803A smoking and surge after warm up

[Chainbreaker]

...I noticed that the rpm go up and down in a rhythm.

That's known as "hunting". That would point more to a governor adjustment/issue. So Ray is right in suggesting that direction.

 

[America]

I've been in the governors before, but only with the engine removed. Not sure how well you can see or access things unless you at least remove the radiator and housing. After that removing the front cover is simple. I've seen issues with incorrectly assembled internal linkage and other issues with the fuel rails being bent etc.
Either way, it's pretty easy once you get in there and follow the diagrams in the TM.

is it possible the springs have aged? That’s all I see that could be wrong. Does anyone know where to buy the governor springs? I looked all over the place.

 

[America]

That's known as "hunting". That would point more to a governor adjustment/issue. So Ray is right in suggesting that direction.

Thank You, I didn’t know the terminology. My generator is definitely hunting.

 

[Light in the Dark]

is it possible the springs have aged? That’s all I see that could be wrong. Does anyone know where to buy the governor springs? I looked all over the place.

If thats the avenue you want to go, reach out to Gary Jones @ Diesel Electric Services (reference that you have a military LPW4). https://diesel-electric.us

Gary not only oversaw an extensive rebuild program in relation to the engines in these MEP sets, but his company also bought up the assets of Lister Petter America a couple years back. If its a Lister part, he can get it.

 

[Ray70]

If you can't find them from Gary Jones, let me know and I can take them out of a parts motor for you.

 

[America]

I appreciate all the help from chain breaker, ray 70 and guy, you guys are the reason I come to this forum. Thank you

 

[America]

I appreciate all the help from chain breaker, ray 70 and guy, you guys are the reason I come to this forum. Thank you

Also light in the dark!!!thank you!

 

[Ray70]

You know.... I wonder if we could be overlooking the obvious?? Is it possible your governor droop adjustment is way off??
Take an look in the TM, it will tell you how to adjust it. There's a plug in the timing gear cover near the governor. You remove the plug and use an allen wrench to adjust the droop. If the adjustment is too sensitive you wind up with constant hunting, too little sensitivity and you end up loosing RPM as the load increases. Before you go further I think we need to rule out the droop adjustment.... which in reality just changes the tension on the springs, so you should be able to compensate for a weak spring ( which I feel is unlikely ) by adjusting the droop.
Start the machine up with the fuel shut off solenoid disconnected.
Then with your hand slowly turn the shut off lever to the left. You will eventually feel it contact the fuel rack and start moving the rack left towards the off position. See if slight pressure against the fuel rack with the shut off lever stops the surging and smoking. If so, I think you may just have a really bad droop adjustment.

 

[America]

You know.... I wonder if we could be overlooking the obvious?? Is it possible your governor droop adjustment is way off??
Take an look in the TM, it will tell you how to adjust it. There's a plug in the timing gear cover near the governor. You remove the plug and use an allen wrench to adjust the droop. If the adjustment is too sensitive you wind up with constant hunting, too little sensitivity and you end up loosing RPM as the load increases. Before you go further I think we need to rule out the droop adjustment.... which in reality just changes the tension on the springs, so you should be able to compensate for a weak spring ( which I feel is unlikely ) by adjusting the droop.
Start the machine up with the fuel shut off solenoid disconnected.
Then with your hand slowly turn the shut off lever to the left. You will eventually feel it contact the fuel rack and start moving the rack left towards the off position. See if slight pressure against the fuel rack with the shut off lever stops the surging and smoking. If so, I think you may just have a really bad droop adjustment.

You are right, when I move the shut off I’m able to make it run like a normal functioning unit.

I just checked the droop, it was set perfect according to the TM’s. I adjusted the droop anyway to see if it helped and it did not. After trying to adjust it one turn at a time, I ended up putting it back where it was.

Thanks ray70

I just bought two more mep 803A! They wouldn’t work, I was able to get them up and running just by cleaning every electrical contact in the set with electrical cleaner. I had to take apart quite a few electrical contacts to really get the dust and the little bit on corrosion, nothing abnormal for a 2006 generator. All my sets are from 2006, all had around 50 hours. Looks like they where never used. I suspect they are original major components without a rebuild. Also they wrote service dates, on the sets with some kind of yellow marker, so thats nice to know someone was serviceing these as recently as 2015.

Is everybody out of ideas? Maybe this new information will help someone troubleshoot.

 

[Guyfang]

I haven't jumped in here till now. Just reading the threads.

Is the throttle linkage set right?

Is the L5, Fuel solenoid also moving? Or just the engine hunting, with no movement of the linkage?

 

[Ray70]

Still seems like a governor problem to me ( assuming the answer to Guy's final question is no ). It's sounding more and more like you are probably going to have to take off the timing gear cover and inspect the governor assembly. You said it will hold at least 12K, so that means mechanically other things are good, injectors, compression, fuel and air intake, etc. and since holding the throttle and putting pressure against the rack fixes the issue, that still steers me towards a governor problem.

 

[America]

I haven't jumped in here till now. Just reading the threads.

Is the throttle linkage set right?

Is the L5, Fuel solenoid also moving? Or just the engine hunting, with no movement of the linkage?

The fuel shut off solenoid is not going back and forth like the governor is. Also the throttle leakage is set correctly. Thank you to guyfang for jumping in, your troubleshooting is on another level. What does this tell us guyfang?

 

[Guyfang]

I would say Ray's # 31 post is the next step. I thought I would just cover the bases, that up till now haven't been covered.

If fuel pressure to the IP's is good, and the injectors pop off, the L5 is rock steady, linkage is adjusted right, then what do you have left? The governor.

 

[America]

I would say Ray's # 31 post is the next step. I thought I would just cover the bases, that up till now haven't been covered.

If fuel pressure to the IP's is good, and the injectors pop off, the L5 is rock steady, linkage is adjusted right, then what do you have left? The governor.
[/

I would say Ray's # 31 post is the next step. I thought I would just cover the bases, that up till now haven't been covered.

If fuel pressure to the IP's is good, and the injectors pop off, the L5 is rock steady, linkage is adjusted right, then what do you have left? The governor.

Thanks guy,

i ended up adjusting the fuel shut off to day. Problems gone!!!! Thanks guys. I Feel much more comfortable with my sets. I can report that these generators do need to be dismantled and put back together to make it reliable again, I had to replace most the seals and fuel lines. I also had to drain the tanks on them and clean them with Diesel. The fuel strainers for the tanks on them where rusted so I cleans it with acid for just a second. I replaced all the filters and fluids. I took apart the electrical components a few at a time so I didn’t get confused as to where they went and cleaned them with crc contact cleaner and cloth. Also I learned that you really need to test them for in my opinion maybe even as long as 100 hours on the set after you do the above. I would use the auxiliary fuel line for this test, and connect to the actual load you are going to use it for if possible. Also in your not storing enough fuel for your generator to run for a good year or so. I would ask you what the point of having it is without fuel.

Im loving the team effort we had here. Simply amazing. Thanks to everyone who pitched in. I now have three nice low hour sets. I only need one

 

[America]

Here’s my rat friend I found in one of my MEP 803A. I replaced this bus bar looking thing with a new generic one because the rat pee is corrosive.