Making a spare tire swing carrier.

[Thumper]

I haven't had time to brew for a couple of years. I have a 10 gallon system, a cut out half barrel and 5 gallon soda fountain kegs. Pyrex carboys for collecting wart and also for the primary and secondaries...My mashtun is a Home Depot water cooler. I use gravity and muscle instead of pumps to refill the kettle with the extracted wart. I'd like to build a hand cranked elevator for this instead of using muscle, or a pump. Cleaning it all after the session is easy without all of that plumbing, and no electricity needed!

Here are a few pics from a Dry hopped darked Amber session. Nice caramel notes with a bit of charcoal flavor from the roasted barley. It was similar to a porter, damned good! It was a windy day, so I propped up shields to keep the flame steady for the boil.


Collecting wart through my homemade chillzilla (MOchilla)


And the sanitized primaries are filling...



Here is my MOchilla reversed flow chiller half made. It's refrigeration grade soft copper tubing within tubing and brass fittings (garden hose adapted for the cold sleeve). I like to brew in the Spring when the water from the city water system is COLD!

Here is an earlier pale ale I drank while brewing the darkened amber. Inspiration

[Thumper]

And here is that pint glass about one minute later

[Thumper]

Originally Posted by XLsior

The 4m40T engine is being cloned in china, so ironically aftermarket parts are somewhat cheap. It's actually found in plethora of china pickups/ SUV. So a set of injectors is less than $100AUD, a head gasket can be found for under $50 and a fully assembled new cylinder head is $500

https://ziptek.en.made-in-china.com/...hallenger.html

The Mitsubishi 2.8L i4 engine is an absolutely perfect size for a Turbo diesel. Even today (!), you can buy those Toyotas in Australia with the same size- Utes (Hilux) and the Land Cruiser. Awesome torque and 30mpg or more (~8liters/100km).

It is almost worth trying to find a used 4WD Mitsubishi with a worn out gasser in the USA and do the conversion. Almost.

You are lucky to have the original TD versions of Mitsubishi trucks in Australia. All of the peripherals and the wiring harness would be a nightmare to find in the USA and the wiring harness would be difficult to say the least.

You can see a first gen Toyota 4x4 in the background in one of those pics I posted with my brewing system. It was a rust-free vehicle I found in Arizona!

Then I found a first gen diesel Toyota and rebuilt the head. I had everything- intact wiring harness and cab, fuel pump and other engine peripherals, but NO TURBO! It was just too daunting. I ended up selling the diesel at a loss and eventually got a Ram 2500 with a cummins TD. But that thing got 15-16 mpg and much worse when I hauled a trailer! Yes, it could move a HOUSE, but I hardly ever needed half of that torque. I felt stupid hauling my 200lb carcass around in that massive truck. You see them everywhere here, most of them sparkling clean, tonneau cover, with one person in the quad cab
The whole point of the i4 diesel in a pickup like the older Toyota Tacoma was to have a capable Ute that didn't spew so much CO2 and didn't cost so much to run. I sold the Ram and got a new Toyota gasser.

Enjoy the Delica. You have a real gem there

[XLsior]

Yes any 20+ year old project vehicle is going to start showing its age and ask for parts offerings...If your the kind of person that anticipates such events then you get what you expect.


Being a monocoque chassis L400 and onwards...what kills them is rust...my van is basically rust free which made the purchase of a rolling project a solid choice. the older L300 toaster body uses the 4D56...I see them getting imported into the USA quite a bit due to the 25year import laws...early L400 should be exempt now too.



Also mine is a very rare 5 speed manual transmission...But 20mpg rolling a 2t hippo body around isn't bad


I do like like old Toyotas and Nissans, but so does everyone else so they are expensive.


The 4M40T was enough of a solid platform that Mitsubishi adapted it into the common rail DOHC 4M41...Not easy to work on and more expensive parts...
If I was going to do another similar period diesel it would be something with a ISUZU 4JB1T engine Like our Australian domestic Holden Rodeo ute/pickup...


I believe in the states you had the Isuzu Trooper...The 4JB1T and following 4JJ1* series of ISUZU diesel engines are all solid performers and a little less likely to have head/gasket issues like the Mitsi 4M40 engines.



You see a lot of built 4J engine on Thai racing skiffs.


