My '98 GU 4.2 TD

[Dustin]

I still can't believe that damage !

The first owner (old German guy) was meticulous about the maintenance.
He marked on every service what extras he had carried out, it's pretty impressive actually.
Marius should take a pic of the service book and post it for interest sake.
I remember seeing that he replaced the injectors at 200 000km I think.
When i took the injectors in to be adjusted for the turbo, they were tested and the report was the spray pattern was perfect, but I had them done anyway to avoid something like this further down the line.

Really sad that this happened, but on the bright side, once Michael is done with her, she'll be a bulletproof beast of a Patrol

[ricster]

For sure Dustin, It's just one of those things that happens.... no blame can go to anyone, as they say in the classics.... sheeeet happens...

[ricster]

In hindsight, I am actually very happy that my motor packed up when it did. The result is now I have a "brand new engine", and furthermore I did it myself ( with lots of telephonic help from Frans in the Cape) and I know exactly where everything belongs and that the engineering is spot on. My motor has done about 150 000Km since and is still a beast of a motor. The only thing I didn't do on mine which I should have at the time was grind/polish the rockers as mine must have a slight indentation on the surface where the pushrod touches the rocker itself and makes setting the valve clearance just a little more difficult. One of these days I will take the rockers off and send them in to be sorted out. Once that is done my motor will be quiet.... well as quiet as a old school TD42 can ever be...

[Michael]

Ha ha yes Cedric, that polishing of the rockers work like a bomb!! Doing it on all the engines I build and they have no pore clapping tappets

It will take you 2 hours max........do it!

[ricster]

Michael, I assume its not something one can DIY at home? Or is it simply a matter of fine filing the rocker surface with a super fine file and polishing to a smooth finish. I have actually never looked into it in fine detail. Obviously an engineering shop will be able to do perfectly on their machines, but was just wondering if it is feasible and can it be done properly? If I recall the surface is curved so I think it would be a tricky thing to do...

[Michael]

Cedric, yes its really easy and anyone with a angle grinder with a very fine flap disc can do it.

You would be surprised how little the flap disc takes off when using it with caution. It does have that curve to it, but if you take away an even amount of material you can keep the same curve and have it looking like new. I think you end up removing less than 0.2mm

Even if you cant get the curve perfect it will not make a a difference, as long as you have a curve you are fine

[Kagiso II]

Heij Cedric .. Oompie saw that rocker [not roller] this morn at Michael .. even I can doe that 'profile" [wish the cam was that easy]
en nou moet jy weet .. as Oompie dit kan doen kan wraggies enigeen dit doen..
I have ONE QUESTION for Michael [nie vamorre daaraan g/dink nie]

WHAT happens to the valve clearance & thus the flow with the "diminishing" of the rocker tips "

[Peter Connan]

There is an easier and (I believe) safer way:

Just grind your feeler gauges untill they are narrower than the valve stem diameter.

In this way, you set the valve gap only on the worn section of the rocker.

This is what I have done, and I promise that it does work.

[Michael]

Oom Mac, you mean where does the rocker material go which was there and now is only a dent?
I believe they are "hopefully" caught up by the oil filters.
This occurs over hundreds of thousends of km and even if they never went through the oil filters it will not do anything.

Peter, it sounds way more "risky" than it really is. It really takes 30min max to remove the tockers and it really gives your rockers a new life once they are done.
You see the problem with the dents are that the rocker foot is now "flat" where they run on the valve where they actually should be more rounded.

[Kagiso II]

Michael, Hi
No, I dont worry about the shavings or particles the comes off during engine operation, all the moving parts gives off dust size particles all teh time. Hence the filters and the regular oil changes.
My question is AFTER you have manually removed a bit off the rocker .. how much does it effect the valve opening when the valve is "open" .. and what would be the effect of the "smaller" valve gap in relation to the performance of the engine [That is why we have the heads "gas flowed" ... to improve performance mos???A "smaller" gap in when the valve is open will restrict that airflow ..