Mep-003a

[crawdadjr]

Hello,
I just picked up a MEP-003A from Gov liquidations yesterday. It says it has 8 hours on it, and the paperwork says it was overhauled in 2014 and tested and appears to be sitting in a warehouse since. I still need to pick up batteries and oil but I opened the fuel tank and it looked pretty bad. I have read other threads and think I have a way forward on the fuel tank. I think I have a line on an AUX fuel tank, I know it has a aux fuel pump, can it be set to run just off the aux fuel tank? Or does that just pump fuel into the tank on the unit, like a day tank? What else needs to be looked at prior to attempting to run this unit, since it appears to have been sitting?

Thanks

 

[ZiggyO]

I will have some new mep-003a fuel tanks available once I get them picked up from Gimpy........ may want to consider that route

Z

 

[kloppk]

From TM 6115-585-12

 

[Guyfang]

You can use the AUX system. The AUX fuel pump does not fill the fuel tank, it sucks from the AUX fuel inlet and sends the fuel through the filters, whereupon it goes directly to the IP.

The MEP-003 does not have a "day tank". It has the fuel tank on the left side of the set, that's it. The MEP-004, 005, 006 all have day tanks. A day tank is a secondary fuel tank, inline with the main fuel tank. The purpose of the day tank is several fold. One reason is that the electric fuel pumps are controlled from the day tank, by the FL-1 circuit. The second reason for the day tank is to prevent the gen set running completely of fuel. If the main tank is empty, or the fuel system is for some reason unable to deliver fuel to the day tank, the FL-2 circuit in the day tank shuts the engine down before it goes bone dry. The day tank only holds about a gallon of fuel. Its much easier to manage a gallon then, the whole fuel tank.

 

[jamawieb]

You can use the AUX system. The AUX fuel pump does not fill the fuel tank, it sucks from the AUX fuel inlet and sends the fuel through the filters, whereupon it goes directly to the IP.

The MEP-003 does not have a "day tank". It has the fuel tank on the left side of the set, that's it. The MEP-004, 005, 006 all have day tanks. A day tank is a secondary fuel tank, inline with the main fuel tank. The purpose of the day tank is several fold. One reason is that the electric fuel pumps are controlled from the day tank, by the FL-1 circuit. The second reason for the day tank is to prevent the gen set running completely of fuel. If the main tank is empty, or the fuel system is for some reason unable to deliver fuel to the day tank, the FL-2 circuit in the day tank shuts the engine down before it goes bone dry. The day tank only holds about a gallon of fuel. Its much easier to manage a gallon then, the whole fuel tank.

Guyfang, I don't mean to correct you because you have more knowledge than most. But on the 002a and 003a, the aux fuel pump does fill the fuel tank and after the tank fills completely, the fuel solenoid shuts the flow off until the float system deems it necessary to refill.
Crawdadjr, if you have a real rusty tank, I personally take a pressure washer and get as much junk out as I can, then wash the remaining tank out with evapo-rust. Sometimes, pressure washing will lead to pin holes but you can fiberglass the external bottom or use JB weld to fill the holes or look at buying a new tank. Hope this helps.

 

[Guyfang]

I will take a look at my old brain and at the books. But maybe you could hook up a hose at the last fuel pump? Have to look at that also. I can only beg off with it being late here and my old brain being burnt out.

 

[Chrispyny]

Guyfang, I don't mean to correct you because you have more knowledge than most. But on the 002a and 003a, the aux fuel pump does fill the fuel tank and after the tank fills completely, the fuel solenoid shuts the flow off until the float system deems it necessary to refill.
Crawdadjr, if you have a real rusty tank, I personally take a pressure washer and get as much junk out as I can, then wash the remaining tank out with evapo-rust. Sometimes, pressure washing will lead to pin holes but you can fiberglass the external bottom or use JB weld to fill the holes or look at buying a new tank. Hope this helps.

You are correct sir. The main tank is a day tank. Also, i would suggest NOT using a pressure washer inside the tank. If i used a pressure washer to clean my tank out on my previous 002a, i would have blasted a hole right through it. There wasn't much left to the bottom of the tank.

After dumping the goop from the tank, i used a couple hand fulls of nuts and bolts, and some acetone to degrease the tank, then soaked the whole tank in a mixture of water and muriatic acid which cleaned out ALL the rust. Then i purchased a kit of Caswell Tank Seal and used that VERY successfully to coat the tank in a strong epoxy which ultimately left a thick glass like coating inside the whole tank. It works VERY well and is used as an industry standard in the motorcycle community.
Good luck.

 

[crawdadjr]

ALL,
Thanks for the help, I currently have the fuel strainer in a parts cleaner (wasn't too bad) and am trying to get the fuel take pulled this evening. From what I have seen inside the tank isn't rusty yet but it does have some corrosion starting. There is approx. 1/2 inch of what was diesel in the bottom with some grit. I will try not to pressure wash it, I am going to try the muriatic acid route and seal it with epoxy. I did that on my 69 FLH Harley with good success. I found out last night the engine turns over fine and it does have clean oil in it from 2 years ago! I plan to drain that and replace it as well.
Again, thanks for the help!