Anyway being a diesel only 2 things can go wrong, feul delivery and compression. No ignition system.
and being a 4 banger SOHC only 1 head gasket and cam. In other words about as simple as wrenching on a van engine gets...

[XLsior]

So I bought a new 4M40T complete cylinder head from ebay. (made in China)


I paid $470 aud shipped which was the best value* aka cheapest deal I could find.


Scrolling down to the specifications it specified head+gasket+bolts.


I was a bit unsure as other listings around the same price were cylinder head only...


well I messaged the seller trying to confirm but either way it was the cheapest offer so I purchased it prior to a reply. (locked in the sale) I took a screen shot showing specific items listed...



I get shipping confirmation of 3 boxes.. So I'm like "Ok it was a complete kit for that price" Amazing!!!



Then I get reply from the seller "Sorry it was a listing error here is a link to the complete kit $800"


Errm I decided not to reply as Australian consumer law mandates listed items and prices are in the purchases benefit if mislabeled.



Now replacing a cylinder head kinda blows in the first place...but I'm not unappreciative when lady luck smiles in ones favor...

[XLsior]

Having slept on the van for a bit longer over the weekend and trying to distract the issue I wanted to unequivocally determine that there was a head gasket issue and not a fuel issue.

with a clean bottle and fresh diesel I bypassed all the fuel lines and set up a direct feed line to the refreshed injection pump.

Cold start the van fired up into life and began to idle about as good as serviced injection pump could...

eventually the diesel IV would run out but i repeated the top ups a few times and maybe there is air getting onto the lines but I am ruling out the pump.

On the 4th run up I filled the coolant expansion tank and started the van which resulted in a foam up...So I have no doubt there is a head/gasket issue.

I wanted to try a compression test but non of the included kit fitting matched the thread pitch...

However when I went to take out the glow plugs I could hear what I can only describe as a coffee peculator drip and steam fizzling inside the engine as it had now built up some temperature.

I looked at the glow plugs and it appears cylinder1 is sick.

however whether it was a fueling issue that might have caused the headgasket failure is a chicken/egg conundrum.

suffice to say I think the Van had a mid life crisis at 250000km hobbled home, sulked in the garage and decided it wanted a full comprehensive service.

The Head is definitely coming off.

However the #1 cylinder down is a bit more forgiving than a 2 cylinder cross over in terms of possible damage.

Looks like my week is fully booked.

[XLsior]

Removing the manifolds I found the cylinder 1 exhaust gasket and mating surface a bit off color.

[Thumper]

Low compression due to leaking gasket in cylinder 1 could be bad enough to prevent firing (diesel needs high compression for the explosion, of course). Yes, you probably do have a leak allowing gases to escape into the cooling system from cylinder 1.

My son's '02 Honda Civic kept blowing out the coolant over time and would begin to overheat. But it was not visible, going out the exhaust I guess. I never saw coolant on the ground. Fortunately, the engine revived with a remanufactured head/new gasket set. Lots of work, but it is fixable.

[XLsior]

using the correct back sequence I loosened and removed all the head bolts..


None were particularly loose to the other bolt 9 came out damp and grimly.


However when the head slipped off nothing screamed out failure at first.


Looking at the head however were 3 cracks on the cylinder around prechambers. So the head is toast.


Other than the pointed out blackspot near cyl 1 from what I can fathom it looks to be original and general worn out appearance rather than a warp or overheat.


Nothing on the old gasket stuck out either...


Much cleaning and preparation next though I'm out of razor scrapers and earplugs to plug the bolt holes...

cylinders seem fine with visible cross hatching and no ring lip.
25years and 250000km on the original head and gasket is not bad for these engines.

[XLsior]

After making a few passes with a scraping razor blade to remove the bulk of the residual gasket material and a light once over with a scotch pad,

I remember seeing the use of a knife sharpening block to resurface the block on youtube... I belive it was Mighty Car Mods, Benny's Custom Works or the Skid Factory perhaps...all Aussies who collaborate occasionally.


I happened to have a sharpening block so gave it a go...


I have made multiple passes each time removing micro layer material...Cleaning the stone and the deck each pass...



At the stage where the deck is clean, there is some ingrained stain corrosion but the gasket sealing points seem all intact. The black spot cleaned up alright thought it looks like it seeped out and around the cylinder 1 ring...



