rgriffiths

For anyone interested this is what happened : Got it out, welded up and good as new I hope. Found the drive plate was broken too so changed it at the same time. Thanks for all the help and advice.

That's kind of you. We are in London though. Just out of interest does anyone know what the material is most likely to be? It looks like aluminium but might it be cast iron?

Thanks all. Sadly the one on ebay is not the same and I am not sure will fit. I will have a trawl around to see if I can find one. Failing that I think a weld plus extra strengthening as you suggest Tony.

Again thanks. I was about to ask the same question ... where from? While I suspect it must be, does it have to be like for like or are there alternatives that might work? I can't seem to find anything on the net that looks like it.

Thanks for the advice. I was wondering if that was the only way. I suspect it has been broken for a while and can only speculate why it broke. I was thinking whether it would be better to try and get a replacement bellhousing?

I have a BMC engine with a broken mount. Any thoughts on a way forward?

Just a quick update, along with thanks for all the tips. It turned out that a combination of putting in a thermostat (I didn't realise it was missing), a glowplug not fully tightened, a couple bolts holding down the throtle cable in place loose causing the high revs on idle. etc etc. All these little things sorted and the engine runs much better with no misfiring. So a bit of a false alarm but all advice above very useful for the future - thank you.

Sorry - I was meaning the mesh filters in the lifter and fuel pump as suggested by the injector company I contacted.

Thanks for the thoughts. Will check the tappets and do a compression test tomorrow. Can you confirm that these mesh filters are worth taking a look at?

I have a BMC 1.5 that has always been very reliable. However a few months ago it started to occasionally misfire on idle and with each misfire a small puff of smoke (more white than any other colour) was seen at the exhaust. All fine under load. All filters are new and oil changed etc. Next I took out the injectors to be checked. They were in poor shape had them all reconditioned. The engine continues to run fine under load but still get an occasional misfire on idle (every 2 or 3 seconds, but not regular) and the smoke now is definitely bluer. The other change is that it is running much faster now in idle than it did before the injectors were reconditioned. A local diesel injector company have suggested that I do two things: 1 - remove the top from the lifter pump and clean a mesh filter underneath 2 - remove the backplate on the fuel pump (where the inlet pipe joins the pump), and clean another mesh filter in there. Any other tips before I start working my way through the fuel system? On a seperate note (but possibly contributing to the issue) the air filter is one of these (foam filter inside). Is this standard? I have never been convinced it is what was meant to be on this engine.

Absolutely right - white smoke. And that is exactly what one of the mechanics said at the marina when he had a look at me trying to start it, although he claimed he didn't really know that much about engines. Only 40 years experience fixing them!! A 'bark' ... I will have a good listen. Thanks again

Success! A little trial and error but ended up adjusting the timing by removing 4 of the 5 shims such that the timing went from a touch above TDC to around 18 below. And then ..... it started first time without any problems whatsoever. The sound of the engine was a little different from before. It isn't knocking as such so I think the timing is good but is throatier than before - hopefully back to as it should be. The main thing is that the timing was clearly the issue and I can review the timing again after I have cruised it for a while. It is out of the water at the moment and so can't test it under load but back in tomorrow and fingers crossed continues to work well. As ever, thanks for all the advice. Invaluable.

This is from the manual. I can't see the timing marks as they are hidden by the bell housing which can't be removed and there is no inspection hole. Having reread these instructions I will give it another go tomorrow as they make better sense to me now.

Yes - but my methods for coming to this conclusion are pretty hit and miss don't you think? I was really asking for tips to check the injection timing to confirm that it might be too far advanced.

I have a voltmeter and will check it with all four. The jump lead is a good tip and will try that too. Thanks.