Volvo EC15B mini - engine removal & injection pump overhaul - plus ......

[jackpreacher]

Air inlet manifold, Oil Sump, engine mounting brackets, starter motor

Torque up the bottom pulley.jpg
Torque up the bottom pulley


Install air inlet manifold and gasket.jpg
Refit the air inlet manifold and gasket.


fitting.jpg
Refit the Fat Air Pipe mounting flange [for want of the proper name for it] and gasket.


Bolt on the throtte holder.jpg
The Governor-to-IP cover needs to be reassembled with both the throttle stay bracket and......

bolt the dipstick holder onto the governor cover.jpg
....the dipstick stay bracket at the same time.


install the oil filter.jpg
Refit/Replace the oil filter. Note the RHS engine mounting bracket has been bolted on. I had put the LHS side on at the same time but had to remove it because.....

screw in the oil pick-up tube.jpg
.....the oil pick-up tube has to be screwed in and locked. The LHS mounting bracket gets in the way of this

Place new gasket on oil sump.jpg
Position a new oil sump gasket on your very clean oil sump. I'll risk stating the bleedin' obvious - if the sump is nice and clean then you'll easily spot a sump leak.

refit oil sump.jpg
Refit the sump.


refit LHS engine mounting bracket.jpg
NOW you can refit the LHS engine mounting bracket.

refit the starter motor.jpg
Refit the starter motor and torque to spec.

Nearly there.

[jackpreacher]

Water Pump & Thermostat testing

Earlier in this thread Muz & I discussed the overheating of the engine - I was concerned that the L3E was putting out too much heat and Muz made a few suggestions which, if you have an EC15 you should take seriously - he has six EC15's and the knuckles to go with them.

So, The next photo series describes how I thoroughly tested the thermostat to ensure it was opening at the correct temperature. The thermostat is designed to stay closed and circulate the coolant around the engine until operating temperature is reached, then it opens to allow some hot coolant to go to the cab heating circuit. The electronic part of the over-temperature controls are something that I'll test once Doug is working fully.[SPOILER: ..he is........]

Thermostat Housing in a vice.jpg
The thermostat housing in a vice. Remove the 2 bolts and prise the cover off to reveal.....

Prise off the cover to reveal the thermostat.jpg
...the thermostat. It'll probably have some light scaling [brown gunk] that needs to be cleaned off, so prise it out and clean it up or replace.


Remove thermostat then unscrew the over-temperature sensor.jpg
Unbolt the over-temperarture sensor. This is the one Muz pointed me towards earlier in this thread and I had short circuited it in-situ to see if the electronic 'brain' under the seat was working.


The over-temperature sensor.jpg
Remove and clean the sensor. I replaced the washer/seal and refitted with some PTFE tape.


Place the thermostat in a bowl.jpg
To check the functionality of the thermostat check it is closed at room temperature [it is in this photo - note the position of the spring]. Chuck it in a bowl and pour boiling water on it......

pour on boiling water.jpg
....use a thermometer - in this case a meat thermometer - to see if it starts to open [spring compresses] at approximately 90C to 95C. It may vary slightly.....

checking the temperature with probe.jpg

Thermostat opening.jpg



Waste of time testing the overtemp sensor.jpg
I wasted 15 minutes of life by testing the over-temp sensor with boiling water and a meter. This should go closed circuit at 105C...IIRC



Water pump & thermostat parts.jpg
Here are all the components of the water pump and thermostat assemblies. They are connected together by a small pipe with O-ring and bolted to the front of the engine.

Check the water pumjp bearings.jpg
It is worth checking the bearings of the Water pump for integrity. If in doubt spend the money on a replacement. Mine was fine.

Bolt water pump and thermostat onto the engine.jpg
There is a new gasket required for both the water pump and the thermostat housing.

Job done.

[jackpreacher]

Cylinder Head and rocker assembly rebuild

lay in the cylinder head bolts.jpg
Lay the cylinder head bolts in position and twist them in by hand to ensure there is no cross threading. It is recommended that you replace cylinder head bolts. There are 2 sizes for the L3E engine and I bought a couple of each as spares. They have to be torqued up gradually in a specific order which is in the workshop manual. PM me if you need this information.

NEVER EVER over tighten these bolts as they become tighter as the engine is heated up to operating temperature and could easily break

I used my old bolts because Ebenezer Scrooge is a close family member........

Re-insert cleaned glow plugs.jpg
The glow plugs could be replaced at this stage but mine were working fine on the bench test so I just cleaned them up and reused them.


re-insert the pushrods in the same sleeve they came from originally.jpg
Reinsert the pushrods in the same sleeve as they came from. Check them at each end for burring and roll them on a flat surface to test for straightness - as if you were testing out drum sticks .......[what??]


reinstall the rocker arm.jpg
Lay the rocker arm assembly in position and ensure the pushrods are snugly fitted underneath the rockers.


insert the 3 rocker arm bolts.jpg
There are 2 bolts on either end of the rocker assembly that have extended studs to receive the rocker cover bolts [next photo]. The middle one is a regular bolt.

torque up the rocker arm bolts.jpg
Torque up the rocker assembly bolts to spec.

refit rocker cover.jpg
Refit or replace the rocker cover gasket. This is your chance to paint it fluorescent green.....

rocker cover fixing nuts.jpg
There are two nuts for the rocker cover.
Job's a memory.

[jackpreacher]

My next question is ........ whats your next project? we all want to know?

Thanks Dan, and I'll add to your blue glove thread tomorrow..



So, the next project?

