I'm not seeing where I am wrong...Info Please!

[76shovel]

If all of this work was undertaken solely because of the factory gauge reading... well I wouldn't bet the family farm on the gauge if I had to. Its real easy to add an honest manual oil pressure gauge to these sets. I forget the user who first posted up the mod, but I just did it on an NOS 802A and its a relatively inexpensive, slick modification.

Edit: It was csheath https://www.steelsoldiers.com/threads/installed-mechanical-oil-pressure-gauge-on-mep-803a.178509/

No lies...that is the reason why...my unit was doing the exact same thing. The thought of 18psi when I am depending on it and a failure to happen would only frustrate me. The unit I am swapping with has had a 3hr test run with no loss of pressure...all 3hrs were unloaded hrs...but maintained a steady pressure.

I agree my path is different from what most others would probably do. Doing this gives me comfort knowing what I will have up to the point that it ran last. Also if I take the engine apart and inspect it and I find nothing then a rebuild should be minimal compared to a rebuild with catostraphic failure.

 

[Light in the Dark]

As these sets have mechanical oil pumps, if its got pressure... its got pressure. Even if it drifts after everything warms up and thins out. But interesting to follow what happens with your set after you are done. Keep us abreast?

 

[76shovel]

As these sets have mechanical oil pumps, if its got pressure... its got pressure. Even if it drifts after everything warms up and thins out. But interesting to follow what happens with your set after you are done. Keep us abreast?

I will...got off work this morning and got the gen set removed from the engine...I will say the crank is turning some serious mass between the rotor and flywheel...I got some reading to do as to test and check everything out on the gen. Then some clean up and touch on a few things here and there.

Worse case scenario: I gain nothing and still have the same symptoms and it maybe a faulty gauge. I still win cause I have gained more knowledge about my unit and will had tested things for more assurance of a reliable unit.

If I loose power due to a hurricane here in Florida. Where I am is a rural area and could be out up to a week or longer. I am just looking for a piece of mind through all of this whether it's the long road or not

 

[America]

Dang brother those pressures are normal. These units are made to not run at a constant temp. The temp changes with load 180 no load and almost 210 full load and when your temp changes oil gets thinner. Oil pressure is in the thirty’s without load and as low as what can look like under 25 psi on the gauge at full load, full temp. Oil pressure would be around 60psi during warm up on a 100 degree day so even higher pressure on a cold day warm up. When your oil is thinner your pressure drops but you can rest assured that it might even be flowing better at that point. The oil pump is basically directly linked to engine speed so it is still moving lots of oil if not even more when the oil is hot.

Good thing about going this deep in the unit is you get a chance to fix all the little problems that come with aged rubber/seals and corrosion/dust.

 

[America]

I will...got off work this morning and got the gen set removed from the engine...I will say the crank is turning some serious mass between the rotor and flywheel...I got some reading to do as to test and check everything out on the gen. Then some clean up and touch on a few things here and there.

Worse case scenario: I gain nothing and still have the same symptoms and it maybe a faulty gauge. I still win cause I have gained more knowledge about my unit and will had tested things for more assurance of a reliable unit.

If I loose power due to a hurricane here in Florida. Where I am is a rural area and could be out up to a week or longer. I am just looking for a piece of mind through all of this whether it's the long road or not

If you have concerns about Reliability, I would have two good running units that you went through. That way you know you have every part possible for a repair or just a set change the chances of both quitting on you would be almost none in my experience. These units are very reliable when someone has gone through them and replaced all the hose and rubber seals.

 

[76shovel]

Dang brother those pressures are normal. These units are made to not run at a constant temp. The temp changes with load 180 no load and almost 210 full load and when your temp changes oil gets thinner. Oil pressure is in the thirty’s without load and as low as what can look like under 25 psi on the gauge at full load, full temp. Oil pressure would be around 60psi during warm up on a 100 degree day so even higher pressure on a cold day warm up. When your oil is thinner your pressure drops but you can rest assured that it might even be flowing better at that point. The oil pump is basically directly linked to engine speed so it is still moving lots of oil if not even more when the oil is hot.

