MEP-002A and MEP-003A recent Injection pump observations and warning

[Ray70]

Recently I've been seeing increasing numbers of failures with the Ambac M-50 Injection pump plunger guides.
This is attributed to the lower quality LSD fuel available over the last few years.
The reason for this post is to alert 002 / 003 owners to a slightly different failure mode on these plunger guides that I've seen recently.
For years I've seen broken plunger guides that split in half, as a safety mechanism to prevent damage to the pump.
I'm no metallurgist, but I'd assume they were made of a specific hardness steel that would resist deformation, but rather split cleanly, separating the plunger from the drive gear.
Recently I've seen probably 5 or 6 IP's where the plunger guide didn't split open, but rather the hardened plunger skipped 90* or 180* within the plunger guide, while deforming the corners of hole in the guide.
Possibly this is due to a change in the manufacturing process and / or the manufacturer itself of the GU8546 plunger guide?
The result is a generator that may start and run but will probably not produce full rated power. The valve cover will get excessively hot fairly quickly and the air louvers may open abnormally fast due to the excess heat.
The other problem is that if you continue to run the machine with the injection timing way off, the excess heat will overheat the injectors fairly quickly, causing the needles and nozzles to seize up.

So if your 002/003 sits for an extended period of time and upon starting you notice:
Slower starting / excessive cranking before it begins to try to start
Decreased power
Excessive heat
decreased RPM even at W.O.T

Check your pump timing to see if the plunger guide has skipped.
I would assume that rather than immediately removing and tearing into the IP, checking the IP timing using the flow method described in the TM should tell you right away if there is an issue deeper inside the pump.

 

[rickf]

Recently I've been seeing increasing numbers of failures with the Ambac M-50 Injection pump plunger guides.
This is attributed to the lower quality LSD fuel available over the last few years.
The reason for this post is to alert 002 / 003 owners to a slightly different failure mode on these plunger guides that I've seen recently.
For years I've seen broken plunger guides that split in half, as a safety mechanism to prevent damage to the pump.
I'm no metallurgist, but I'd assume they were made of a specific hardness steel that would resist deformation, but rather split cleanly, separating the plunger from the drive gear.
Recently I've seen probably 5 or 6 IP's where the plunger guide didn't split open, but rather the hardened plunger skipped 90* or 180* within the plunger guide, while deforming the corners of hole in the guide.
Possibly this is due to a change in the manufacturing process and / or the manufacturer itself of the GU8546 plunger guide?
The result is a generator that may start and run but will probably not produce full rated power. The valve cover will get excessively hot fairly quickly and the air louvers may open abnormally fast due to the excess heat.
The other problem is that if you continue to run the machine with the injection timing way off, the excess heat will overheat the injectors fairly quickly, causing the needles and nozzles to seize up.

So if your 002/003 sits for an extended period of time and upon starting you notice:
Slower starting / excessive cranking before it begins to try to start
Decreased power
Excessive heat
decreased RPM even at W.O.T

Check your pump timing to see if the plunger guide has skipped.
I would assume that rather than immediately removing and tearing into the IP, checking the IP timing using the flow method described in the TM should tell you right away if there is an issue deeper inside the pump.

Ray, I know on my 3rd gen Dodge with the infamous Bosch pump on the Cummins I make sure I use additive for the extra lubricant. I also use this in my gensets, and all of my diesels for that matter since they are all old and not designed for new low sulfur fuel. Personally I use the Power Service brand. https://shop.cummins.com/CSSNAStore...nRRtRUXU1Cen4GtdEZ5PwCzBqWfVxRuBoC1aAQAvD_BwE. I have had two lift pump failures so far on my truck which is "supposed" to be instant death for the injection pump but after 200,000 plus it is still running strong. That is good enough proof for me to continue using it.

 

[87cr250r]

We used to hear this about the DB2 pumps on the 6.2 diesels used in Desert Storm. They were run on JP fuel instead of diesel. That was assumed to be the cause of the failures. Sandia National Labs got their hands on some failed pumps and sectioned them for analysis. Every single failure was caused by a manufacturing defect or other issues and not related to the fuel used. I'll have to find the paper again.

