804a fuel priming

[jamawieb]

Wanted to give everyone some direction if they have an 804a that can't stay primed.
Just got a unit in, primed up the fuel system and started. Ran for about 2-3 minutes and shut down due to lose of prime to the injector pump. Primed again and started, went dead after 2-3 minutes. Went through everything from the tank to the pump but couldn't figure it out, no leaks or seepage anywhere. I also changed the filters which didn't help. Decided to start replacing fuel lines because I knew it was sucking air from somewhere. Found the fuel line from the tank to the water seperator was weeping and letting air into the system. Could not see any fuel seeping until I blew air (120 psi) through the line and fuel actually started bubbling out in several places. Very unusually because they always weep fuel and leak but this one did not, looked perfect. After replacement its been running for 6 hours without a problem. Hope this helps someone in the future.

 

[robertsears1]

I used to randomly lose the prime on my 804a. It would run fine, then upon trying to start later, no start. Replaced the hand pump with an Isuzu unit off eBay and no problem since. The big clue is if no white puffs after about 3 seconds of cranking, it is not getting fuel. Unit still only has about 150 hours total. I have put about 800 hours on my 804b and feel it is a more robust unit.

 

[Guyfang]

I used to randomly lose the prime on my 804a. It would run fine, then upon trying to start later, no start. Replaced the hand pump, (This is a very, very common problem with the hand pumps on the MEP-804A) with an Isuzu unit off eBay and no problem since. The big clue is if no white puffs after about 3 seconds of cranking, it is not getting fuel. Unit still only has about 150 hours total. I have put about 800 hours on my 804b and feel it is a more robust unit.

Open to read comments.

 

[Evvy Fesler]

Open to read comments.

My hand pump appears to be frozen. I can't move it at all. Would you mind to say what part number to look for on eBay?

 

[jamawieb]

My hand pump appears to be frozen. I can't move it at all. Would you mind to say what part number to look for on eBay?

I buy my hand pumps at Oreillys autoparts. They have them in the marine section.

 

[Guyfang]

7. NSN: 4730-01-268-2448 Part# 324570 . . . ADAPTER,CHECK VALVE ............ 1Ea.
8. NSN: 5330-01-268-0159 Part# 324571 . . . PACKING, PREFORMED ............. 2 Ea.
9. NSN: 5360-01-267-2931 Part# 324568 . . . SPRING, HELICAL, COMP ........... 2Ea.
10. NSN: 4820-01-264-5571 Part# 324566 . . . VALVE, CHECK ........................ 2Ea.
11. NSN: 2910-01-251-2499 Part# 1157610061 . . .CONTROL HANDLE, PUMP 1Ea.
12. NSN: 5365-01-268-8993 Part# 324563 . . . PLUG, MACHINE THREAD ......... 1Ea.
13. NSN: 5330-01-267-9177 Part# 324564 . . . GASKET ................................. 1Ea.
14. NSN: 5360-01-268-1019 Part# 324562 . . . SPRING, HELICAL, COMP ......... 1Ea.
15. NSN: 4320-01-264-5703 Part# 324561 . . . PISTON, HYDRAULIC MO ......... 1Ea.
16. NSN: 5330-01-561-0828 Part# 029620-4000 . . PISTON, HYDRAULIC MO.. 1Ea.
17. NSN: NONE Part# 4N530 5157510120 . . . HOUSING, FEED PUMP .............. 1Ea.
18. NSN: 5365-01-267-7498 Part# 324572 . . . RING, RETAINING ..................... 1Ea.
19. NSN: 2910-01-264-8410 Part# 324565 . . . TAPPET, FUEL PUMP ................. 1Ea.
20. NSN: 5330-01-226-8686 Part# 324449 . . . O-RING .................................. 1Ea.

This info. is in the -24P TM for the engine.

Take the pump apart. Find out what is wrong with it. If its broke, you cant make it more broke. Then fix it.

