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MEP 802A that sat since November 2015 started then died

pclausen

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So I started a thread about 7 years ago about rebuild a number of 802s that I picked up. Life happened and I wasn't able to get back to them until very recently.

I got one unit running pretty quickly during a recent power outage we had that lasted almost a week. Today I went to fire up a second unit that had sat for just as long, it was this one:


After installing fresh batteries and check all fluids were good, I let it prime for a few minutes, then pre-heated for about 60 seconds, and then went to crank it. After about 20 seconds, I could hear it trying to get going on its own. I paused for 30 seconds, then cranked it again. It started smoking a mix of black and grey smoke, and then the rpms started building, but as soon as it got close to full rpm, it died.

After about a minute, I cranked it again, but now there was very little compression as the starter able able to spin it much faster than before. I saw some left over smoke come out the exhaust, but it was no longer building compression at all.

15 minutes have passed and I went back to record what it sounds like when turning it over:


I was very surprised to hear it almost starting again.

I then tried again 30 seconds later, and it was back to just turning over really easy:


I should note the tank is about 50% full and has sat for 7 years like that. So perhaps all I need to do is to drain the tank and refill with fresh diesel?

In hindsight, I should have done that before attempting to start it. this afternoon. aua The other set started right up though, but I seem to recall it was almost empty and adding fuel before starting it might be what got it going.

I hope the low compression feeling is just because it loosened up after firing the first time and compression is good?
 
Last edited:

Ray70

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Fresh fuel definitely wouldn't hurt, but don't forget to circulate all the old fuel out of the water separator and filter.
If you think it's low compression, try starting it again and watching your oil pressure. See if it pegs the gage up over 80psi.
If so, your oil pressure relief may be stuck shut, which will pump up the lifters just enough to prevent the valves from seating.... and possibly bend a few pushrods if luck is no on your side!
Usually when this happens the motor sounds normal at first, cranks and begins to fire, then just as it starts to come up to speed ( and oil pressure builds too high ) you loose compression and it dies. trying to restart immediately usually results in some smoke but no fire due to the valves no longer sealing.
wait 20 minutes and you probably start back at the beginning again.

Could also be valves sticking open from carbon, causing compression loss.
 

pclausen

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Yep. I drained the fuel tank down to about 1" from the bottom and then added 2 gallons of fresh fuel. I then ran the pump for a few minutes while also loosening the drain plug at the bottom of the larger fuel filter and drained out half a cup or so.

After that I attempted to start it again:


After letting it run for about 8 minutes while I cleaned out most of the straw that had fallen down into the cooling vents over the years from storing bales on top of it for years, lol, the smoke was completely gone:


Tomorrow I'll see if I can get the 3 black gauges working and then load test it to see if I can get it to hold ~ 7,500 watts. The other 802 you see was only good for around 7,000 watts before the engine would start to loose rpm. Both are 2009 models. The other one ran when I got it 7 years ago, so I didn't bother tearing down the engine like I did on this one.

Went ahead and wiped down the outside. It cleaned up pretty nice.

IMG_0227.JPG

After load testing, I'll go ahead and do fluid changes since 7 years have passed since it was last started/serviced.
 
Last edited:

Ray70

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Looking good! my only suggestion would be to change everything BEFORE you load test.
No sense testing at full load with old oil and filters ( and risk an unforseen failure ) then changing everything!
Best to test it with fresh fluids and filters!
 
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