I thought some of you may be interested to see the inside of the 19J (2.5TD) engine I bought a few years ago to be rebuilt as an upgrade to the 12J currently powering the vehicle. I removed the head to check it for damage as a fellow member on the LRUK forum has damaged the head on his 12J.
Unfortunately, the condition of the inside of my 19J is a catalogue of the worst than can happen to these engines, which are renowned for cracked heads and pistons if neglected or abused. This engine was severely negelcted, with a bad radiator, bypassed oil cooler, bad injectors and, by the looks of it, a shoddy rebore with incorrect spec pistons. All four bores have similar damage to that shown in the photos, with cracks between both valves and between the pre-combustion chambers and exhaust valve, and splits all the way across the pistons.
The block seems, so far, to be in good condition, but without measuring the bores with the correct tools for distortion, it’s impossible to be sure. It looks like I could have rebuilt it fairly cheaply with new, correct pistons and the head from my 12J, but I am reluctant to strip the 12J because it is so reliable and runs so well (having been fully rebuilt itself) – I’d rather keep it or sell it complete.
The 19J is being stripped and sold off as spares. It’ll be interesting to see what the crankshaft and oil pump are like – they are identical to the 200Tdi, and as this engine has covered (allegedly) only 100,000 miles against my Tdi’s 160,000, and the latter’s pump and crank are like new, they should be good. However, I suspect the neglect and abuse of this engine will have lead to premature wear of both.
However it turns out, I am very glad that I was persuaded to leave the 19J and go down the Tdi route instead. The Tdi may also have needed new pistons, but that is an unusual thing, and at least it has a reputation much better than the 19J’s.
Hi nick, you sound like you could be the best person to ask this……….I’ve just finished refurbishing my 19j cylinder head new valves, swirl chambers, valve seals etc, etc, when I removed the cylinder head bolts I laid them all out in order so they could be put back from whence they came. then along came the dog jumped up on the bench bolts every where…..!! basically I’ve got 5 longer bolts where I can’t be sure where they’ve come from but I’m sure you would know?
would really appreciate a reply mate
regards
Don
Hi Don,
I think I may have answered you before, perhaps you emailed. Anyway, there are nine identical bolts that go along the two rows by the manifolds, five long bolts that go through the rocker pedestals, and two nuts and two short bolts for under the injectors. There are also five much smaller bolts for the other end of each pedestal.