Disaster averted

[solarman216]

Luck was with me as had started big genny but when wife came home she said not doing washing today, as batteries were quite low, decided to shut that one down and start the smaller two cylinder with the bus alternator on it as it is much more efficient for charging, but noticed the big one looked oily, had a look and after shutting down checked the oil, it was almost to the brim, indicating diesel contamination, had I not decided to change engines it would have run on load for 4 or 5 hours, potentially to destroy itself, pulled the covers off and seems no 2 injector pump has a loose outlet boss to the injector pipe or it could be a failed copper washer, sort that tomorrow together with an oil and filter change, Rick

 

[1066john]

Luck was with me as had started big genny but when wife came home she said not doing washing today, as batteries were quite low, decided to shut that one down and start the smaller two cylinder with the bus alternator on it as it is much more efficient for charging, but noticed the big one looked oily, had a look and after shutting down checked the oil, it was almost to the brim, indicating diesel contamination, had I not decided to change engines it would have run on load for 4 or 5 hours, potentially to destroy itself, pulled the covers off and seems no 2 injector pump has a loose outlet boss to the injector pipe or it could be a failed copper washer, sort that tomorrow together with an oil and filter change, Rick

Rick
Can i be of any help to get it sorted can spend a couple of hours tommrow

 

[solarman216]

Rick
Can i be of any help to get it sorted can spend a couple of hours tommrow

thanks for the offer, I have to fit it in between other jobs and to be honest it is no big deal as well as the fact there is no room for two people, thanks anyway, Rick

 

[quixote]

Good job you spotted it when you did!

 

[firebobby]

So it wasn't lady luck, but your good lady wife that saved the day Rick :thumb2

 

[solarman216]

So it wasn't lady luck, but your good lady wife that saved the day Rick :thumb2

yep I suppose that could be the case, but cannot tell her that, her head would not go through the door, her of mechanical do-fuss, as Alex would say, or something like that, Rick

 

[harlowmaverick]

Hope you get it sorted and quickly and cheaply! :thumb2

 

[solarman216]

Pulled the tops of today, often the problem on these is the alternative leak off holes on the top of the injector, there is no thread and they are blanked with a tapered rubber plug, but no problem here, normally I would run the engine to discover the leak but without the rocker covers on cannot decompress the cylinders, and the starting system via the 240 v alternator cannot cope with compression, so only other option was to over tighten the exhaust valves and just spin it on the starter, soon found the problem, No 2 injector pump outlet fitting was leaking

 

[solarman216]

removed the injector pipe and the element union/valve and spring, but could not see if there was a copper washer or whatever in there, certainly the fitting was not "tight", cleaned it up and blew it out reassembled it all, put the rocker covers back on and ran it up, as oil splashes around this area when running it is difficult to tell if it is oil or fuel , kept ragging it off but seemed OK, did check on another engine and it seems like a hard nylon washer, definitely not metal, manual just refers to Bryce service dept regarding this part so thinking that there will be a bit more "give" with this material loosened the injector pipe and gave the union a bit more torque, re tightened injector pipe.

Oil and filter changed, 10 ltrs it holds, will measure how much I removed later, but it was a lot more than 10, will have to keep a very close eye on the oil level now for any increase, as it is an out of sight out of mind engine am looking at a way of illuminating a warning light that will warn of over lube level, probably only work when cold, Rick

 

[solarman216]

after disturbing the rocker covers had problems with the linkage joining the 3 decompresser levers, they kept sticking for no apparent reason, so removed the whole assembly, straightened some bits that were a bit out, lubricated the solenoid plunger, put it all back and works better than before, checked the amount of oil extracted, 15 Ltrs = 5 Ltrs TOO MUCH, really lucky I caught it when I did, Rick

 

[jims-terrano]

Wow you were lucky.

Could you drill sump and fit a pipe of some sort that will show the level in a similar way to steam boilers have glass guages?

 

[solarman216]

Wow you were lucky.

Could you drill sump and fit a pipe of some sort that will show the level in a similar way to steam boilers have glass guages?

yes I could but just as easy to dip the oil, what I need is a sensor probe that I can put in the crankcase door above the oil so that if the level rises to the probe (cold not running) it lights a lamp which will tell me not to start the engine, we have remote starting as gen set is in the barn, I can do this with water, but not with oil, as oil does not react in the same way, needs an electronic expert to sort, Rick

 

[rayf3262]

Something like this may do the job.
http://www.farnell.com/datasheets/1533393.pdf

There are a few to choose from....
http://uk.farnell.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Search?catalogId=15001&langId=44&storeId=10151&categoryId=700000005896&sort=P_PRICE&pageSize=25&showResults=true

 

[solarman216]

Thanks Ray but I am getting too old to get my head round that stuff, and what about the heat and vibration, surely a circuit can be sorted to detect oil touching a metal prob, if not I may look at a float type switch such as the one that brings the light on for fuel on a T2, nice and simple only in this case light on= safe off= no start, or through a relay, light on= no start, much preferred Rick

 

[rayf3262]

They are pretty easy to deal with, most just have three connections, supply, ground and an on/off output that can drive a small relay.
As for heat and vibration, it's why they where made, often found in harsh industrial processes.

 

[Lazy-Ferret]

Not sure on the practicalities of fitting it, but you could go for a boat Bilge pump float, or one like this used in Motorbikes..

 

[solarman216]

They are pretty easy to deal with, most just have three connections, supply, ground and an on/off output that can drive a small relay.
As for heat and vibration, it's why they where made, often found in harsh industrial processes.

but looks like they need to be at or a little above oil level, this is thick cast iron stuff, would prefer something that I can put in the crank cover which is Ali and about 75mm above oil level, Rick

 

[solarman216]

Not sure on the practicalities of fitting it, but you could go for a boat Bilge pump float, or one like this used in Motorbikes..

linky did not work but address was in the screen when I was replying so copied it and it worked, yes that is the sort of thing in mind, would have to mount it vertically on a stiff wire but that is no problem, thanks, Rick

 

[Gazza]

Could you use the low level switch out of a brake fluid reservoir?

 

[AlexD333]

Very clever with your alternate ways of fault finding, never ceases to amaze me.

And also very lucky you found it when you did! :thumb2

Glad to hear it's all going OK