MEP-018A/4A084 engine muffler

[maccus]

After checking with Saturn Surplus and others I found that the muffler for the 4A084 motor in the MEP-018A gen set is not to be found anymore. So I found simple a way to fabricate one. So here goes my fabrication made of parts I found on the Net etc.

1...I removed the original muffler from the engine being careful to save the old exhaust flange as it is sort of a hard part to find. Distance between the mounting bolts is not the same as the standard 1.5 inch center hole ones are. Cleaned up the flange so I could reuse it. Made a new gasket for the flange.

2...Got a piece of standard 1.5 inch OD exhaust pipe about 6 inches long.

3...Bought a muffler off of EBay that was built for a Kohler engine. It has a 1.5 inch input and the exhaust is 90 degree offset from the input. There are a lot of outfits selling the same muffler everywhere on the net.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/REPL-KOHLE...-CADET-K241-K301-K321-393840-R91/191782081418 ...... You will notice that there is an error in the EBay posting. The inlet is 1.5 inches not what they posted...check other listings for the same muffler part number and you will see the correct input data.

4...Welded a short piece of the 1.5 inch exhaust pipe to the flange and then attached the muffler to the stub pipe. Make sure to not stick the pipe so far into the muffler input that you cover some of the input holes inside the muffler baffles.

5...If you take a good look at what you are building the whole deal will fit inside of the protection shield that came with the generator and not touch the oil filter etc. The new muffler will look just about the same as the one used on the MEP-021A 400 HZ version of the MEP-018A.

PICTURES....

 

[Guyfang]

Darn fine job!! And the set looks like I could eat off it. OUTSTANDING! Great set, as long as you keep an eye on the oil. Not that they use much, but our biggest problem was the fuel pump letting fuel into the oil.

 

[USAMilRet]

Way to go.

 

[maccus]

Darn fine job!! And the set looks like I could eat off it. OUTSTANDING! Great set, as long as you keep an eye on the oil. Not that they use much, but our biggest problem was the fuel pump letting fuel into the oil.

Good point on the fuel pump allowing fuel to enter the oil. I did consider using an electric pump and seeing how I will always be using a battery start and not a rope start, if I have a problem I will change to an electric pump. Thanks for the info.

 

[maccus]

Guyfang...........Did you ever have any vapor locking or other problems with the rubber fuel line connected to the fuel pump? The way the original line came into/thru the engine compartment I wondered about a potential heat problem. As you can see my temporary line I chose to get the rubber line out of the engine compartment as quickly as I could.

Getting around to a more permanent hookup and if you never saw any problems I will run the line the same way as the original was. Will be using a jerry can set up in the same location as the original was. TKS

 

[Guyfang]

I worked on these things daily, for 3 years, and then off and on again, for 10-15 years. Never saw that problem, (vapor lock or fuel line problems). It does pay to find out what sizes the brass fittings are on the Carburetor and fuel pump are. Because we changed mostly these two parts, the fitting often got rounded off.

Problem #
1. Fuel pump diaphragm, leaks fuel into the crankcase. Thins the oil, rings go south for the winter shortly after. This was the #1 problem.

2. Relays in the control panel, (start relay) go bad. When that happens, set the gen set to emergency run, jump the starter. It fires up, switch it back to normal Run position. You can also use the pull rope instead. Happens seldom.

3. Starter sol. bad. It happens, but not often.

4. Magneto stopped firing. Easy fix with the right parts. Not often problem.

5. Carburetor bad. Normally the float. I always had good luck with soaking them in carb cleaner. Sometime we didn't even take them apart. Just tossed them into a can full of carb cleaner. We always kept two or more carburetors on hand. Second most common problem. If you add some carb cleaner once a month, this problem goes away.

6. Battery charging rectifier went bad. Happened, but seldom. Always check the fuse on the rectifier first, when the batteries stop charging.

7. Oil pressure switch. Probably #3 problem, but did get better in the 80's. Better switch.

Keep in mind, we ran them 24/7 and 365 days a year. Often, a singe gen set ran weeks at a time, when the backup was dead lined, for parts. We ignored the LO, and went from a 100 hour oil change, to 200-300 hour change, as long as the fuel pump diaphragm was good. Back then, 73-75, spare parts were a bear to get. So we ran them until they quit. We saw problems you will never see, because we ran them to death. No other options.

Keep spare spark plugs on hand. Clean plugs often. Watch your fuel supply. If lots of water is in it, keep an eye on the filter. The old glass bowl, was good for that, you could always take a quick gander at it.

 

[USAMilRet]

We used to do oil changes on the fly. Still running.....one quart out......one quart in. You got so good at it that you could pour just right and keep pouring until what came out was as clean as what went in. We went through lots of oil on the gensets but never had to shut them down. Of course this was during ops.

 

[maccus]

Pretty much done with what I am going to do to the 018.. Just have to plumb in the second jerry can as soon as the in tank filter/check valve gets here. It was a last minute add on.

 

[Guyfang]

Looks like new! Great job!