always back your pump timing off a little. That's really easy to do on that engine.
Bern,
Thanks for the response. I don't remember the protrusion exactly, but it was something like 0.022"? I have the Ford shop manual and followed that. Cylinder #3 was actually 0.001" or so high on the back of the piston, so I took a couple passes with a file over the piston head to bring it back to spec - figured that the weight of the piston wasn't as important as the protrusion. Head was milled and valves replaced, but the machine shop assembled the head so I don't know the recession. However, this machinist does very good work and handles a lot of Fords so I have trust in that he checked the recession. I tried backing off the pump timing a little - maybe a degree or two before the injector lines stopped the pump from rotating more but it didn't seem to help much. How much do you think is appropriate?
Thanks for the response. I don't remember the protrusion exactly, but it was something like 0.022"? I have the Ford shop manual and followed that. Cylinder #3 was actually 0.001" or so high on the back of the piston, so I took a couple passes with a file over the piston head to bring it back to spec - figured that the weight of the piston wasn't as important as the protrusion. Head was milled and valves replaced, but the machine shop assembled the head so I don't know the recession. However, this machinist does very good work and handles a lot of Fords so I have trust in that he checked the recession. I tried backing off the pump timing a little - maybe a degree or two before the injector lines stopped the pump from rotating more but it didn't seem to help much. How much do you think is appropriate?
Welding man
Well-known Member
- Location
- West Virginia
I agree with Bern. I have heard that noise in more than one of those engines and in fact I disassembled one once for a customer because he was so sure that there was something loose inside. Ended up putting new pistons,rings and bearings in it just to satisfy him. Guess what, it still made the same noise. We have a saying around here. Oh you've got one of those noisy engines. Run it,it will be fine.
Bern
Well-known Member
- Location
- Mount Vernon, WA
Ford spec for piston protrusion on those engines is .011 - .023", so you're right there at the limit. That said, if valve recession is too shallow because the head was surfaced and the valves were replaced, you might possibly have valve to piston contact at higher RPM. If you think this might be a possibility, trying increasing valve lash by about .010" on each valve and run it again. If your knock goes away, you have your answer.
If backing off pump timing a couple of degrees did not change anything, then I doubt more would make any change. Did you rotate it in the correct direction? You need to turn the pump in its normal direction of rotation to retard the timing.
If backing off pump timing a couple of degrees did not change anything, then I doubt more would make any change. Did you rotate it in the correct direction? You need to turn the pump in its normal direction of rotation to retard the timing.
The ping is there at low rpm too, and since it only does it under load I doubt it is the valves hitting but I suppose it is worth a try if it gets worse. Engine turns clockwise, with one gear in between pump turns clockwise too, so I pushed the top of the pump towards the engine to retard. I may try 3 degrees and see what it does.
They certainly are loud, but this is a different noise than on any of my other 3-cylinder Fords - it sounds just like a gas engine pinging. Good to know that others have had similar experiences with no bad outcomes. I rebuilt it once so if it goes I can do it again, but it is such a pain on the 555 getting the engine out from under the loader and the heavy front end.
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