Can't go too heavy or risk undulating the mating surface, but I think I'll do a few more passes tomorrow before considering installing the gasket.


I have to prep some ancillaries from the old head to install on the new head.


Also found some maker marks on the deck and pistons. So more evidence of originality.


All in all hopeful for a positive compression result.

[XLsior]

Had a little left over red engine enamel paint from the cam cover so made the extra effort to add some more head dress embellishments.


The block seemed about as good as it was going to get and I rested some metal rulers as a poor mans engineers edge to confirm flatness....which checked out alright.


Used popsicle sticks and blue shop towels to clean the bolt holes then got the 12v tire inflator to use as an air compressor to purge the bolt holes clean and clear.



Gave it shop vac and isopropyl alcohol wipe down before installing the MLS gasket.
Bolts went by hand and then followed the Mitsubishi manual torque sequence.


before the final torque to yield procedure I paint pen marked the heads of the bolts as a reference to the 90* sequence followed by another 90* turn.


Found muscles in my back I didn't know I had...


Then it was putting back all the other mumbo jumbo...


poured oil over the new cam and valves...


Engine turns over by hand.


Am yet to key crank it...Just letting it all settle for a bit...

[XLsior]

The van is able to back out of the garage now and I am trying to get a couple of heat cycles through it before any attempts leaving home base.


However getting here was not smooth sailing...


The head is on and I believe is making full compression...


There are no major spills/leaks...


However it was apparent there was air getting into the fuel delivery lines, I used a hand priming pump and could hear the faint sucking squeak coming from the diesel manager fuel filter housing...I tried to fix it but nothing seemed to make any difference...So its possible team 'made in USA' failed me from the onset and culminating events resulted in a major overhaul...


So I removed the fuel manager and went back to the factory fuel filter assembly to remove the air ingress issue...


Which did improve things...


But the engine was still running rough and diesel smokey. Rough idle but revs out clean and healthy...


So I'm thinking the made in china injectors have too low a crack off pressure and am now trying to find my original injectors to cross reference.


I did check the current injectors on the bench tester and they all seemed fine with a crack off pressure at around 1500psi.


The only other possible candidate for the rough idle is the timing chain is due for a change now.



The injection pump and cam sprocket went back in the same way they cam out...but maybe the new cylinder head and gasket put some slack into the chain that the tensioner can't make up for?


I know a Delica specific service place than can pull though a new chain without major disassembly...so I might be kneeing myself in the crotch wallet again to sort this out...



So progress is being made but the domino effect has been savage and I'm glad I'm not paying someone else to do the same job all things considered...


however there appears to be light at the end of the tunnel.

[Thumper]

Timing chains usually outlast the engine. Well, it may have lasted as long as the head at least!

Tensioner worn, maybe needs a new spring? Hopefully, you are on the right track with cam chain causing the low rpm roughness. Once you've sorted that out, maybe the new injectors will be OK too.

Is that a high pressure common rail injection system like they have on newer VWs? I am wondering if the fuel pump is keeping up? Maybe so, since it's good at higher rpm.

[XLsior]

No its mechanical indirect injection...Pre chamber swirl pots with glow plugs...


I wouldn't be able to afford a common rail rebuild let alone DIY...



The timing chains go at about 100k on some examples of the 4m40 but my engine has done double that, But you're right most timing chains last with the life of the engine..


But the bottom end is solid with decent oil pressure, So no reason not to try and fix it...



The tensioner might be at full range but it did retract and spring out fine...The engine did not run like this when I had the old head and ran the engine with the fuel bypass...


So yeah the chain or the tensioner / both might not have made the head swap transition as intact.


The top sprocket was held in place with zipties so no tooth was skipped.

[XLsior]

Double checked chain tension and tensioner..


They both seem ok...nothing to suggest slop or slack.


So that would seem to indicate a possible conflict with the new cam and the serviced injection pump...because essentially the rest of the engine timing is as before...


Perhaps the pump timing is out...? It is a possibility. Technically still under service warranty...



I will contact the Diesel pump service center and discuss my symptoms with them after the weekend.


The cam chain would have to be slack and whiplashed to effect the idle in such a way.


So in that respect the replacement cam chain can hold off for now...