A14 rocker arm stuck- wha happened?

[the nice machine]

yeah len, i just turned it with the head off and there isn't anything coming out of the port on the block. so yeah i'm gonna have to go deeper. i think i'm going to side with gg and throw and oil pressure gauge on it first. taking the block out is a much bigger job than i expected, might as well get an idea of how much pressure i've got before i do it.

[the nice machine]

My A15 rocker was full of sludgy stuff, yet the oil was always clean and engine looked clean.

 

Next step is to find out where the blockage is. Unscrew the oil sender and screw in the gauge. Pour oil over the rocker shaft and rocker arms and start it up. You should get 13 to 17 psi at idle (650 RPM). If you only get 5 or 10 psi there's a problem. Max allowable pressure is 60 psi.

 

so if i'm understanding you correctly- a reading between 13 and 17 would indicate that it is most likely just some kind of crud blockage? i hope so.

[ggzilla]

13 to 17 psi is correct at idle.

 

under 13 is bad, and you'd need to find the cause.

 

13 or more means the pump is fine.

[the nice machine]

i spent too much time not making money working on my car, so i've been back at work 12 hours a day. i have a couple of paid jobs to finish (about 60 more hours of work) before i can take a few days off and work on the car. i need some more tools. i need a compression tester, more feeler guages, a chain hoist... because it looks like i'm taking the block out. i've gone through everything up top, the pick up tube is working, the oil pump is working. the only place left is in the block- either it's a clogged oil passage or it is cam related, either way it has to come out.

so in the meantime, i bought a book. it is for L series engines, but it is helping me learn how engines actually work, maybe i won't have to ask so many stupid questions on ratsun anymore. besides, i have 2 L20b's, i am planning to rebuild one of them this summer for my 620, this book is rad. much much better than a haynes book.

i also went ahead and got an oil pressure gauge and a T splitter so i can run the warning light too.

i'll be back.

[the nice machine]

okay time to pick this long messy thread back up.

i've been working for a couple of weeks trying to get some money for tools so i can get my b210 back on the road. my plan was to take the engine out and check out the cams and oil passages from underneath, but then i got a phone call. the guy i got it from had two A14's with transmissions, he would give them to me if i wash and wax/detail a boat for him. he was going to use them to build a couple of 3 wheel bikes but decided not to because parts are getting harder to find.

so i put my beat to hell 620 back together enough to make it the mile down the road to pick the stuff up.

i'm not trying to do a full rebuild right now, i'm just trying to get back on the road as soon as possible. i can do that stuff later, right now i need a daily driver that will last for the summer.

so i decided to just put one of the new blocks (one of them was "running good" when he removed it, ) in the with the already good tranny, head, weber carb, etc..

haha i think it leaked oil at some point...

anyhoo, i got my engine and tranny out, i'm done for the day now. i didn't think that i was going to have to take the transmission out with the engine, but according to the haynes book (and the guy i got them from) "removal of the engine only is very difficult due to lack of forward clearance required to clear the gearbox primary shaft or driveplate".

but now that i've looked at it, it seems like i would have plenty of clearance if i took the fan and pulley off. not sure. anyone got experience taking engines out of B210's? i'm open to suggestions.

and also i will still be looking into exactly what the problem is with the oil not getting through the original block that the car came with, i will post the results here, i just need to get driving again first.

[LeviGideon]

The new tranny's 4 speeds or 5?

[ggzilla]

No problem removing & replacing the engine only. As long as the radiator is out. Plenty of forward clearance after the fan is removed. But if you get it out as a unit, I'd put it back as a unit, it is easier for the most part. Remove the fan first.

 

I like the plan to fit another engine. A14s are tough, and what happened to yours (stuck rocker) is unusual.

 

As usual with a B210, you'll need to swap the oil pan & oil pickup. No big deal. The replacement A14 appears to be a 1979-1980 unit.

[the nice machine]

The new tranny's 4 speeds or 5?

he said that one is a 5 speed and one is a 4... but he wasn't totally sure he's had them for a while. i will check the numbers tomorrow. i might sell the 4 speed for really cheap soon, if the other is really a 5speed i will probably keep it in case i need it in the future.. i want to keep this car on the road as long as i can.

[the nice machine]

 

 

As usual with a B210, you'll need to swap the oil pan & oil pickup. No big deal. The replacement A14 appears to be a 1979-1980 unit.

 

swap? i hadn't noticed a difference in the oil pans yet. i'm pretty sure both engines are from B210's, i'm not sure what years they are, though.

i am planning to take the pan off to double check the pickup tube...

[LeviGideon]

he said that one is a 5 speed and one is a 4... but he wasn't totally sure he's had them for a while. i will check the numbers tomorrow. i might sell the 4 speed for really cheap soon, if the other is really a 5speed i will probably keep it in case i need it in the future.. i want to keep this car on the road as long as i can.

