Picked up 6 MEP-802A gensets and will be documenting making them all runners here

This is my fist experience with the MEP-802A units (or any MEP units for that matter). I've been looking for an alternative to my 3600 rpm civilian screamers (Generac 8kw and 15kw LP fired sets), which I just sold. I came across an ad on CL from a guy that had 4 for sale between $400 and $1000. I picked up 3 of them for a total of $2000.

EDIT: I ended up getting a total of 5 MEP 802As from Dean in MD . Also picked up a 803 in January of 2021. This thread will document the journey of (hopefully) getting them all up and running and the various challenges along the way. The 803 came on a M116A3 trailer, which is my first military trailer of any kind.


All of them had this same sticker on them:



All 3 units were fairly new (2006, 2007 and 2009). The 2007 unit was refurbished in 2010 at camp Arifjan, Kuwait. It is showing 1355 hours. The 2006 unit has 3544 hours and the 2009 2844 hours.

Here they are on the back of my truck when I got them home.



After unloading them I proceeded to drain whatever was in the crankcase of each one. The 2009 had the exhaust flap intact and all I got out of it was a little bit of engine oil as seen here.



The 2007 genset had maybe 1/4 cup of water in it and the 2006 about 1/2 cup. So way less than the several quarts I know some of you guys have experienced. I suppose I should consider myself lucky.

Going through each one, starting with the oldest one first, here are my findings/detailed pictures.

2006 unit:



All gauges are present and all switches appear to be functional. Not sure if it is normal for the fuel, coolant and oil pressure gauges to read random values (the same gauges on the other 2 gensets are showing different random values).



http://www.cstone.net/~dk/802A-2006-03.JPG

One concern with this unit is that the front top cover over the electricals is missing and there is a lot of corrosion on the terminals as seen in these pictures



http://www.cstone.net/~dk/802A-2006-06.JPG

http://www.cstone.net/~dk/802A-2006-07.JPG

Moving on to the engine, I think it looks pretty decent. The secondary fuel filter cap is present, as is the air filter end cap and oil filler cap. There's just 1 wire here not connected to that can hanging down below where the fuel pressure sensor/switch or whatever it is.



http://www.cstone.net/~dk/802A-2006-09.JPG

On the other side of the engine, I'm noticing that all the coolant drain lines are missing, but that should be easy enough to fix.



http://www.cstone.net/~dk/802A-2006-10.JPG

Next I removed the injectors and dropped in 1.5 oz of ATF.



http://www.cstone.net/~dk/802A-2006-INJ-01.JPG

EDIT: Well I guess that's what I get for working on these things past midnight. I believe those are actually the individual fuel pumps for each cylinder. So I dumped ATF and PB into the crank case instead of down each cylinder. That in itself did no harm, but this morning I went and turned it over with completely dry cylinder walls...

So here are the fuel pumps that I removed thinking they were the injectors...

I'm really kicking myself for turning over all 3 engines this morning thinking they had both cylinders soaking in ATF and PB overnight. I was only able to turn them maybe 5 degrees each and it was really hard to get them started. Guess it's time to pull the heads next to see what damage I did...

In a way I'm glad I pulled off the intake and exhaust manifolds. Check out this mess.



So I got a question at this point. It looks like the rockers have to come off as their bolts are also the cylinder bolts. It that correct? I tried loosening one of them, but the rocker starts to rotate along with it. I don't want to screw things up more than I already have. Never worked on these engines before and haven't been able to locate a service manual for the Lister Petter LPW online yet.

Nice write up and great pictures. Please keep us updated as to your progress. Lots of folks here who can help if you need it.

Thanks Angus! Yeah, I'm sure I'll need some assistance before I'm done!

I finally located the engine service manual (TM-9-2815-252-24). Reading through the manual, I think I might be ok even though I removed both injector pumps on all 3 engines and then turned the cranks. I say this because the tappets and thrust cups for all 6 injector pumps stayed in the block when I removed them. Is that a correct assumption? Also, I made note of which injector pump went with each cylinder and the associated shims packs.

I'm not trying to be nasty but if you pulled the fuel pumps and though they where the injectors you need to take a few steps but read a TM or two. These units are not simple and you can screw stuff up or kill your self if your not careful.