1. There is the "Dance of Delight" that my much, much better half captured on Video last night after Doug started first time. I'll post that for derisive comments....but Dan, I don't care...it works!,,,
2. The microhydro project is Doug dependent...so we'll be cracking on with that ASAP.
3. There is no 3


More to follow.

[Dan]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]1348[/ATTACH]
Underneath the Power Take Off [PTO] cover is access to the end of the IP timing camshaft.
The PTO is not really useful in this installation of a mini digger but its going to be useful to keep an eye on that bloomin' camshaft's possible drift.
If anyone has an E15 and has 5 minutes spare then I heartily recommend you check this. My camshaft is 9.8mm in from the engine casing...see next photo..

[ATTACH=CONFIG]1347[/ATTACH]

Wow top quality help and input Jack, excellent commentary, and , reading this last post as I read them all, may be the most important for some if they experience the same difficulties you did glad she/ ahem he is now running fine

My next question is ........ whats your next project? we all want to know?

[jackpreacher]

Blue gloves must be breeding over there ,Muz has them too .

No Ian.....Muz has got my blue gloves......

Onwards..

Insert Engine stop solenoid.jpg


Stop solenoid should be tightened up once it is in the right depth.jpg


IP to governor spring.jpg


IP timing camshaft depth gauge check 1.jpg
Underneath the Power Take Off [PTO] cover is access to the end of the IP timing camshaft.
The PTO is not really useful in this installation of a mini digger but its going to be useful to keep an eye on that bloomin' camshaft's possible drift.
If anyone has an E15 and has 5 minutes spare then I heartily recommend you check this. My camshaft is 9.8mm in from the engine casing...see next photo..

IP timing camshaft depth gauge check 2.jpg


insert the 6 pushrod cam thingies.jpg


Lay the head gasket on and ensure the holes are all aligned.jpg


Lay the cylinder head on gently - do not force-it will nest down under its own weight.jpg


Voila...jpg

[ianoz]

Blue gloves must be breeding over there ,Muz has them too .

[jackpreacher]

Thats Great to hear Jack .
Now get out there and dig some dirt .

...thanks Ian!

Right, onwards with the rebuild....

The photos are in order of re-assembly and the text description is the title of the photo.....

Attach end seal and gasket .jpg

lay on starter mouter bracketvend plate.jpg

bolt starter motor plate up.jpg

attach and bolt up flywheel.jpg

install first part of flexible coupling.jpg

drop rubber coupling into place.jpg

place flywheel cover in position.jpg

bolt up flywheel cover.jpg

install hydraulic pump.jpg

[ianoz]

Thats Great to hear Jack .
Now get out there and dig some dirt .

[Muz]

The other manual extract suggested the middle of the 3..........
So I went by feel...and guess what?......WHAT??? He started first time, ran totally clean and with full power - he turned on the spot and the revs stayed up under hydraulic services. We just came in absolutely delighted......however, I'll continue the thread in the morning with the rest of the photos to show the rest of the rebuild and my thoughts on how the problems started. The first thing I'm going to schedule in is a regular lifting of the PTO cover and check the position of the timing cam.


TBC.

Great news Jack keep us posted

[jackpreacher]

Da da da daahhhhhhhhhh.........

Normally thats the one

The other manual extract suggested the middle of the 3..........
So I went by feel...and guess what?......WHAT??? He started first time, ran totally clean and with full power - he turned on the spot and the revs stayed up under hydraulic services. We just came in absolutely delighted......however, I'll continue the thread in the morning with the rest of the photos to show the rest of the rebuild and my thoughts on how the problems started. The first thing I'm going to schedule in is a regular lifting of the PTO cover and check the position of the timing cam.


TBC.

[Muz]

One of the manuals suggested the single mark was TDC for cylinder #1

Normally thats the one

[jackpreacher]

So cylinder two to set, and are you looking to align the case mark with which of the three on the pulley ?

Sorry Muz, it's misleading. I was doing cylinder 2 by feel and not using the timing case markings....and here's why:
1. I had two conflicting workshop manuals showing different positions for TDC
2. One of the manuals suggested the single mark was TDC for cylinder #1 but it was around 6 degrees late on my pulley.


More later...and some excellent news chaps.....

[Muz]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]1327[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]1329[/ATTACH]
Observing the IP rotate the engine CW until you either observe Top Dead Centre on the bottom pulley markings or you 'feel' TDC by hand/eye. At TDC there should be a swell of fuel in the IP, in this case port no.2

So cylinder two to set, and are you looking to align the case mark with which of the three on the pulley ?

I'd be wary of air ratcheting anything round there BTW

[jackpreacher]

Injection Pump timing and shims

IP Shim Measuring.jpg
Measure the shim for the correct size. I'll post the procedure later on when I get to a scanner.

Place shim and IP in-situ.jpg
Install the IP pump [without sealant yet]

Temporary fuel connection.jpg
Rig up the fuel system. I added a 12v battery to energise the Fuel lift pump.

Checking the IP output at TDC.jpgTiming Case and bottom pulley timing marks.jpg
Observing the IP rotate the engine CW until you either observe Top Dead Centre on the bottom pulley markings or you 'feel' TDC by hand/eye. At TDC there should be a swell of fuel in the IP, in this case port no.2

Seal the IP timing gasket.jpg
If the fuel is emitted too early then retard the pump by adding another shim, and vice-versa if the fuel delivery is too late.
Now seal the shim and install the IP securely. There are no torque settings for this is my manual but I have already sheared 3 bolts so my advice is tight enough but not too tight.....


Connect IP fuel rail to Governor with tricksy little spring.jpg
Connect the IP fuel rail to the Governor with a tricky little spring and then that is complete.

Onwards.