Cleaning flywheel of MEP genset

[Crawdaddy]

What would be a good way to clean rust off the flywheel of a MEP-003 genset without disassembling the generator from the engine? I'm having trouble seeing the timing marks on the flywheel to retime the set when I put the injection pump back on. About the only way I can think to do it would to insert something through the inspection hole for timing the set. It seems that sandpaper would clean the flywheel, but distort the timing marks.

 

[Keith_J]

Marks should be engraved in the flywheel. Slowly rotate to show the engravings, then hit them with a paint marker for visibility. Do not remove the flywheel as this disrupts timing, then you must pull the head to measure exact top center.

 

[storeman]

You could pull the starter and have a bigger area to work with.

 

[Crawdaddy]

Excellent thought storeman! Now, what process might I use to remove the rust? Perhaps a fine-grit sandpaper won't hurt anything since the engravings are pretty deep. Steel wool maybe?

 

[jbk]

i have had the same problem,but the groove is cut deep so use a small flashlight. i was able to slowly rotate engine with 3/8 rachet and still observe flywheel. when you locate the marks mark them with a brite paint or marker, white worked good for me.

 

[Crawdaddy]

I do plan to paint them once I locate all the marks. It took at least 15 minutes of searching spinning the flywheel around several times just to find one hint of a mark, with no indication of where in the scale that mark was. I'm assuming it was top dead center judging from the position of the valves.

 

[jbk]

you should see port closing mark and A and B on the flywheel. the A and B marks are your concern. A will show up just after the pc mark(thats the one with the scale) and B will show 180 degrees from A. watch your valves as soon as they close. are you aware of the firing order on the 003? 1243. i guess if you still cant find these marks get somone to spin the engine while holding somthing through the inspection hole to clean the flywheel, small wire brush, sand paper watch your fingers. you dont have to worry about damaging these marks because their deep. theirs a deep groove cut just below or to the side(going by memory) the A and B mark, so if you dont see any letters watch for this wide cut groove. the letters are not as deeply cut as the groove below. i couldnt see one of the letters (filled with rust) but saw the wide groove just below.

 

[storeman]

I didn't realize you were searching for marks when I posted. Just thought you had a thing about rust on your flywheel. A technique I use is to paint the 180 out position on the starter side (reverse of the flywheel) once I've located the marks. Makes it easier to confirm I'm where I thought I was. Brass brush or stainless brush (small) will clean up the marks you need to see on the front for timing and adjusting valves. Once found and brush cleaned put white paint on a rag, rub the marks, then wipe off the excess. I would also spray paint the timer indicator area before removing the pointer for better access so you can replace it exactly as it was positioned.
Jerry