MEP002A oil fittings stuck - Help?

[LuckyDog]

Hey,
I am working on getting the MEP going. I have no fuel coming out the lines to the injectors. Have plenty of fuel going to the pump, almost nothing coming back out. I think the plunger might be stuck. So, I am planning on pulling the pump.

While cranking it over to see if the IP would squirt out the lnjector lines, I found an oil leak. It is right at part # 31 & 32 of figure 38 in the -24P manual. I am hopping I only have to tighten it up. But I am having trouble getting to it.

I have removed the intake manifold and fuel injector lines.

I can't seem to get the fittings to come off. They are so tight. The flare nut wrench just wants to spread open when I try to turn the nut. (Figure 40 #1 -5) The real problem children is number 4 where it connects to the IP.

I have it soaking with PB Blaster tonight. Heated it up with a hot air gun and then sprayed it.

Am I doing something wrong? I am open to suggestions on how to get those fitting un-stuck. I don't want to break them off if I help it. I'd hate to wind up making new lines.

 

[Speddmon]

Just for clarification, attached are the figures from the TM's in reference.

As to the problem, about all you can do is let them soak in the PB Blaster. It's really good stuff, if you have to, let the parts soak for more than just tonight. Don't rush it and you can get them apart. I'm sure 20 years of heat and vibration didn't do the fittings or the tubing any good

 

[LuckyDog]

Patience is a virtue (that I am still trying to obtain)

Thanks Speddmon.

P.S. the meter says 7.2 hours. Either that is true or it was reconditioned. Not sure. A lot of the fittings still had nice green paint on them. Most of that has been knocked off now with the wrenches.

Some nuts and fittings are so easy to remove and others are a royal PITA.

 

[LuckyDog]

She fired!!!!

Well, used OD Fever's suggestion on un-sticking the fuel injector pump plunger. That worked to get fuel to the injectors.

Then I was able to get the little pipe coupler (#31 fig 38 above). The original 1/8 inch NPT coupler was split length-wise. Replaced that with a part from the hardware store.

Put it mostly back together. Hit the glow plugs for a minute, go to prime and wait for the pumps to slow down, turned to start.

50psi oil pressure, white smoke -- then --- OFF SHE WENT.
Sounded and looked good for a few seconds then went to running really rough and spitting out black smoke. Let it run maybe 30 seconds or less to see if it would straighten out.

After shutting it down, I was checking things out. NO oil leak. YEA! The rear cylinder was pretty warm but the front cylinder was cold. I am thinking that because I hadn't put the shroud over the head back on that maybe the front cylinder ran fine at start up because of the glow plug heat, then the fan cooled it down so that it was not firing correctly. Black smoke means fuel is present but not burnt completely.

That's my hypothesis, will test it out tonight by putting the shroud on and closing it. Then try starting it again.

Is there a way to protect the voltage regulator while I trouble shoot the engine? I know not to idle the generator because it will destroy the VR. But, until I get the motor running correctly, it is sort of out of my hands what speed she choses to run.

 

[AceHigh]

I tend to not believe hour meters. Plus that few hours over that many years would not be great news really. Sounds like you are getting it done one step at a time!

 

[Speddmon]

Is there a way to protect the voltage regulator while I trouble shoot the engine? I know not to idle the generator because it will destroy the VR. But, until I get the motor running correctly, it is sort of out of my hands what speed she choses to run.

I'm only assuming this will work since I've never done it before, but if you mark and remove each of the wires on the VR board and tape them up individually so they can't short anything out. Also, I would remove the 4 connectors from the bottom of the AC output box (where the generator head plugs into the box). This will disconnect the generator excitation and remove the bridge board from the circuits and remove all of the metering devices. In essence, you'll only be powering the starting and engine portion of the generator set.

I want to repeat, I've never done this before so I'm going to put in the disclaimer of "Do this at your own risk". However I can't think of any reason it wouldn't protect the VR and bridge board. That should allow you to run the engine and troubleshoot as much as you want to (I think)

 

[oshpunit987]

I believe when the engine started running good at first, it was running on both cylinders and when it started running rough the front one stopped firing and that is why it was cold. The rear cylinder was trying to do all the work and keep the RPM up and extra fuel was injected and it couldn't burn it all and that caused the black smoke . I'd say the front cylinder isn't getting any fuel. Loosen the front injector line and see if any fuel leaks out when you try to start it.