Transit with Solid Mass Flywheel. Engine damage?

[hackmagic]

Hi,

I was hoping to purchase a 2004 Transit RWD chassis cab. This is a T135 model, the first high power and torque one with an upgraded 6 speed gearbox and DMF.

It has had a solid mass flywheel conversion approx 7K (@53K) and 1 year ago.

After 6 months the prop centre bearing had to be replaced. The gearbox has oil leaks at front and back, though not serious and which i assume are from the seals due to increased vibration. The engine has some oil round and above the sump (see photo) though i'm not sure of the cause. There is a chirping from the front of the engine though of course this could be the belt etc. I have also attached 2 photos of the engine from the off and near side of the bay.

The rest of the van, top and bottom are pretty spotless and look like it has almost never left the garage. It drives fine without any unusual sounds except the chirping.

If i purchase i will immediately replace the SMF with a DMF. I am concerned that the installation of the SMF has caused damage to engine/gearbox. Would anyone have any advice based on the above info? I am assuming that the new clutch installation will solve the gearbox leaking in the process.

Many thanks for your time and help.

[stevieturbo]

It's highly unlikely changing the flywheel will fix the leak..although it may give you the opportunity to fix the leak while it is all apart.

As for potential damage from the SMF..either past, present or in the future, that is harder to know.

[hackmagic]

Thanks for the reply Steve. yes, i would have the gearbox leaks taken care of whilst it was all apart.

Any thoughts on the engine leak from the photo. is it just from the sump seal or are there other likely candidates?

[AJB88]

Not transit related but have run SMF's in a few of my modern cars and never had an issue.

[DrDeAtH]

The 135 was the least reliable of the engines unfortunately. I would look for something else and avoid the inevitable heartache and wallet raping....

[hackmagic]

Thanks for the reply Dr Death. I was hoping that as this has such low miles and the van is in immaculate condition (pretty much zero rust anywhere) that it would be a good buy and there would be few issues. It did have the injectors replaced about 4 years ago, but then my parents new motorhome came out of the factory with bad injectors, so i don't know if that is a bad sign or not.

[hackmagic]

Thanks AJB88, i know that it seems generally acceptable in cars to run a SMF, wasn't sure about this transit.

[stevieturbo]

hackmagic said:

Thanks AJB88, i know that it seems generally acceptable in cars to run a SMF, wasn't sure about this transit.

There is no generally acceptable for cars...

Some cars may get away with it, some may not. Same for any engine/box...

But as st as DMF's are, the rest of the drivetrain has been designed with that in mind, so there will always be risks in removing it.

[DrDeAtH]

No DMF will kill the input shaft bearings in short order.
The gearbox was made to cope with just a little more torque than the 140ps would provide.