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Unit injector engines all have some type of back pressure control. The 71 series Detroits used a drilled orifice in the return line adapter fitting. Other engines may use an actual regulating valve. I think they used to call it an R80 fitting.

We had a defective run of aftermarket fuel filters on our John Deere 6081 engines. The metal housing would bottom out against the filter adapter before the rubber seal would compress. They would never leak outwardly but would admit air when the fuel level got low enough causing the engine to...

The fuel pump is driven by the blower so this all goes back to the broken blower drive shaft mentioned by another user. Have you verified the blower is turning?

Your engine has a gear pump transfer pump and unit injectors. This system is very good at self-priming. You're chasing the wrong problem here. Heck, these Detroits don't even use pressure regulating valves. They have a simple orifice in the return manifold. If you've got fuel pressure you don't...

If you have corrosion in the fuel filters you may have stuck injectors. Pull a valve cover (the gaskets are reusable) and verify the injectors aren't stuck down. You can also exercise the fuel rack. Any stuck injectors won't change position. If you do have stuck injectors all is not lost. I...

I strongly disagree with the above post. Do not pressurize your fuel tank. The 92 series engines have unit injectors fed by a large gear pump. They don't have long high pressure fuel lines to trap air. The self-prime very well. The gear pump will also block flow from the tank when the engine is...

The unit injector Detroit Diesel engines are very good at self priming. I might be known for installing empty filters on an engine, starting it, letting it run to 1200 rpm, let the air bubble hit, and use the inertia of the generator set keep it going until the filters prime.

The block heater will certainly make it easier to start. I would do the plate style, get the heat where it needs to be in the head. There are also silicone heater pads that you can stick to the oil pan. It won't help with starting much because the oil is so far from the block but it will help...

The weakness of the 71 series are the dry fit liners. They frett and wear out the block. If you let this progress too long the block has to be bored for oversized liners which kills the ability to in-frame the engine.

There is too much folklore around the Detroit engines. People think they'll run forever without maintenance but the truth is that they'll run until they die catastrophically. With our experience the 71 series generator sets got a major overhaul interval of 24k hours. The John Deere engines get...

Ether is mandatory to start Detroit 2-strokes in cold weather. They don't have glow plugs or grid heaters. Go ahead, do your worst. Detroits have unit injectors and are fed by a voluminous gear pump. They self prime quite well.

The engines had a fixed fuel rack so if you got a stuck injector because of water in the fuel the governor couldn't bring the injectors back to the shutdown position. The remaining injectors would be stuck at that power setting. If you removed the load or declutched the engine would overspeed...

The shutdown air damper does not close during a normal shutdown. It's usually connected to an overspeed trip or emergency shutdown.

White smoke like that means the engine is fueling. IF you have a shutdown damper it's in the blower inlet duct. You can see the shaft in this picture from eBay This link has the rest of the pictures that show the shaft, damper flap, and catch mechanism...

I always built my 71 series engines with spring return racks which let me eliminate the shutdown air damper. Saved me many midnight phone calls.

I ask about the smoke because that means it's getting fuel. Without smoke I would be looking at the shutdown solenoid. Anyways, a Detroit that won't run on starting fluid? Maybe NDT is on to something with the blower drive shaft. NDT, have you heard of this happening? I used to run a lot of 71...

The batteries sound a bit weak. What voltage is it maintaining while cranking? Any white smoke?