New Member/Western North Carolina RE: MEP 003A

[ZeusDiesel]

Thanks. Would a shot of ether accomplish the same as a "rag of gas". Also, if I pull the injectors, what replacement parts am I going to need? Seals, etc. Want to make sure I have them on hand.

ZeusDiesel

 

[Isaac-1]

No, don't use ether on diesel engines it is prone to destroying them, gas soaked rag is much safer for the engine, but do use caution, wash the gas off your hands before trying to start, stay well back in case the rag ignites, etc.

 

[1800 Diesel]

Thanks. Would a shot of ether accomplish the same as a "rag of gas". Also, if I pull the injectors, what replacement parts am I going to need? Seals, etc. Want to make sure I have them on hand.

ZeusDiesel

Gas will ignite easier than diesel, but will not provide the severe explosion that ether does--therefore much easier on the engine. Forgot to mention I spray quite a bit of WD40 or equal/cheaper into the engine prior to the gas trick. This will provide a little lubrication to the cylinders prior to using the gas vapors.

You can make a "torch" with an old broom handle and some chicken wire or hardware cloth. Enclose the rag with the wire and also wrap around the broom handle and secure it with bailing wire or something. Dip this in gas, allow to drip a little & then hold the encased rag in front of the intake while cranking. This will prevent the rag from being ingested and also will keep your hands away from the gas & fumes.

 

[storeman]

It sure sounds to me like you have injector problems. All the rest of the possibilities seem rather far-fetched. Bad fuel possibly trashed the injectors from functioning. Get them to a shop which can disassemble, clean, adjust and, if necessary, replace nozzles.
Jerry

 

[Jimc]

zeus, when you pull the injectors you will need new gaskets when you reinstall them. there are 3 gaskets per injector. you can occasionally pick them up on a big auction site.

the smaller copper nozzle gasket that goes inside the cooling fins is 0147-0243
The bigger copper gasket that seals cooling fins and head is 0110-0419. They call this a fuel cap gasket so dont let that confuse you. The part # is right
The fiber insulator gasket is 0147-0043.

pull them out, send them to jerry this way you know the injectors will be good to go. i bet once you get the injectors all done and its running it will run better than it ever did before.

 

[storeman]

Fyi, I have had no problem reusing the gaskets mentioned providing you use a bit of oil on wet sand paper and clean them up. The fiber gasket seems to work fine so long as not badly worn.
Jerry

 

[Jimc]

yes i have reused the little copper one before with no problems. i might have gotten away with reusing the big copper one too if they didnt have to be removed to clean the hole where the injector goes. the big one is kinda delicate. the fiber ones though for me always seem to delaminate or get destroyed when i disassemble. in any case, the parts are available and not expensive if needed.

 

[storeman]

You are right Jim. Better safe than sorry. In the past I didn't have a source. BTW: your pop called a couple days ago. Yesterday, unit I discussed with him tested at 130% for 10 min before overheating. Waiting on new glow plugs and I'll call him back.
Jerry

 

[Triple Jim]

To reuse a copper gasket, anneal it by heating it red hot all over. You can let it cool, or quench it in water. Quenching will flake off most of the black oxide. Don't bend or otherwise cold work it after the annealing and it will be full-soft and as good as new.

 

[Jimc]

thats a great tip jim!

yeah jerry, he told me he talked to you. ill let him know on the load test and that you'll be in touch.

 

[ZeusDiesel]

Jerry: Sorry for the flummoxing!! yes, I have heard fuel dripping back from the tank return, I cracked the lines @ all four injectors in sequence, (I smelled like diesel while making the meatloaf for dinner) . Haven't wrenched the IP, and it was a normal shut down. I checked the filter for water, nothin', and the fuel source is the same 275 gal tank that I use for my track hoe and tractor and they continue to run fine. Each time I have exercised the Gen. I always check to make sure the thermostat switch is performing on opening the cooling vent, been no problem. After I installed the injectors, I tried cranking it 4 times for 15 seconds each and it appeared to be really cranking strong but no smoke. While taking the return lines off to send you the injectors, I did discover that the return line for the #3 inj. had been rubbed by the enclosure hood to the point that a hole(bout the size of a pinhead had actually been created in the line) so I swapped in a line from another mep 003a that I am using for parts at the moment.(its a 400 htz that I planned to convert to a 60 htz someday/ only 739 hrs on it). The only visible thing has been the battery indicator hasn't worked since I jumped the batteries while trying to get it started back when this all started to unravel. I keep thinking that maybe a wire vibrated loose somewhere last time it ran, I've been able to keep the mice and varmints out with the enclosure I built around it, cuz they do like to build nests in these machines any chance they get.


