The bolt that holds the main pulley on the crankshaft takes a 1.5" socket.  Not having anything over 1", I made a run to Sears and picked up a 1.5" socket and 3/4" slip bar.  The slip bar was $31, whereas a 3/4" ratchet was $90.  For a difference of $60 I can manually move the wrench!

It should be noted that the fly wheel is heavy - maybe 60 pounds or more.  It slipped out of my grip and hit the floor.  Thankfully the OSB I had put down took the force and softened the impact - no damage was done.  The flywheel housing was a bugger to get off.  After removing all the bolts, I started tapping it with a rubber mallet.  By the way, never use a steel hammer or screw driver to remove parts from an engine!  Use a rubber mallet to loosen the parts - it works.  The flywheel housing refused to budge.  So out came the sledge hammer and a piece of 2x4.  After a few whacks the flywheel housing was still firmly attached.  Fansler's First Postulate in Engine Disassembly - if a rubber mallet does not break a part lose, look for more bolts!  I found 3 more bolts holding the housing in place - once removed the housing slid off.

Other than the housing boo boo, all was going well until I took off the timing cover.   There are 4 gears under the timing cover, crankshaft, fuel pump, camshaft and idler.  The crankshaft gear has 1/2 as many teeth as the other three, since the crankshaft turns twice for every firing of a cylinder.  Each gear has markings on it to set the timing of events.  Not only will the engine not run if the timing is out of sync, you will destroy the pistons and valves.  The workshop manual shows how the markings should be for a properly synced engine - mine did not match!  I took a number of pictures, which I studied for a while before realizing that when the crankshaft gear was in the proper position, so were the markings on the camshaft and fuel pump gears - only the idler gear was out of position.  Counting teeth, each mark on the idler gear was 23 teeth out of position.  I guess when ever the engine was first assembled back in 1979 close attention to the orientation of the idler was lacking.

Monday March 5 - Before I could get all the timing gears off, I had to run out and purchase a small gear puller.  I got one at Sears for $34 with tax.  The idler and fuel pump gears came off without problems - the crankshaft and camshaft needed the help of the gear puller.  Before removing the timing gears, I set the crankshaft gear to the correct orientation (which is Top Dead Center (TDC) for the first cylinder).  The camshaft and fuel pump gears were in their correct position.  I took the idler gear off and repositioned it, and it did line up as the workshop manual describes.  A housing around the rear crankshaft was removed next, followed by the fuel pump and rear timing housing.  The final bit of work today was removing the sump from the engine - it must of had 16 screws holding it on.  Draining the sump of remaining oil, I was amazed that there was no sludge in the bottom.  With the crankshaft exposed, it and the pistons are ready to be removed.  My schedule is going to prohibit any more work until the weekend.

A surprise came in the mail this week - the towing bill was estimated to be $200 and turned out to be $300.  But the big shocker was the engine removal cost - I was told a similar boat took 9 man hours - Annabelle to 24 hours at $60/hour for a total of $1440!  That hurt.  The owner stated that being older, it took longer to get the engine apart.

During the week, I have been in contact with Trans Atlantic Diesel on pricing for parts.  They do sell a complete rebuild kit for the Perkins 4154 for $2800.  Not needing the pistons, cylinder liners, push rods or rocker arms, I am having to buy the parts individually.  They do carry a upper and a lower gasket set.  Once I finish identifying and ordering the parts I will list it in the "Costs" page.

On March 11 I finished the tear down - the block only had the cylinder liners and nothing else.  I scrubbed down the engine block.  Gunk Engine Brite degreaser is the best product.  Get it from Wal-Mart, it is about 1/3 the price there as Home Depot!  I put an acid prep on the block, sprayed painted with a rust inhibitor primer and finally a couple of coats of a bright blue paint.  I took the cylinder head to a local repair shop - they are going to clean the head, make sure it is flat and machine the valves and seats.  While there, the owner also took measurements on the crankshaft and found it to be within spec.  He also examined the pistons, rocker arms and the push rods and stated they were all fine and should be used again.  And finally he looked at, and took measurements on the cylinders (just happen to have the block in the back of the Pilot).  The cylinders measured out true and round.  There were no score marks, and no rings you could feel with your fingers as you go up and down the cylinder.  The top 1/2" is crusty above where the rings stop.  He suggested this was not a problem, and I should clean them good with a ScotchBrite pad.  The estimated cost for work on the head (provided there are no problems) should be between $75 and $100.  The fuel injectors were taken to another shop that specializes in fuel injectors - they are going to check them out and make any needed repairs.  Base price is $35 per injector, which could climb to $75 depending on work needed.

March 18 - I spent some of yesterday and a large number of hours today cleaning large parts off the engine in preparation of painting them.  Some of the mounting legs are in poor shape - I fear they are going to have to be replaced.

March 19 - Heard back from the injector shop - they had to replace the nozzles, so the bill, with tax is about $266.  My order to Trans Atlantic Diesel left via email tonight - $1355.75, not including shipping or tax.  You know it really stinks that the cost to get the engine out of the boat is almost as much as the cost to rebuild the engine.  I think I may be doing some of the reinstall myself!

March 24 - Worked a few evenings this week and all day today.  I have been cleaning all the parts - scrapping all the crud off, cleaning them with paint thinner to remove any oil, and priming the external parts.  I have also been painting the external parts.  The bolts I have been running thru a die to clean the treads off.  I have about 3 more small parts to clean, prime and paint - then only the transmission is left.  I take that back, the cylinder head has to be primed and painted as well as the injectors.  I have used quite a few cans of primer and paint - both spray cans from Lowes.  The brother of a neighbor came over this evening to see what I was up to - turns out he is a diesel mechanic.  He thought everything looked good.  He suggested using a drill mounted hone to clean the top of the cylinder liners - guess I will pick one up this week.  Another suggesting was to use some thread seizing on those bolts I was going to have to remove to reinstall the engine.  He said it would make those bolts easier to remove - available at NAPA or other such stores.

April 6 - Took the two rusted motor mounts to a local machine shop to have the inserts pressed out.  It took a 20 ton press to do the job!  The mount on the transmission had to be cut apart, pressed out and the welded back together.  Keep those mounts oiled!   I used the honing tool (this particular one is called a "Chainy ball" - costs about $75 - I have a slightly used one for sale now) to clean out the residue at the top of the cylinders and to re-hatch the cylinders.  I then power washed the block and crankshaft.  I then wiped them down with a cloth - it has been repeated to me more than once that everything must be clean, clean, clean.  I finished painting all the parts and am ready to start the reassembly.