I think this is it:

https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA234930.pdf

 

[Ray70]

Proper fuel treatment is definitely the key to success these days.
I've used most of the major brands of diesel treatments in the past, most recently I started using the OptiLube XPD, after reading the report someone posted here 6 months or so ago. I tell everyone I come in contact with to treat their fuel appropriately and try to keep it as fresh as possible.

 

[Light in the Dark]

The 00Xs are very heavy duty machines, but these pumps will be a problem down the line (especially since their are sole source for parts...). I am glad folks can keep them going, but for my money the 80X setup is better. Those will, I am sure, be a problem down the line too.

 

[DieselAddict]

One thing to do if you don't have any commercial fuel additive on hand is to add about an ounce of 2-stroke oil per gallon of fuel.

 

[Guyfang]

This was the Down Range solution.

 

[rhcev3]

Recently I've been seeing increasing numbers of failures with the Ambac M-50 Injection pump plunger guides.
This is attributed to the lower quality LSD fuel available over the last few years.
The reason for this post is to alert 002 / 003 owners to a slightly different failure mode on these plunger guides that I've seen recently.
For years I've seen broken plunger guides that split in half, as a safety mechanism to prevent damage to the pump.
I'm no metallurgist, but I'd assume they were made of a specific hardness steel that would resist deformation, but rather split cleanly, separating the plunger from the drive gear.
Recently I've seen probably 5 or 6 IP's where the plunger guide didn't split open, but rather the hardened plunger skipped 90* or 180* within the plunger guide, while deforming the corners of hole in the guide.
Possibly this is due to a change in the manufacturing process and / or the manufacturer itself of the GU8546 plunger guide?
The result is a generator that may start and run but will probably not produce full rated power. The valve cover will get excessively hot fairly quickly and the air louvers may open abnormally fast due to the excess heat.
The other problem is that if you continue to run the machine with the injection timing way off, the excess heat will overheat the injectors fairly quickly, causing the needles and nozzles to seize up.

So if your 002/003 sits for an extended period of time and upon starting you notice:
Slower starting / excessive cranking before it begins to try to start
Decreased power
Excessive heat
decreased RPM even at W.O.T

Check your pump timing to see if the plunger guide has skipped.
I would assume that rather than immediately removing and tearing into the IP, checking the IP timing using the flow method described in the TM should tell you right away if there is an issue deeper inside the pump.

I just had my MEP-002 overheat which it never did before. What changed was I refilled all my fuel cans but this time I did NOT mix veg oil in before I filled them. I let the unit cool off and added veg oil to the fuel and now it's running justy fine again.

The fuel is DEFINATELY the issue. When the Diesel engine was invented it was designed to and ran on PEANUT OIL then shortly after Rudolf Diesel died mysteriously there was no mention of veg oil at all but the petroleum version.

From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Diesel

In a book titled Diesel Engines for Land and Marine Work,[35] Diesel said that "In 1900 a small Diesel engine was exhibited by the Otto company which, on the suggestion of the French Government, was run on arachide [peanut] oil, and operated so well that very few people were aware of the fact. The motor was built for ordinary oils, and without any modification was run on vegetable oil. I have recently repeated these experiments on a large scale with full success and entire confirmation of the results formerly obtained."[36]

 

[2Pbfeet]

I would point out that Rudolf Diesel's engine is a far cry mechanically from today's diesels.

FWIW: I have switched to hydrotreated vegetable oil for my diesels. It is also called renewable diesel in some areas or HVO. It burns more cleanly that petroleum diesel, and has a better lubricity, though not as high as the old HSD. My engines seem to be getting full power in all of the engines and the smoke level is now zero across all of them. YMMV. Around here, Nesté is making it for a number of the brands.

I think @87cr250r is the real expert on this.

All the best,

2PbFeet

 

[87cr250r]

Keep in mind that "lubricity" failures are specific to certain pumps. The Bosch common rail pumps are experiencing failures while the Denso pumps are not. The problem is not the fuel, it's the pump.