 

[glcaines]

When I got my MEP003A, the tank was a real mess. There was orange sludge about two inches deep in the bottom and extensive rust in the tank. It was difficult to clean because of the baffle. I removed the tank and cleaned it as best as I could. I then put in a couple of handfuls of crushed gravel, a little larger than pea sized, added some dawn detergent, and then shook the tank, continually turning it to get the gravel to scrape the sides, bottom and top. I then dumped out the gravel and repeated the process multiple times. After several hours of this, the tank was mostly very shiny and clean. I was lucky and didn't have any leaks.

 

[gimpyrobb]

I will have some new mep-003a fuel tanks available once I get them picked up from Gimpy........ may want to consider that route

Z

I have them now. You two can send PMs and decide on a price, I can ship it out. They sure look pretty sitting on that pallet!

 

[Guyfang]

Guyfang, I don't mean to correct you because you have more knowledge than most. But on the 002a and 003a, the aux fuel pump does fill the fuel tank and after the tank fills completely, the fuel solenoid shuts the flow off until the float system deems it necessary to refill.
Crawdadjr, if you have a real rusty tank, I personally take a pressure washer and get as much junk out as I can, then wash the remaining tank out with evapo-rust. Sometimes, pressure washing will lead to pin holes but you can fiberglass the external bottom or use JB weld to fill the holes or look at buying a new tank. Hope this helps.

I stand corrected! Old and in the way, that's me. The only advice I can give you all now, is to stay young!

 

[Chainbreaker]

I stand corrected! Old and in the way, that's me. The only advice I can give you all now, is to stay young!

Your not old your just high mileage! Of course the older high mileage muscle cars are rare and bring a premium these days. Your knowledge is appreciated more than you know!

 

[jamawieb]

Your not old your just high mileage! Of course the older high mileage muscle cars are rare and bring a premium these days. Your knowledge is appreciated more than you know!

I second that!

 

[F18hornetM]

Mine was nasty as well. On other equipment and hard to find fuel tanks I have cut old fuel tanks in half, glass beaded, and TIG welded back together. But if you can find a replacement for less than the labor of doing that I would buy it. I bought one from green mountain, pricey, but when I added up the time for me to repair was worth it.

 

[Guyfang]

A fuel tank was one of the very hardest things to come by, for this gen set. They almost never went bad. Crushed maybe, but never bad. But some of these sets are almost as old as dirt. No one ever looked in the tanks. So got to expect this kind of thing now. Got to wonder what the cost of have one made would be compared to, say buying an original one would be. Stainless steel would end any rust problem forever. My son made a fuel tank for an off roader. Hardest part was welding in the fittings.

 

[goldneagle]

BTW there is a simple way to re-plumb the hoses on the fuel pumps so that you can run the fuel from an auxiliary fuel tank to the filters.. You will need to reroute the return line to that auxiliary tank if the tank on the generator is not usable. I will be using a 55 gallon stainless steel fuel tank from an M939 truck to fuel my generator. I will be using the hose from the jerry can fuel adapter to tie into the fuel tank.

 

[Guyfang]

Goldneagle,

This is exactly how we did it in my shop in Kaiserslautern. We put wheels under it, so no matter where in the shop we had a gen set for repair, we could roll it over and fire it up. Works like a charm. Got the tank at DRMO, had a small dent. Ideal way to fix up a gen set you have integrated permanently into your power system.

 

[F18hornetM]

A fuel tank was one of the very hardest things to come by, for this gen set. They almost never went bad.QUOTE]

Actually my Generator fuel tank had sat so long with diesel in it that it became varnish. All the sides were covered with a hard/ flaky varnish. Soft crap can often be steamed away with hot water and soap. Hard debris has to be glass beaded away and you can only do that by cutting the tank in half and re-welding back together. I have done that on several other hard to find fuel tanks. but its a lot of work. Stainless or aluminum are great choices. Aluminum would be my choice considering cost and ease of working with that material. Stainless steel depending on the grade may not rust but will still get crap built up over time although not as bad as steel and has a better chance of being cleaned.
I have built quit a few fuel tanks and hydraulic oil tanks from steel and aluminum and a fuel tank from green mountain is less expensive to me than my time and material even though I could build one myself. If I had no other work to do, it might be a different story. Just my thoughts.

 

[Ray70]

I see Gimpy has some tanks available, but if you ever have a tank with holes and you can't get a replacement I've had fantastic luck using the 2 part epoxy tank sealer from Caswell Plating. I've used it on 2 of my generators with tank bottoms that looked like swiss cheese after I cleaned them. 5 years later both are still in perfect shape.

 

[crawdadjr]

Just an update - Got the fuel tank cleaned out real good, flushed it with a couple of gallons of clean diesel fuel twice. I put a couple of batteries I had in my garage (not thinking they were very strong but strong enough to run the fuel pump), flushed the fuel system, then decided to see if it would kick over. Darn thing fired right up, a bit of white smoke from sitting. After it warmed a bit, it runs like a champ. Thanks for the help.