Iltis engine pull from Bosnia

[Stuart Fedak]

Text removed as content is no longer current.

[Richard Farrant]

Originally Posted by Stuart Fedak

I am working on an Iltis engine that was in a crate that was returned from Bosnia. The joy of the engines that were pulled on deployment, is trying to figure out what was wrong that caused it to be pulled in the first place, and what needs to be replaced/restored.

When I pulled the head, it was noted that there was a lot of black carbon in all of the pistons. There was also a lot of carbon in the input manifold. The spark plugs were fouled with black carbon.

Hi Stuart,

My experience with army exchange engine units stems from British forces. I have seen removed engines returned for rebuild with minor ailments that should have been rectified in the field, but possibly due to pressure at the time, and lack of diagnostic expertise, a replacement unit was easier. Usually, a defect report was returned with old unit. I can say that I have seen at least one instance that a Land Rover petrol engine was replaced because it was smoking, only to find the new engine did the same.........due to refuelling with diesel instead of petrol. Perhaps this is the problem, not being familiar with Iltis, is it petrol?

[rob love]

Warped heads were common on the Iltis towards the end. If you needed a head, then often as not you changed the engine as heads were no longer available.

The pressures of an operation would also often lead to a straight engine swap, as some of the problems that could crop up during a simple head gasket replacement could tie you up for days. I am not saying that it was the correct way to fix the problem, just that it was often done.

There should have been 2 rainbow tags; one on the outside of the crate and one inside, detailing why the engine was pulled.

[Matthew Reid]

Hey Stuart

First thing I would do is check to make sure nothing is warped with a straight edge.

If that checks out put a new head gasket in and away you go.

If the head is warped get it sufaced.
If the block is warped you will have have to strip it so they can re-surface it.

As for seals and gaskets since you got the motor out and it has sat since the mid 90's I would replace them all. Nothing would suck more than to get it installed and find a balance shaft retainer O- Ring leaking Or the rear main (that would really suck)


Matthew

[Lynn Eades]

If you dont pull it to bits then put some oil in the sump and roll her over on the floor so that you get a bit of oil up around the gudeon pins.
Another thing you might consider is if you need to machine the top of the block, run a fillet of grease around the top of the pistons to seal the bore. Then clean it carefully after machining.
Maybe the head missed a retorque?

[Alex Blair (RIP)]

Originally Posted by Stuart Fedak

Rob,
Based on the pictures, what do you see, and what do you recommend?

There were no tags outside or inside the crate. The outer crate had shipping stickers from Bosnia, but were very faded. The crate had been opened before I got it, so the tags were most likely removed.

What is the next step? Are the pictures of the head gasket consistent with leakage between the pistons? I know that in that time period, there were issues with antifreeze eating up the gaskets. Do I just put on a new gasket, new head bolts and re-torque the head?

To shave the block, can they do that with the pistons and main bearing in, or do I have to take all of those out...... do you just take it to a machine shop and let them worry about it?

The aluminium head seems OK, but I will re-check the tomorrow in the light to see if it needs to be milled........ While I have the engine apart, which seals should be done?

Cheers!
Stuart

Stu.
From what I see Lynn could be right that a retorque was missed and you may have hit it right off that diesel was put in it rather than gas..
But with it this far ..you may not have a surface plate to check the level of the block or heads but a good cleaning and a straight edge will do the trick..but to remill the heads and block would be wise..the head at least...The head is 5 times more likely to warp that the block..
Other wise looks good.
My .02 cents worth..

[rob love]

Originally Posted by Stuart Fedak

Rob,
Based on the pictures, what do you see, and what do you recommend?

Stuart

I would recommend selling the Iltis and buying a M38 or an M38A1.


Kidding aside, and as others much older than me (maybe wiser, maybe not) have already said, it will be the head that will have warped, not the block. As to the military re torquing head gaskets on a military vehicle, other than on head or gasket replacement, it just wasn't done. There were not enough man hours for that level of maintenance. If you followed the manuals, we were supposed to disassemble the starters annually on the MLVW and lube the bushings. On the M38A1s we were supposed to remove the rear axles and repack the wheel bearings annually. It was easy for some guy in Ottawa to write these time tables onto a lube chart or special instruction, but it just was not going to happen. When I left the service, we were short the equivalent of a brigades worth of veh techs....the hours had to be salvaged from somewhere.

[rob love]

Originally Posted by Stuart Fedak

(my Honey-do-list has reached "paint the bedrooms"........)

Cheers!
Stuart

Here is the trick to putting off painting the bedrooms: Tell her that it is too nice to be indoors painting, and that you should do those kind of jobs in the winter when you are stuck in the house anyway.

Then, in the winter when she reminds you to paint the bedrooms, you point out that the fumes will be really bad and that you can't open the windows as it is too cold outside, and the paint will not cure properly if you were to open the windows.

The next summer you can try and start the sequence all over. Longest it worked for me was 3 years with my second wife.