Or, maybe Jamaweib will share what hand pump info he uses.

 

[jamawieb]

Im sorry I was thinking of the bulb pump. I have replaced the hand pump in the referenced picture. I googled the tm part number and found it on Amazon.

 

[Evvy Fesler]

Im sorry I was thinking of the bulb pump. I have replaced the hand pump in the referenced picture. I googled the tm part number and found it on Amazon.

I've got a picture now, which I should have posted when I asked the question, but... you beat me to it! It's number 11 in the diagram. Am I correct that it should allow me to pull up on it? It won't budge so I wonder if there's a "trick" that I'm missing.

I did search eBay and you're right - there are several of them. Unfortunately none of them look like this one. Am I correct in assuming that any hand prime pump for a C240 and Zexel will work?

 

[jamawieb]

Unscrew the top.

 

[Evvy Fesler]

Unscrew the top.

Hehehe - you have me confused with Hercules! LOL - I sprayed WD40 on it. We shall see.

 

[Evvy Fesler]

Hehehe - you have me confused with Hercules! LOL - I sprayed WD40 on it. We shall see.

Unscrew the top.

Got it started - I'm very excited. I didn't want to force it, but thanks to your kind help I had enough confidence to put a pair of water pump pliers on it. I'm getting lots of white smoke. I hope it's not a head gasket. It's under voltage light is on, too. I may have let the start switch go too early. Anyway, it's running so I'll let it build temperature and charge the batteries for a bit.

 

[Guyfang]

Have you down loaded all the TM's from the TM forum?

 

[Evvy Fesler]

Have you down loaded all the TM's from the TM forum?

Yes, thank you! That's how I at least have a clue as to where to look for problem solving. It's just that I don't have a lot of mechanical experience so I'm not as intuitive as many of you may be. Also, when I read the forums, I sometimes have to scratch my head and wonder what's accurate, decipher acronyms, and you know... get used to it!

I have a list of problems now and need to start troubleshooting.
- blowing white smoke constantly. Probably a water leak somewhere. Praying it's not a head gasket or warped head.
- Coolant dripping from a discharge hose. The hose seems to be connected overflow bottle (empty at the moment), the motor jacket (I think the needle valve may not be closing, and the water separator (not sure yet how to test this).
- Under voltage light is constantly on. I'll ohm out the fuse when the set cools down and maybe buy a voltage regulator board from Kurt Klopp
- Oddly, the wire harnesses are not dressed and they look like a bad hair day. It makes me think that there was an electrical problem with some of the circuits. There's a handful of inline splices, too. I'll dress and secure the wires after I'm sure the entire genset works.

 

[Guyfang]

Where did you get the set from? Take a bunch of pictures. Hold the S1, (start switch) up longer. You can not get starter gear clash, by holding S1 up too long. Or if you do, we can help you with that.

 

[Evvy Fesler]

Where did you get the set from? Take a bunch of pictures. Hold the S1, (start switch) up longer. You can not get starter gear clash, by holding S1 up too long. Or if you do, we can help you with that.

I got it from Ritchie Brothers auction. The set has 82nd HH markings, which means that it spent some time at Fr. Bragg. I like about 2-3 hours north of Ft Bragg.

I find it interesting that the starter doesn't stay engaged for very long even if the motor fails to even cough or spin up. It makes for multiple short duration start cycles. Is that by design?

Too young to smoke with just 1,000 hours on it after reset!



This is the stubborn under voltage light.



Coolant dripping. The overflow bottle is dry.



This is just an example of the wires not being dressed. They're all like this. You can see a couple of blue inline splices.

 

[jamawieb]

 

[jamawieb]

View attachment 876973

The part circled in blue is the pump. You have to unscrew it so you can pump it

 

[Evvy Fesler]

The part circled in blue is the pump. You have to unscrew it so you can pump it

Got-it, thank you! It was practically frozen, but a little penetrating oil loosened it. I didn't want to force it until I checked in here first.