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BL O-series engine
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BL O-series engine
The BL O-series engine is an automobile straight-four engine family that was produced by the Austin-Morris division of British Leyland (BL) as a replacement of the BMC B-series engine family. The design and development of the new engine cost £38 million. (See also another B-series successor, the BMC E-series engine.)
Introduced by BL in 1978 in the rear wheel drive Series 3 Morris Marina and the smaller engined versions of the front-wheel-drive Princess, it was intended to replace the 1.8 L B-series unit. The main advance over the B series was that the new unit was of belt driven overhead camshaft configuration, with an aluminium cylinder head.
Offered in the unusual capacity of 1.7 L as well as 2.0 L, it proved to be reliable and was widely used in BL vehicles. These included the rear wheel drive Morris Ital of 1980 (1.7 L or 2.0 L with an automatic gear box), the rear wheel drive Rover SD1 of 1982 (2.0 L only), and 1.7 L and 2.0 L in the front wheel drive Austin Ambassador – in fact the only engine offered in this model. The 2-litre O-series design is 35 lb lighter than the previous B-series, resulting in a total dry wright of 325 lb, together with a noise reduction of 5.5dB at 3,000 rpm. The engines were built at the Cotton Hackett engine plant.
In 1984, it was reworked for installation in high specification 2.0 L versions of the front-wheel drive Austin Maestro and Austin Montego, where it was later optionally available with fuel injection or turbo-charging. This installation of the O-series was adapted for use with the Honda PG-1 end-on manual gearbox, replacing the gearbox-in-sump design traditionally used on British Leyland front-wheel-drive products. The 1.7 L O-series was not used in these vehicles, which featured R- and later S-series 1.6 L units instead. The cylinder blocks of the transmission-in-sump (Princess/Ambassador), rear wheel drive longitudinal (Marina/Ital/Rover SD1), and the transverse, end-on transmission (Maestro/Montego/Rover 800) versions are not interchangeable.
A notable advantage of the 2-litre, petrol O-series engine is that the cylinder head does not require modification to run on unleaded petrol due to having hardened valve seats. Other O-series engines, however, cannot run on unleaded without modification of the cylinder head or use of an additive.
By 1987, British Leyland (now known as the Rover Group) equipped the O-series with a 16-valve cylinder head for the Rover 800. This 2.0 L unit was known as the M series, and was further reworked into the T series in 1992. The 8-valve version of the O-series was also briefly used in budget versions of the Rover 800, although confusingly this was given the "M8" designation in official Rover service publications – implying it was an 8-valve version of the M Series engine, although it was identical to the O series used in the Maestro and Montego.
The 1.7 L displaces 1,698 cc (103.6 cu in). It is an 8-valve SOHC design with an aluminium head and iron block. The engine is a spark-ignition 4-stroke naturally aspirated petrol engine. Fuel system is via carburettor. Power is 58 kW DIN (78 bhp; 79 PS) at 5150 rpm in the Morris Marina, and 62 kW DIN (83 bhp; 84 PS) at 5200 rpm in the Austin Ambassador. Net torque is 131 N⋅m (97 lb⋅ft) at 3500 rpm. When installed in the Sherpa van, it had a lowered compression ratio of 7.8 : 1 and could be run on lower octane, "two-star" petrol. Maximum power for this variant is 45.5 kW DIN (61 bhp; 62 PS) at 4100 rpm, torque is 117 N⋅m (86 lb⋅ft) at 3000 rpm.
Bore x stroke: 84.46 mm × 75.79 mm (3.33 in × 2.98 in)
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BL O-series engine
The BL O-series engine is an automobile straight-four engine family that was produced by the Austin-Morris division of British Leyland (BL) as a replacement of the BMC B-series engine family. The design and development of the new engine cost £38 million. (See also another B-series successor, the BMC E-series engine.)
Introduced by BL in 1978 in the rear wheel drive Series 3 Morris Marina and the smaller engined versions of the front-wheel-drive Princess, it was intended to replace the 1.8 L B-series unit. The main advance over the B series was that the new unit was of belt driven overhead camshaft configuration, with an aluminium cylinder head.
Offered in the unusual capacity of 1.7 L as well as 2.0 L, it proved to be reliable and was widely used in BL vehicles. These included the rear wheel drive Morris Ital of 1980 (1.7 L or 2.0 L with an automatic gear box), the rear wheel drive Rover SD1 of 1982 (2.0 L only), and 1.7 L and 2.0 L in the front wheel drive Austin Ambassador – in fact the only engine offered in this model. The 2-litre O-series design is 35 lb lighter than the previous B-series, resulting in a total dry wright of 325 lb, together with a noise reduction of 5.5dB at 3,000 rpm. The engines were built at the Cotton Hackett engine plant.
In 1984, it was reworked for installation in high specification 2.0 L versions of the front-wheel drive Austin Maestro and Austin Montego, where it was later optionally available with fuel injection or turbo-charging. This installation of the O-series was adapted for use with the Honda PG-1 end-on manual gearbox, replacing the gearbox-in-sump design traditionally used on British Leyland front-wheel-drive products. The 1.7 L O-series was not used in these vehicles, which featured R- and later S-series 1.6 L units instead. The cylinder blocks of the transmission-in-sump (Princess/Ambassador), rear wheel drive longitudinal (Marina/Ital/Rover SD1), and the transverse, end-on transmission (Maestro/Montego/Rover 800) versions are not interchangeable.
A notable advantage of the 2-litre, petrol O-series engine is that the cylinder head does not require modification to run on unleaded petrol due to having hardened valve seats. Other O-series engines, however, cannot run on unleaded without modification of the cylinder head or use of an additive.
By 1987, British Leyland (now known as the Rover Group) equipped the O-series with a 16-valve cylinder head for the Rover 800. This 2.0 L unit was known as the M series, and was further reworked into the T series in 1992. The 8-valve version of the O-series was also briefly used in budget versions of the Rover 800, although confusingly this was given the "M8" designation in official Rover service publications – implying it was an 8-valve version of the M Series engine, although it was identical to the O series used in the Maestro and Montego.
The 1.7 L displaces 1,698 cc (103.6 cu in). It is an 8-valve SOHC design with an aluminium head and iron block. The engine is a spark-ignition 4-stroke naturally aspirated petrol engine. Fuel system is via carburettor. Power is 58 kW DIN (78 bhp; 79 PS) at 5150 rpm in the Morris Marina, and 62 kW DIN (83 bhp; 84 PS) at 5200 rpm in the Austin Ambassador. Net torque is 131 N⋅m (97 lb⋅ft) at 3500 rpm. When installed in the Sherpa van, it had a lowered compression ratio of 7.8 : 1 and could be run on lower octane, "two-star" petrol. Maximum power for this variant is 45.5 kW DIN (61 bhp; 62 PS) at 4100 rpm, torque is 117 N⋅m (86 lb⋅ft) at 3000 rpm.
Bore x stroke: 84.46 mm × 75.79 mm (3.33 in × 2.98 in)
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