Piston Ring End Gap is too large + Lots of blowby - 2DR10C R2500 Mitsubishi

[R2500]

Good evening,

I recently purchases an R2500 with front end loader.
It has the 2DR10C engine.
After performing various repairs, I managed to stop all the fluid leaks on this tractor.
Then I figured - this thing smokes so much that I get a sore throat so ill just tear it down and find parts for it one way or another.
It had lots of visible blowby and was burning over 1qt of oil per two gallons of diesel.
Once I got the engine apart, I noticed that one lower rod bearing was spun and there was a lot of shavings in the engine oil, both copper and steel.
I believe I have a source of parts for the lower rod bearings and the head gasket to put it back together.
My main issue is what to do about the blowby.
I talked to one parts supplier who carried both the bearings and the head gasket and she said that one possibility for my piston rings problem was to resleeve the cylinders and purchase new rings.
Id like to ask a few questions now in order to solve my own problems and to leave a record here for future owners to reference.
1. Are these type of cylinders able to be resleeved? Ive never done that before but after watching some videos online it seems simple enough. The sleeves look teardrop shaped to me though and im not sure if they actually pull out and even if they did I dont think this shape would be common for a machine shop to have the parts to resleeve them.
2. Could I just use some oversized rings instead? I am thinking that the usual response to this question is no but I have read online of some old school guys doing that back in the day when it was their only option due to money or other reasons.

Thanks for taking the time to read this post and I would greatly appreciate any input or suggestions.
Nick

 

[Tractor Seabee]

Get the engine model # and Mitsubishi will tell you if the cylinder sleeves are removable. Vintage could weigh in also. Newer stuff, economics tend to get stuff eliminated. If they are, you can buy sleeves, rings and piston as a kit. That is the way I would go. Still cheaper than a new engine. Removable sleeves normally have a tapered bottom skirt and top. They are ground into a fit and that forms the seal from the water jacket. Easy enough to make a puller if you cannot borrow or rent one. The showing gap seems to indicate quite a bit of wear to the cylinder wall. You won't know till you pull the pistons and mike the parts. Over size rings only compensate for minor wear. Then they are too sloppy in the piston grooves.

I am not necessarily a diesel mechanic per se, but have been around a lot of industrial machinery and have overhauled some pretty good sized compressors in my early life. Especially the older ones had removable liners. A lot principals are the same throughout industry. We used to have parts metal sprayed and then machined back to factory spec. We did not have good results on cylinder walls.

Do you have a dealer close by that is experienced with your model?

Ron

 

[Agvg]

On the pictures it seems not to be sleeves, so maybe machine the cylinders and overdim pistons are an option.

 

[R2500]

Thanks for the replies guys.

I would like to leave the engine in the frame for now.

The current plan is to purchase piston rings from an online supplier that have tolerances slightly larger than mine. I will also bit the bullet and pay $87 per rod bearing and $160 for the head gasket.

I did find an online head gasket maker that said they would make one of solid copper for $100. I wonder if it would be usable considering the oem head gasket had steel inserts around the cylinders.

Again, Thanks for the replies.
Hopefully I will get parts in the next few weeks to provide an update.

 

[RickB]

What does the crank journal look like?

 

[radios1]

Thanks for the replies guys.

I would like to leave the engine in the frame for now.

The current plan is to purchase piston rings from an online supplier that have tolerances slightly larger than mine. I will also bit the bullet and pay $87 per rod bearing and $160 for the head gasket.

I did find an online head gasket maker that said they would make one of solid copper for $100. I wonder if it would be usable considering the oem head gasket had steel inserts around the cylinders.

Again, Thanks for the replies.
Hopefully I will get parts in the next few weeks to provide an update.

as has been said, you can't just use oversize rings, without oversize pistons and having the cylinders at least honed or bored, or new sleeves put in, sorry, but it just can't work that way.. talk to your local Mitsubishi tractor dealer on the availability for parts for this, don't be surprised if he says sorry, that tractor is way too old.. you can at a big cost, have all the parts you need made by a good machine shop, though!..

 

[Tractor Seabee]

I wish you all the luck in the world; you need it. Another potential example of someone getting in over their head and not understanding the ramifications of what goes into such a project. Such as; did you mike the cylinders to see how much wear you really have. W/O that info buying oversize rings is a crapshoot. If the ends butt together when the engine gets to operating temp; good by rings. In your initial post you indicated a parts place recommended replacing the liners. Was he blowing smoke or did he really know that your engine had replaceable liners. You also stated had the head gasket and other parts. Why are you buying unknown replacements that do not match the original.

I hope you have left out the lack of info, that leads me to make these statements and I will apologize.

Ron

 

[TractorGuy]

As far as end gaps go you can use .010" over rings and file the end gaps.

More than likely they will never seat. You need to measure the bore to see if the cylinder is round and within specs and the same with the pistons. If both are round and not overly worn then stock rings would probably install and have the correct end gaps. Filed oversize rings will work and have slightly more tension.

Back in the mid seventies a certain domestic motorcycle manufacturer had a problem with all the standard rings for a certain model. Both the factory installed rings and the replacement rings were all soft. The solution for them was to replace the rings with .010" over and file the end gaps to fit in the standard bore. Worked like a charm.

 

[radios1]

this is the only factory authorized distributor of Mitsubishi tractor parts. Mitsubishi Tractor Parts ask them..

 

[Ilikeurtractor]

I had a Mitsubishi KE70 engine that did not come from the factory with sleeves but had been bored over size to accept dry sleeves which can restore piston-to-wall clearances. Something else to keep in mind if you can source replacement rings. I wouldnt try to reuse the rings in any case. Good luck.