Now at the cross road your at now put oil in the injector holes and crank it up. I won't tear the motor down...

I would probably pull the head. Doesnt add much cost to where your at now.
Those exhaust ports look rough. I would rather pull it and potentially save a mostly good engine vs force a rebuild at the expense of being wrong and wasting cash on some gaskets

I hear you CDR. It was a very stupid rookie mistake pulling the pumps thinking they were the injectors, which are obviously in the heads, not on the side of the block... I saw supply lines and high pressure lines and still had the muffler, air filter and manifolds installed, so I couldn't really see the injectors on the other side. At any rate, I have now read the Engine Technical manual a couple of times. Sure wish I had found that yesterday before I started messing around. It was around midnight when I pulled the "injectors". As they say, haste makes waste.

That said, the pumps weren't exactly great looking, so they probably needed to be pulled regardless. Here's a closeup of one of them.



Both the intake and exhaust manifolds are nasty, so I'm going to go ahead and pull the head. Water pump is already off, so I might as well.

pclausen said:

I hear you CDR. It was a very stupid rookie mistake pulling the pumps thinking they were the injectors, which are obviously in the heads, not on the side of the block... I saw supply lines and high pressure lines and still had the muffler, air filter and manifolds installed, so I couldn't really see the injectors on the other side. At any rate, I have now read the Engine Technical manual a couple of times. Sure wish I had found that yesterday before I started messing around. It was around midnight when I pulled the "injectors". As they say, haste makes waste.

That said, the pumps weren't exactly great looking, so they probably needed to be pulled regardless. Here's a closeup of one of them.

View attachment 500398

Both the intake and exhaust manifolds are nasty, so I'm going to go ahead and pull the head. Water pump is already off, so I might as well.

Click to expand...

Per the manual, when you pull the pumps you must leave one pump in to keep the rack engaged. Otherwise the front of the motor may need to come apart to reset the rack. Also, the pumps rorate on serrated clamps. The rotation sets the fuel balance between pumps so each cylinder contributes equally. There are very good LP and Military manuals out there on line for free for these units. I have had 2 of them and have one now torn all the way down to bare skid for a full restoration. I initially pulled the engine and gen out to change a head gasket, which is a common problem. Good luck with your build please keep posting.

I agree, at this point a complete teardown would be the wise way to go. At the least your out the cost of a gasket kit, but you will know that everything else is OK, and as they say "that's priceless ! " .

Taking them down to the skids have been my plan all along. I understand the gasket kit is quite reasonably priced at around $80.

Between the 3 802A's I picked up, I'm missing the following essential pieces:

1 right side fan shroud
1 oil filler plug
1 air filter housing cap

Also missing these parts:

2 battery "interconnect" cables
All hardware to tie down batteries
1 front top cover
1 rear top cover
1 control panel cover

Off all of them, the top 3 are the most critical. Not sure where to source those from, but I'll start checking around. I did find one guy on CL that is parting out a 802A. He's far way however and I'm not sure he's will to ship.

Looking at the amount of rust on everything if your opening them up take out the oil pressure relief and clean it out. Mine was stuck closed and made 200psi oil pressure

Paid $80 for just these

Wow, yours looks in pretty bad as well CDR. I thought the $80 gasket set included the head gasket as well. That's unfortunate.

I'll definitely pull the oil pressure relief and clean it out.

I removed the front section for easy access. Was pretty easy to do, just time consuming.


http://www.cstone.net/~dk/802A-2007-6-22-00.JPG

So here's what the head looks like. Not a pretty sight...


http://www.cstone.net/~dk/802A-2007-6-22-01.JPG

A look down the cylinders.


http://www.cstone.net/~dk/802A-2007-6-22-02.JPG

Front cylinder wall.


http://www.cstone.net/~dk/802A-2007-6-22-03.JPG

Back cylinder wall.


http://www.cstone.net/~dk/802A-2007-6-22-04.JPG

Bottom end of push rods.


http://www.cstone.net/~dk/802A-2007-6-22-05.JPG

I sprayed the piston circumferences with a healthy dose of PB and then dumped in ATF to cover the bottom 2" of the pistons. I then sprayed more PB on the cylinder walls. After sitting 3 hours, I'm still only able to turn the crank a little less than 1/4 turn through BDC.

