35 - Examining What We Have

Right. In our last post, we basically finished stripping the 200tdi to its component parts in preparation for rebuild. Let's start the new year with some inspection.

Warning! This post is heavy on pictures that largely look the same. Feel free to doomscroll social media instead if this is causing issues. 

Today's job was to take a look at what we have. We'll start with the main bearing caps. 

1, 2, and 3 above;

... and now 4 & 5. 

I am not an engine rebuilder. Pretty sure I've mentioned this before. So I'm not sure how to interpret the wear patterns on the main bearings. Is it normal for them to be worn on one side? Does this indicate normal wear, or should I be looking at line boring the block? Is that even possible? A question for an expert, I suppose.

One thing I do know, is that the main bearings will need replacement. I have a new set already on hand from Turner's. On to the thrust washers:

These maintain the fore-and-aft location of the crankshaft. Not knowing what the proper measurement should be (I gather you have to test endfloat when you rebuild, and replace these components as required?) I just measured them with a standard micrometer and noted the values for future me. Now let's look at the big end bearings starting with con rod #1:

Looks like fairly even wear. You can see the bottom halves are more worn than the top, because I suppose they have to deal with all the force of a controlled detonation. On to #2:

Same same. Not too bad, just looks like wear to me. On to #3:

This one doesn't look as good. Is that burning from oil starvation or just extra wear? Maybe contamination of the oil? And finally #4:

Pretty even wear pattern, just looks like it needs renewal. 

What does all this mean? I don't know, but there are two things that I can be sure of. One, I've now recorded and documented the things that I needed to document, so that's good. And two, a sure way of learning something on the Internet is to post it and wait to be corrected. If there are any swami greybeard-types out there, feel free to contact me!