SP engine pull out

[B.Nyhof]

I am going to attempt to show in pictures my process of pulling my engine out of my SP, and what I all did to it last winter. I blew a head gasket 2 miles from my house on my way back from northern Wisconsin last summer. I was able to drive it home. After confirming it was a head gasket, I pulled the engine in October. The pulling took about 3 days to get it out. The first step was pulling the bumper, draining the radiator and removing it and the CAC. Next, I took the turbo and CAC tubes out of the way. I then disconnected all of the wiring and fuel lines. Then the driveshaft had to come off. There are engine mounts in the front of the engine on a crossover that I left on. I took the bolts off of the frame of the cross over and took that out with the engine to help steady it. The middle engine mounts were the hardest to get to. They are kind of below the exhaust manifolds. The tranny has 2 bolts that had to come out too. They are back by the driveshaft output. Once everything was disconnected I used a pallet jack and a skid to roll it out. The problem I had was that the bell housing of the transmission was wider than the vertical engine mounts in the middle of the engine. The middle engine mounts have a vertical "drop" that goes down next to the engine for a cross member to bolt to under the engine. I ended up spreading them apart with a bar and threaded rod. It was used as a spreader to push the mounts apart. Once I had the clearance it rolled out just fine. Lots of messing around to get to that point. Here are some pics of it to that point

[B.Nyhof]

Once the engine was out I could start cleaning the engine compartment. I power washed the engine compartment and engine. As you can see, the engine was absolutely filthy. Once the compartment was clean, I painted it and re-insulated it too. I changed out the lights for LED lights while ai it. I found a couple of broken wire under there too that I fixed.

[B.Nyhof]

Once the engine was cleaned it put it in the heated barn to tear it apart. As you can see in the pic, the head gasket was the problem. Both heads were re-done at a shop here in town. New seats, new guides, new valves, and springs. The heads were machined about .007" to make sure they were flat. All gaskets were bought at Michigan Cat. The injection pump was rebuilt at this time too. As you can see from the pics there is not a lot of room to work on these engines when its in the bus. So I figured now was a good time to have it rebuilt too.

[edscreven]

I sorta feel your pain....!!! Blew head in Calgary and having a drop in Reviva installed.

[B.Nyhof]

Once the engine was back together it was painted. I rebuilt the air compressor and put a new power steering pump on it also. I replaced the exhaust manifold bolts with genuine Cat bolts. Not cheap, but not a place to skimp on. The alternator was from the summer of 2017 so I didn't replace that. I had a new radiator and CAC built also. The CAC was repaired at one time with epoxy. Needles to say, it didn't work. So it got a new one. The radiator is the biggest available for the room the SP has. All in all a lot of work. Would I do it again? Of course!! The bus ran flawlessly on our last trip. The temps were good, the power was good. I didn't go up any big hills to see what my boost maxes out at though, but I did see higher numbers than the previous trips. Here are some pics of the final product

[B.Nyhof]

3 more pics I forget to add.

[tintent]

I see why you were not at Boothbay . that is a big job do you have any idea why the head gasket failed ? when it failed did it dump coolant, run rough , lots of hours ?
keep us informed as to how it goes

[B.Nyhof]

I don't know why it blew. I lost quite a bit of coolant when it went. All of a sudden engine alarm was going off. Had steam rolling out of the exhaust pipe- telltale sign right there. Since it's been done it has been running great. Just ran 1100 miles with it. Planned trip in a few weeks from now too.

[edscreven]

Beautiful !! work !!!!!


Hopefully when I break down again it will be at your front door.

[Bill Pape]

Congratulations Bryan,
Amazing, there seems to be several 3208 WOG owner mechanics.
Thanks for posting & pictures, I like the pallet jack and paint.