Amazing what you can accomplish in a month

[AirmanPika]

So I'm deploying in a few days and realized a couple months ago I have this monster of a thing in my garage in pieces. I started getting it back together but about a month ago it was barely reassembled and painted.



Now finally today comes and I am finally done. It was a rush job but I am happy with how it came out.



Only issue is it runs terribly. I couldn't get it above 45mph in 4th gear and it was screaming. It was in 2WD Hi mode so who knows what is up. Maybe falls back to the weak diesel CAV pump issue the prior owner mentioned. Either way I was able to get it to where I am storing it while gone so mission accomplished.

[luckyjoe]

Great effort!

What's the story behind the roof and rear door? Is it a Santana?

[NC_Mule]

Wow, you got a lot done. I think it looks great.
Sorry I don't know diesels but others do on here. You will get it figured out.

[superstator]

What does it do at lower speeds/rpms? White/black smoke? Does it start easy(ish)?

[AirmanPika]

Great effort!

What's the story behind the roof and rear door? Is it a Santana?

Yup, Santanas have some weird quirks. There are safari style vents on the roof normally too but I just made some temp closing plates for now as they need some refurb work still.

As for the engine, its noisy but I do not know how loud they usually are. Seems to emanate from the air filter housing the most. It behaves fairly fine up to 35mph but I am in 4th by that point. Takes forever to start (new glow plugs helped a bit but still issues) and the smoke varies. Heavy throttle creates black smoke but that's fairly normal from what I know of older diesels. I get white smoke initially but after a few minutes it goes away. Also the oil pressure light stays on but the oil level is fine.

Here's a video I took of it running when I first got it. The noise is a bit amplified but it helps make it easy to understand.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3O4xNeZVysw

[SafeAirOne]

Hmm.

Was the air filter/air filter plumbing hooked up in that video? They're pretty loud through the intake when the stuff is hooked up and REALLY loud through the intake when the hose to the filter is off.

How much blowby do you have when you remove the engine oil fill cap?

Have you adjusted the valves to the factory specs? I would.

[superstator]

Yeah, I'd definitely check the valves. Smoke doesn't sound out of control, but it can't hurt to check the timing too - though that's somewhat easier said than done on these things.

I hate to say it but the performance doesn't sound that out of line for a clapped out 2.25d. Mine could never to do better than about 60mph on flat highway with an overdrive or 50mph in 4th, even after I rebuilt the top end and replaced the injectors.

[AirmanPika]

Hmm.

Was the air filter/air filter plumbing hooked up in that video? They're pretty loud through the intake when the stuff is hooked up and REALLY loud through the intake when the hose to the filter is off.

How much blowby do you have when you remove the engine oil fill cap?

Have you adjusted the valves to the factory specs? I would.

Everything was hooked up. I haven't made any engine adjustments at this time.

No idea on blowby...or how to even test it for that matter.

[SafeAirOne]

No idea on blowby...or how to even test it for that matter.

Its a judgement call really. When you remove the oil fill cap or the vent hose that goes from the rocker cover to the air intake system, does exhaust gas come flying out of the orifice like there's a hole blown into a piston, or dies it come out rather gently, like you've got worn rings?