3 Generators - just got home from Letterkenny - not good

[jas67]

I looked forward to today with anticipation. I finally successfully navigated the EUC gauntlet, and made my pickup appointment of the three generators I "won" in sale #5014, two MEP-016B's, and one MEP-016A, all converted to Yanmar diesel engines. I'm guessing these are actually 2 MEP-016E's w/ Yanmar L100AE power, and one MEP-016D w/ Yanmar L70AE power.

I just got home with them, and started looking over the "spoils". Unfortunately, at least two of them are spoiled. A quick pull of the recoil starter, and two of the three won't turn (one of the B models, and the A model), and the 3rd one has a broken recoil starter, and thus the rope comes out without turning the engine. The oil-filter cover/drain plug is missing from the two that appear to be seized. I'm going to swap recoil starters between the two 016E's and see if the one with the broken recoil starter will at least turn. If it does, I'll fill the crank case with oil, connect a gravity-feed tank (more on this later), and see if I can get it to run.

The wiring inside the generator control boxes all seem to be in tact, but one of the 016E's seems to have some cut wiring around the engine, and some of the hoses have been disconnected -- for quite a while, as the fittings are very rusty.

All, in all, not a good buy. I may have wasted nearly $1000 on over 1000 lbs of junk.

I'll keep you all posted of any progress, if any.

I hope if anyone else on here got any from 5014, that you have better luck than I did.

 

[croftonaviation]

Well I'm sorry you got hosed. You have now learned the lesson of dealing with GL. Preview and document. Sadly sometimes that's not enough. Good luck with them.

Tom

 

[Carl_in_NH]

Sorry to hear about the dissapointing results. Hopefully, you'll be able to get at least one of them running. Get some thin oil into those stuck engines - you may be able to unstick them - and you've got nothing to loose.

 

[greenjeepster]

Yup that sucks.

I have been getting priced out of GL auctions lately, I think all the good stories that pop up on here and other sites are driving prices when the reality is that they auction a lot of junk and the bad auction buys rarely gets posted because of shame and embarrassment.

I learned back in the beginning to bid like it is broken and if I don't win it it is somebody elses headache. I have hauled my fair share of GL crapo to the junkyard.

Good luck with them.

(I think some of the Annville trucks will put a bad taste in many bidders mouths)

 

[EO2NMCB]

Hate to hear that, maybe you can make one good, and part the other two out.

 

[Isaac-1]

Don't give up on the seized ones just yet, as they may be only lightly seized. I bought a skid mounted 30 KW Kohler diesel generator from GL last year, it was stored with a trash bag taped over the exhaust manifold , unfortunately the bag rotted away by the time I picked it up and there was enough water in the oil pan to reach the end of the dipstick (about 2 galons). I immediatly filled the cylinders with a 50/50 mix of Marvel mystery oil and automatic transmission fluid, let it agitate on the 200 mile drive home, then soak for a few days, after a few tries the next weekend it broke free, and I had it running within a couple of hours after clearing out gunk from the fuel lines, etc. I just had it loaded down to 32KW for half an hour while test running it last weekend, it smokes just a little black smoke under heavy load, but otherwise runs great.

Ike

 

[timntrucks]

that sucks in a big way.. i just got my 2 Ds models with the yanmar engines .. one started right up the other has a stopped up filter. so im working on that one this weekend.. its the luck of the draw Tim

 

[Speddmon]

jas67,

Sorry to hear about the bad luck with your generators. But like Ike mantioned. Diesels are a hearty engine. Put some Marvel oil in them, and let them soak a few days. If you get them freed up, try to check the bearings before you fire them up. You may get lucky and get them running and breathing new life again.

 

[jas67]

They're a little better, I think.

The third one turns over just fine. I haven't started it yet, but will likely test it with the engine-mounted gravity-feed tank that is on the L70A on the 016D. The other two were not seized tight, but there is still something amiss with both of them. I was able to free them both up with a breaker bar and a socket. Neither required much force to move but.....

Both get hung up part way through rotation. On the 016D, I can here air in the manifolds when turning it, so the connecting rod is still connecting the piston to the crank (no catastrophic failure), but it gets "stuck" part way through rotation. I think I'll pull the valve cover off, and check the valve train. Maybe there is some rust there sticking things up.