Well, thanks again. I'll throw this back out to the guys on SS. With all the use these Gen's get in the military and out, you would think this problem has been encountered by someone/somewhere. I AIN'T THAT SPECIAL!!

Bill

 

[dependable]

Several people mentioned the fuel shut off solenoid, and you say it is moving freely. Did you try manually lifting shut off linkage up? On the one I am working on now, I have to do this each time the master switch goes past stop. Solenoid also seems to be drawing a little off the battery in full down position. At some point I'll take the ASK and check linkage, but have been occupied with other issues on this unit.

 

[storeman]

Some background from Zeus diesel

"Yes it has been running for almost 2 years. I exercise this generator once a month for an hour at full load. Never had any problem with it starting and running until this last time when it just cranks and doesn't turn over. The oil pressure has checked regularly as it is running, and the the cooling fan also and it has been fine. As mentioned earlier, I had a heck of a time getting the injectors out of the head. There was just a white powder where I expected to find what the TM labeled as the "Heat Shield" (#. Having never pulled one of these for inspection, I wasn't quite sure what I was looking for. I sent the heat shield attached, didn't want to mess with something that perhaps shouldn't be messed with. "


Zeus diesel sent injectors to me. Two could not be removed from heat sinks without damaging nozzle carrier. Rebuilt or adjusted all 4 and replaced 2 heat sinks and nozzle carriers. All tested within specs. On reinstalling, still no combustion. I sent some aluminum heat sink gaskets with the injectors that are slightly thicker than the thin large diameter copper gasket. I don't think the gasket is the problem as they worked for me. Any help would be appreciated as I don't have an answer.
Jerry

 

[Jimc]

well the injectors are good and if he is getting fuel to the IP then its time to pull the pump. he said he was getting small squirts of fuel but no smoke. assuming the shut down solenoid is lifting and the throttle arm on the pump is coming up then thats the only thing left.

 

[storeman]

I've e-mailed him to see if he re-used his copper gaskets or used my alum ones. No answer yet. Compression could also be an issue.
Jerry

 

[Isaac-1]

It sounds to me like since this was a good running unit that did not show slow signs of loss of compression that a better suspect might be a broken cam shaft, what does everyone think? I know they do break as I have a DJE with one that I acquired for free a while back.

Ike

 

[dependable]

If it had a broken camshaft, would the IP turn?

 

[storeman]

He did say that he was able to bleed fuel at all 4 injectors.

 

[Munchies]

I was going to say siezed pintle in the nozzles, then I saw jerry already got to them and they are good.
Only thing I can really think of fuel wise that could make it run one day, sit, then not run later.

Verify the arm is raising, and tie that sucker up a little less than the max it will go up and attempt to start. Plan ahead and have snips in hand to cut ziptie or bailing wire holding throttle arm up. If its still not starting, then the pump needs to come off. 2000 PSI with nothing holding it back looks the same as 1psi coming out of a loose injector line. Money is on a gummed then broken IP. My 'after coffee' advice.

 

[storeman]

Here is what I've advised ZeusDiesel by e-mail. If y'all can add anything, please do so. He reused his copper gaskets and did vacuum out the injector ports before reinstalling.

Jerry


ZeusDiesel

Try testing the solenoid as first step.

On the 003, it takes 2 people to check out the solenoid, one to crank and other to force the solenoid to stay in up position. One can do it if a screw driver is wedged on top of the starter cut out switch to hold up the solenoid shaft.

If you get no fire with the solenoid wedged up, either all of the injectors are bad, air is in the system, IP is damaged, or lastly, no engine compression. Most likely causes are air in system or damaged IP.

If it fires with the solenoid forced up but it shuts down as soon as screw driver wedge is removed, you may have a bad oil pressure switch, bad temp sensor, bad relay in control box, or bad solenoid.

I'll be happy to recheck the injectors at no cost, but I don't think they are the problem.