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803 Bogs Down and dies at 85% Load

Daybreak

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Nothing wrong with my batteries. They are brand new and crank the engine just fine. This is not a battery issue.
Howdy,
I repeat, it is a battery problem. A alternator problem. You need the proper voltage for it to work correctly.
 

Light in the Dark

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Have you measured the actual voltage being produced by your batteries? Daybreak is spot on that 24v devices just dont work right under 24V... hopefully you are closer to 13v on each battery? Let us know!
 

USAMilRet

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As posted above. Broken wire (what I suspected from the beginning). Broken "pull" wire repaired, solenoid pull function works.

Not the batteries. Brand new. Tested for voltage. Carbon pile tested. Batteries are good. Genset charge system putting out 26v to the batteries.
 

justacitizen

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the sound is coming from the intake i think. i think you have an intake valve problem. take a dollar bill and hold near the exhaust and see if it momentarily gets sucked in. do the same on the intake and see if it gets blown away intermittently. i hope you don't have a bent push rod
 

DieselAddict

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Could be as simple as a valve adjustment being just a hair tight. I can hear the sound too.

When I first put an engine together I tend to run a few extra thousandths extra clearance on the valves for the initial run-in. After everything has taken a basic set I'll bring them in to spec.

If you don't find a tight valve I would recommend loosening them up just a little and run again. See if that changes anything.

If its not a tight valve the next thing to check is cam timing. Make sure you are dialed in there. I know you have been very meticulous in putting everything together. Even so its easy to put a mark on the wrong side of a tooth.
 

jamawieb

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I would try the dead crank switch to see if you hear the noise with no fuel entering the cylinder. You should still hear the ploop, ploop, noise if it is the valves.
 

DieselAddict

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Maybe or maybe not. During cranking the RPM of the engine is so low that the valves will open relatively slowly. You may not get a pop.

If you really want to nail it in you put a dial indicator on the valves and a degree wheel on the crank. Just like we do when verifying valve timing on race engines.
 

USAMilRet

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I was also thinking valve train. I am sure timing marks are correct. Checked and verified several times. Will have to pull the cover, muffler, fuel lines to the injectors, and the valve covers. Squeezed out a couple of hours today so I will see what is up and post again.

I can feel the blowback in the intake tube by the generator.

I am positive I put this back correctly and short of the camshaft which is in spec, the original lifter, push rod, rocker arm were replaced. The engine was turned over by hand for several revolutions to ensure all valves were working as they should be.

Argh.......this was supposed to be an easy fix of the original broken rocker arm.
 

Guyfang

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I think it sounds like a tight valve also. Had to play it 50 times, with and without my hearing aids, and using Bose headphones. But yeah. You just about got this puppy done. Hang in there.
 

USAMilRet

Member
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Location
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Pulled the covers. All valves working, but something still not right. Took video....uploading now but still no internet......argh!

Still something catching my eye though......just can't lock on.......

Number 1 intake looks different......tiny tad tight maybe?

Screw it.....pulled all the rocker arms and examined them again. Some of the rocker inserts come out....some don't.

Take a closer look and WTF!!!!!

Seems Joey the mechanic or whomever torqued the crap out of these rocker arm bolts and nuts. Check out the deformities on 4 of these. They had been so overtorqued previously that they deformed (that's why some came out and some did not). The deformation on #1 is so excessive I can not fathom how I missed it when I took it apart.

Things are making more sense right now about the initial problem. Someone did not torque the valves down properly which caused the #3 intake valve to tap the piston breaking the rocker arm. A new examination of the 3 intake rocker arm reveals an equally deformed piece as does the current #1 intake. There is no part number, part of rocker assembly. First teardown....should have recognized that it was a 2 piece assembly with 1 part number......figured that it was normal for the rocker arm to retain this piece.

I screwed up on this one.

Ordering new rocker assmeblies for all cylinders. I should replace the head/valve bolts but that requires that I untorque the head.
 

USAMilRet

Member
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Tampa, Florida
I have to be honest... what you are doing is great. I do not have the patience or inclination to fight such a beast, but the forum will be better for you having documented all of this thoroughly. Thank you.
Thanks for that and thanks for the tips along the way. They were and still are appreciated.

Hate an unsolved puzzle. My wife says I am single focused on things at times to the exclusion of other things.
 

USAMilRet

Member
390
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Location
Tampa, Florida
Just got notification that these rocker arms shipped. I asked for faster shipping due to Florence. There are some people who might need these generators starting Sat/Sun and I hope that I can be ready with 2 gensets to help if necessary. My brother lives near Columbia....

Hope that this latest discovery solves all remaining issues.
 

jamawieb

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That makes perfect sense since the rockers don't have any adjustments. Unlike the 003a which you have to adjust every 500 hours, the 803a's do not need adjusting. Which means, they torqued the rockers down so hard they deformed the metal pressing harder on the valves.

Good work!
 
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