The 016E sounds like maybe it has a bad bearing or bent shaft in the gen end. It also gets stuck partway through rotation, but it sounds like the stoppage is caused by the rotor binding up in the stator. I'll likely just separate the engine from the gen end to isolate the problem. If the gen end is junk, and the engine is fine, I might just convert my MEP-026C (28VDC version of the 016) to diesel with it, and use it to charge the battery bank on my inverter backup power system.

I won't get another chance at these until the weekend; I'll keep you all posted.

This was definitely a reminder that GL auctions can be junk. I have a pair of ORD/28 APUs that I got for $100 (for the lot of 2) from GL two years ago, and one of those was seized too. I put 'em both on the shelf, and haven't really gotten back to them to see which part was seized. Those are belt-driven, so it will be easy enough to check.

There is definitely a reason that guarenteed, known-working MEP generators sell for so much; sometimes a reseller may get a some junk ones that they can't resell (whole, at least).

 

[timntrucks]

just reading an then i was thinking ... my gens also hit a hard spot on cranking them over by hand.. the directions say... pull till it gets hard.. then release the compresson release lever(red one on top) then pull it again.. this time is really easy .. this might be what your feeling.

 

[jas67]

just reading an then i was thinking ... my gens also hit a hard spot on cranking them over by hand.. the directions say... pull till it gets hard.. then release the compresson release lever(red one on top) then pull it again.. this time is really easy .. this might be what your feeling.

I have experience with these Yanmar engines. It isn't the compression that I'm feeling, and depressing the compression release lever doesn't allow it to rotate through.

All engines have hard spots rotating through, it's compression stroke.

Also, engines hit the compression when turning slowly, they bounce back when you let go. These two both bind up and get tight, and it takes force the other direction to free them back up.

 

[jas67]

Got one (the easy one) running.

Well, one of the MEP-016E's runs and makes good power. First, I, of coarse, added oil (after checking the oil filter, which was clean). I had to hot-wire power to the main fuel pump, as it wasn't running off the normal controls. I drained quite a bit of water out of the fuel filter, but eventually, good fuel came out the drain. Next, I cracked the fuel line to the injector loose, and cranked until fuel dripped out. Then I tightened it, and gave another hit to the starter switch, and she fired right up, and ran very well.

I tried all the reconnect switch options (shutting off each time, before switching it), and got the appropriate voltages for each setting. I also ran a 1000W flood light from the convenience outlet. It (the genset) didn't even flintch at the load (which is only 1/3 rated load).

So, it runs fine, but has two minor problems. No power to the main fuel pump, and no charging power to the batteries. I started it with the slave receptacle, and when I disconected it there wasn't any voltage accross the battery terminals with it running (and it died shortly thereafter, due to no power to the fuel pump).

The MEP-016E is a MEP-016B repowered with a Yanmar engine in place of the Onan one. I suspect that the controls box is the same, and that the external wiring is what differs.

Has anyone here found a TM or even a schematic for the MEP-016E or MEP-016B?
Isaac? I know you have a 701a, basically an enclosed 016B.

Next, I need to investigate the other two, to see what's binding up.

 

[mdlbldrmatt135]

PM sent

 

[Isaac-1]

just have a second

igor.chudov.com/manuals/OtherGenerators/MEP-016B

Ike

 

[jas67]

Fuel filters for MEP-016B/E

I was looking over the manuals (thanks Isaac). The 016B fuel filter looks the same as the filter on my 016E. Have you found a source for these?

I guess if I can't find one, I can always retrofit something else.

J.

 

[Isaac-1]

I bought one off ebay (along with an air filter), I think southern automotive was the seller.

Ike

p.s. the fuel filter is listed on southern automotives web page under alternate commodities for about $16 southernautomotive.com

 

[frodobaggins]

that sucks in a big way.. i just got my 2 Ds models with the yanmar engines .. one started right up the other has a stopped up filter. so im working on that one this weekend.. its the luck of the draw Tim

I was wondering how those worked out for you.

 

[jas67]

I bought one off ebay (along with an air filter), I think southern automotive was the seller.

Ike

p.s. the fuel filter is listed on southern automotives web page under alternate commodities for about $16 southernautomotive.com

Ike,

Thanks again for the info!

 

[ca1517]

Tried the link for the manuals listed above. No luck. I have a MEP-016, with a Yanmar diesel. I can not get the electric fuel pump to run. I am getting power to it, but it is not attached to the frame. If I use a test light on the frame of the pump, it is hot. Is this correct, or is there a wiring gremlin plaguing me. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[PeterD]

Attach it to the frame so it has a ground return. Or use a ground wire from the pump to the frame. That may solve your problem.