Which would appear to be a diesel.
After a lot of years messing with cam timing in IH and John Deere diesels I imagine given the needed compression ratios all diesels are an interfearence motor.
You mate crank and cam with a gearset of some variety,not with a timing belt that can fail.
That is just plain stupid in my book but VW has been doing it for decades.
I had an IH bulldozer back in the late 60's. It was a TD-14A 142 series...about a 1958 model or so. I was running it and it stripped every gear in the front of the engine except the crank gear. It didn't cause any valve damage.
I lined everything and timing marks up when I put it back together and then started turning it over by hand to check things. If I remember correctly, I had to turn that engine over 54 times before all the timing marks would line up again....I was tired.
...and just for giggles and to show what incorrect timing can do to drive you crazy.
Had a DETROIT 471N that kept burning the #2 and #3 piston and sleeve up at around 300 hours of use. #1 and #4 piston and sleeves would still be looking like brand new. I did an inframe rebuild several times on that engine, replacing all pistons and sleeves. Finally started just sticking the slightly used #1 and #4 trash canned pistons and sleeves back in the #2 and #3 holes. Got the same amount of run time on the used parts, 300 hours. We got so good at doing field rebuilds we could drop the oil pan, pull the head, replace #2 & #3 piston and sleeve and have it back running in under 2 hours.
Well, finally pulled that engine and replaced it. Talked to an older than dirt DETROIT mechanic and he told me the timing was probably off by 2 or 3 degrees. We had checked the timing religiously every time we tore it down.Tore it down for a complete rebuild "IF" we could discover what the problem with #2 and #3 was. FOUND IT! There was a problem with the block that allowed thrust bearing(washers) on the cam to wander around some. The timing gears are helical cut gears and the cam would move forward 3/8" to 1/2" when the engine was running thus changing the timing ever so slightly but it was enough to cause problems. Fixed block, new cam bushings, thrust washers and it ran for years with no more problems.
