Freshly Restored
Posts: 211
Joined: Thu May 10, 2018 7:15 am
SD220 Leak Down Results
I did a leak down today and got the following results. 2, 3, 4 and 6 only had leak down through the rings and the loss was all between 14-22%. I know this isn't desirable but given what this truck is I feel it is acceptable. No cylinders had any loss through the radiator or the carb.
#1 has 72% loss and it is coming out the exhaust. My rebuilt head needs to go back to the shop.
#5 had a lot of oil on the plug when I pulled it. I got 49% loss all through the cylinder. This has to be where the majority of my blue smoke out the exhaust is coming from.
Here is my plan. Let the engine in the truck. Let the rear main continue to drip. Put new rod bearings in from the bottom. The head has to come off to get #1 exhaust valve looked at. Pull the #5 piston out the top and check the rings, piston, bore. Hopefully it is just the rings so I can replace them. Possibly pull the rest of the pistons and examine since I already have the oil pan, rod caps and head off.
So to summarize I have issues with rod bearings (worn evenly), #1 exhaust valve and #5 cylinder. Seems to me it would save a lot of time and money (I have estimated a full blown rebuild to be around $2500) to let the engine in the truck and fix the specific issues I have. Do you agree or is this a really half-assed way of going about it? This is not a show truck so I'm not too worried about drips and a little smoke but I just don't want the motor to self destruct.