Good thing about going this deep in the unit is you get a chance to fix all the little problems that come with aged rubber/seals and corrosion/dust.

I understand that there will be a loss of pressure due to the heating of the oil. My thing is around 18psi is the shut off on these units. I dont feel comfortable running something at the minimal amount when it comes to lubrication much less with a load and the potential to need to be ran for several days or even a week straight. I would rather disassemble it and see if there is a cause.
Down here during hurricane season you can count on one thing. Hot and humid.

I would say most of this is personal feelings and others may disagree but, why run this at the minimal when I have another engine that will maintain the same pressure from minute 1 until I shut it off.

 

[76shovel]

If you have concerns about Reliability, I would have two good running units that you went through. That way you know you have every part possible for a repair or just a set change the chances of both quitting on you would be almost none in my experience. These units are very reliable when someone has gone through them and replaced all the hose and rubber seals.
[/QU
when I purchased my unit

If you have concerns about Reliability, I would have two good running units that you went through. That way you know you have every part possible for a repair or just a set change the chances of both quitting on you would be almost none in my experience. These units are very reliable when someone has gone through them and replaced all the hose and rubber seals.

When I purchased my unit I replaced the water pump and thermostat had the radiator redone and multiple gaskets that were leaking, before I even started it. I since had learned a few things...I just wanted to do things in what I thought was the right thing. It was my first one... everything worked out fine except for the oil pressure concern and I posted about it and got some opinions. Then I seen a guy had a 400hz unit for sale and made the trip and we worked out a deal. Alot of parts will interchange and some definitely won't but the unit only had 50hrs or so on it and had never been reset and I thought the engine would be perfect for a backup plus with parts to boot.

I think with a well maintained unit and enough parts I should be fine with one gen but, I guess two could never hurt

 

[76shovel]

are these hot spots normal or is there potential problems


A shot of inside, can't really see inside but didn't see anything that looks like it had been hot

 

[America]

View attachment 797693

are these hot spots normal or is there potential problems

View attachment 797695
A shot of inside, can't really see inside but didn't see anything that looks like it had been hot

Are they brittle? Does that part of the wire feel different than the rest? It should be obvious if the wires are damaged in person. these pictures make it hard to tell if it’s just dirty wire or burnt. Burnt wires are not normal!!!!!

 

[76shovel]

Are they brittle? Does that part of the wire feel different than the rest? It should be obvious if the wires are damaged in person. these pictures make it hard to tell if it’s just dirty wire or burnt. Burnt wires are not normal!!!!!

The insulation still pliable and not hard any. There is two spots...about six inches from where they come out and about six inches after that. It's on most but not all the way around...
Thinking about it...it might be from the p-clamps that secure it to the air intake boxes on the side of the genset...the two clamps on the back left

 

[America]

The insulation still pliable and not hard any. There is two spots...about six inches from where they come out and about six inches after that. It's on most but not all the way around...
Thinking about it...it might be from the p-clamps that secure it to the air intake boxes on the side of the genset...the two clamps on the back leftView attachment 797711

The insulation still pliable and not hard any. There is two spots...about six inches from where they come out and about six inches after that. It's on most but not all the way around...
Thinking about it...it might be from the p-clamps that secure it to the air intake boxes on the side of the genset...the two clamps on the back leftView attachment 797711

I would bet those wires are fine if the insulation’s still intact. Also wires don’t usually overload and burn in the center of the length of wire. They will overload at the connection first, then work it’s way to the center. the way your wires look is like it was from something touching them. So looks like you got that part figured out. Did you find anything else wrong with your unit?

 

[76shovel]

Didn't find anything wrong that I didn't cause...I got the gen mounted back to the engine. I wondering if I have it setting square to the mounting plates of the skid vs the engine.

Cleaning everything now and rebuilt the fuel rail with new fuel line. Gonna replace a few connector ends here and there but all in all everything looks good

 

[Ray70]

I believe you assumption about the clamps is correct. The rubber isolator on the clamp makes a brown stain on the white wires over time and the wires near the center of the bundle stay clean while the surrounding ones get brown marks on them. First time I saw it I thought the same thing, I though the wires got cooked!