Awesome deal you got there, especially if the one is a 5 speed.

I'll keep an eye out in the for sale section.

[the nice machine]

The new tranny's 4 speeds or 5?

hey i just looked through your parts needed, i also picked up a couple of drive shafts (didn't want to brag about how big i scored) i don't know if they will fit your 210, but i will hold on to one if you move out here and still need one.

[LeviGideon]

hey i just looked through your parts needed, i also picked up a couple of drive shafts (didn't want to brag about how big i scored) i don't know if they will fit your 210, but i will hold on to one if you move out here and still need one.

I'm not sure if they'd be the right length, but hey, it's worth a shot. The swap is bound to be a whole lot of trial and error anyways.

[ggzilla]

I have 210 driveshaft for a 210 5-speed. You can have it for free. By the way, they are the same as a 210 4-speed driveshaft.

[the nice machine]

okay i'm back on the road!!!

this thread has gone on way too long. so like i said i scored a couple of engines, then put all of my good parts and transmission onto another block.

i still haven't figured out why oil wasn't making it up to the head, i will be taking the old block apart later this week and i will post my findings here.

the car runs like a champ, i drove it about 20 miles and it is holding temp and all fluids... i'm feeling pretty good about it. i'll be testing for compression and stuff tomorrow.

so the whole thing went pretty smoothly considering i'm a total noob at engine stuff (less than a year ago i couldn't even remember how to change oil) except for when i got all the way to the end. i had some problems with the hardline between the master and slave cylinders.

tearing down the replacement block

i used a chain in some bolts on the side of the engine to pull it out with a chain hoist. it kept slipping out of place on the hook so i ended up using nylon straps to move it around and put it back in the car.

i also used the straps to hold up the transmission while i put it in the engine. that was a pain in the ass.

and thanks ggzilla for mentioning the oil pan and pickup tube... i guess that engine wasn't from a b210 after all. the pan on the right is the b210, i don't know what the one on the left is from, but it definitely wouldn't have fit, there is a crossmember in the way. and yes i had to change the pick up tube also.

the only major problem i had was these damn little bolts for the hardlines.

when i was first pulling the engine out i noticed that i forgot to disconnect the slave cylinder. i had the engine hanging in the air so i just cut the softline think i've got 3 more i'll just use one of those. but when i went to take it off of the hardline it got stripped.

so i had to start ripping lines out of another car, all of those bolts started stripping... long story short i spent about ten hours fighting with hardlines that kept stripping and leaking and just being the bane of my existence.

i kept stripping the flats on every bolt i tried to put in the master cylinder. i finally ended up using an extra soft line to link from the cylinder to the hardline because the wrench flats were bigger and wouldn't strip.

anyways i hate those stock hardline bolts now. i'll be looking into different hardlines for the future. i'm tired it has been a hell of a week. thanks for all of the help folks, and like i said i will get into that block this week and post here when i find out what was causing the oil problem.

[ggzilla]

Glad to hear the new engine is working well. It is from a Datsun 210 (B310).

 

Brake line fittings are no problem if you have the right tool: A flaring wrench. And an open-end wrench to hold the other side. Use two wrenches, it works like a charm. Haven't twisted off any fittings in over 25 years.

 

 

Or you can use vice-grips, but they mess up the threads.

 

[the nice machine]

yeah i actually made a trip to the store just to get those wrenches about halfway through that problem. i kept wrecking the bolts with regular wrenches and then vice grips were crushing them so they looked normal but would still leak. i actually ended up cutting out the best 2 bolts i could get off the cleanest and used a flare tool to reflare the hose ends. it worked, i'm glad i bought 20 bucks worth of tools instead of 10 bucks worth of new line i guess.

[ggzilla]

Vice-grips won't crush them if 1) they are genuine vice-grips 2) if you don't tighten them too hard 3) if they aren't already too far damaged rounded by using a regular wrench

 

Now that you know about brake lines, you'll never have this problem again.

[mrmark]

So what was cause of the oil blockage? I know it's an old thread but i just read 4 pages and I gots ta know!!

[the nice machine]

So what was cause of the oil blockage? I know it's an old thread but i just read 4 pages and I gots ta know!!

 

 

 

Haha oh shit BUSTED! I was tired of working on engines so i set it in the corner of my shop... and i have been busy ever since. Sorry i will be getting to it eventually . my hunch is that is a spun cam bearing (which kisor mentioned a few pages back) because it did get overheated right when i first drove it because it had a blown head gasket from the beginning. The temp gauge stopped working right when i got it home but i drove it to the store (20 miles one way) so i think i overheated way too much and spun the cam bearing.

i'll find out for sure one of these days, i'm too busy with work and life to take it apart right now.

The replacement engine is running strong though, just a little bit of smoke when i start it in the morning because of worn valve guides, but otherwise perfect.