Given the condition of the cylinder walls, I'm wondering if I'll ever be able to get the pistons out through the top. Is it possible to pull them them out from below? I realize this will require pulling the engine and removing the crank.

Given the condition overall, I think at this point I might as well tear it completely down and have the block and heads hot tanked. What do you guys think?

I'll pull the heads on the other 2 units to see what shape they are in. Maybe if they are all looking like this, they can hot tank everything in one go for me. I would of course make sure I could readily identify the components for each engine afterwards.

Given that there was hardly any water present in the crank case on any of them, and one actually only had a little oil come out, I'm quite disappointed with what I have discovered so far.

To add injury to insult, the alternator on this unit is seized up as well.

Send the head to the machine shop shot blaster with a rotisere. Valve job and seals and it will be good. You can try pounding the pistons down with theme crank.out. might get away with rings and a hone. I haven't priced an engine kit or sleeves like I have for the old 002/003. Wonder what the $$ damage would be.

Did you get sick when you opened it ?

Look really rough mine prob looked worse looks like a full rebuild is needed. That's why I threw some diesel in mine and cranked it up. I highly recommend u do that with the rest

Ignorance is bliss

I might be tempted to fill those cylinder with evapo-rust with some light wire brushing. Even get some clay and run a bead around the piston to seal it for a few days. If nothing else it will make dissasembly much easier. Best case is you can clean it, give it a quick flex honing and run it.

Evapo-rust is miracle grade stuff.

I have a gallon on evapo-rust and was wondering about doing just that. I'll go fill up the cylinders and hit it with a wire brush. The ATF solution that has been in there since yesterday hasn't drained out any at all, so I don't think the evapo-rust will either. After completing that, I'll put pour in some diesel as CDR suggest and see if I can turn it over.

Good suggestion on having a shop deal with the heads. I'll do some calling around tomorrow to see who around here knows about these engines, or will any old machine shop do? The injectors are still in the heads. Should I attempt to get those out or have them deal with it? Should I look to have those rebuilt?

With the 2007 unit apart and soaking, I decided to move on to the 2009 unit, which was the nicest of the bunch with no bent panels although it was missing the control panel cover and most of the gauges were busted.

I removed the front housing as with the 2007 unit. This one had a major oil leak.


http://www.cstone.net/~dk/802A-2009-6-22_01.JPG

A look down the manifolds, MUCH better looking than the 2007 unit!


http://www.cstone.net/~dk/802A-2009-6-22-02.JPG

Off with the head and here's a look at the cylinder walls and pistons. Much better than the 2007 for sure but not to be mistaken for a "just pulled out of service" engine.


http://www.cstone.net/~dk/802A-2009-6-22-03.JPG


http://www.cstone.net/~dk/802A-2009-6-22-04.JPG

Sprayed some PB and enough ATF to have about 1" floating above the piston. After sitting for a few hours, is was able to turn it all the way over with a bit of rocking back and fourth to bust through the rough spot.


http://www.cstone.net/~dk/802A-2009-6-22-05.JPG


http://www.cstone.net/~dk/802A-2009-6-22-06.JPG

I turned the engine over 4 or 5 times and wiped off the rusty stuff off the cylinder walls. I then put the pistons at TDC and wiped them the best I could.


http://www.cstone.net/~dk/802A-2009-6-22-07.JPG

Should I take any further action regarding the cylinder walls and pistons?

Here's the head out of the 2009 unit. Again, it looks better than the 2007 for sure, but probably should take it to the machine shop as well.


http://www.cstone.net/~dk/802A-2009-6-22-08.JPG

Another view of the engine block on the skid. Since I need to take the front cover off the properly time the injector pumps, hopefully that will address the oil leak issue.


http://www.cstone.net/~dk/802A-2009-6-22-09.JPG

I did get out a mirror and was able to see the rail that the injector pump "arm" is supposed to engage in. I was actually able to get one of them to drop all the way in there by manipulating the governor, but I'm not confident that it is where it should be.


http://www.cstone.net/~dk/802A-2009-6-22-10.JPG