MEP-802a “non runner”

[Backwoods deuce]

Looking worse

 

[Light in the Dark]

I have three coming up from Fayetteville... one was not a runner. Will know this week myself what the deal is.

 

[Backwoods deuce]

Well the only light I have in the tunnel is that when I got to it at the yard they didn’t assemble the exhaust enclosure seal and spring correctly so the spring was holding the flap open and I can see water down in the muffler. I’ve rotated it by hand clockwise a couple rotations from the crank and I’m fixing to go back counter clockwise a couple rotations and see what happens. It was kinda stiff at first but is getting better. I have new oil in and new filters and fixing to do coolant. Where can I compression test this thing to check the head gasket?

 

[Guyfang]

Seen worse. Can you use a socket and breaker bar to turn the engine over?

 

[Guyfang]

Pull the Injectors.

 

[Backwoods deuce]

Yes I have turned it clockwise a few rotations

 

[Backwoods deuce]

Well got fresh filters and fluids all in and hot batteries and managed to get it to turn over. No start though. The main switch will make it kick or turn over once then stop as will the fuel pump after a few seconds. Dead crank will crank as long as I hold it though. I have a return line leak that I need to fix and then I’ll try again after reading the troubleshooting section on the TM if I can find it on here. But here’s where I left off.

 

[Backwoods deuce]

Oh, and some good news......I found the exhaust gasket for the enclosure down in the radiator opening with the top removed. Whoever was in this thing before just dropped stuff anywhere I guess.

 

[Ray70]

Well, oil does not turn into coffee milk shakes unless the motor had been running with water or antifreeze in the oil, it would not look like that just from sitting and getting water in through the flap. Luckily you motor still turns, but you should test your head gasket. Compression test may not show a problem unless the gasket is real bad. You should test the cooling system with a pressure tester and see if it leaks down. If the top cover was removed, chances are someone else has been in there testing the same things.....

 

[Daybreak]

Howdy,
I would start with just water in the radiator. Get it running, and then maybe look over the oil for another drain and fill.

Start here. 2nd post has quick links to stuff. 3rd post has links to TM here.

MEP-802A MEP-803A Filters and Parts

Howdy, MEP-802a and MEP-803a use all the same filters and such MEP-802A ONAN DN2M 2-cylinder engine (Lister-Petter LPW2) Liquid cooled diesel, aluminum housing MEP-803A ONAN DN4M 4-cylinder engine (Lister-Petter LPW4) Liquid cooled diesel, aluminum housing Oil Filter Spin-On (FILTER ELEMENT...

www.steelsoldiers.com

 

[Backwoods deuce]

So, have run it collectively run it about 20 mins total and changed the oil and filter 4 times in that span. I now have clean oil in the filter, on the stick and when I pull the fill cap. Also can see the orange-ish primer I think through the opening at the cap which So there’s a win........I think.

However the temp gauge has quit working in that time.

Also surges pretty bad so I’ll be pulling the pumps one at the time to check and clean them. I have some seafoam in the fuel and ran some through the oil system in the previous runs so we shall see.

Radiator cap is leaking as I figured it would as the damage to the original cap and neck was pretty bad and I straightened it as best I could. So I’m going to try and have a new opening brazed to the neck so I don’t have to try and find a radiator.

It does produce power too so I’ve got that going for me haha.

The starting issue was a low fuel trip problem. Reset the light but the gauge still doesn’t work but it will at least run.


Finally I did pull the muffler and air filter housing to fix some return leaks and the exhaust manifold had no rust in it just black so no standing water there.

 

[Guyfang]

So, have run it collectively run it about 20 mins total and changed the oil and filter 4 times in that span. I now have clean oil in the filter, on the stick and when I pull the fill cap. Also can see the orange-ish primer I think through the opening at the cap which So there’s a win........I think. (I think you are good here. We saw this kind of thing a lot, with units coming back from down range. The rules on returning equipment are very tough about importing "Critters". So the equipment was pressure washed. The sets were filled inside, everywhere, with water. Sometimes sea water. Some times the fuel tanks, engines and componets in the control cube were filled to the top. I saw a truck we were trying to get started, back here in the dead of winter. Would not start, even with ether. Then I pulled it in a heated bay, and let it sit for 24 hours. when I pulled out the air filter, (or tried to anyway), It would not come out due to it being compleatly full of ice. If you know how big a 5 ton air filter is, then you know what a large quanty of water I am talking about. )

However the temp gauge has quit working in that time. (small problem. Its a gauge, and that can be troubleshot. But its not a game ender)

Also surges pretty bad so I’ll be pulling the pumps one at the time to check and clean them. I have some seafoam in the fuel and ran some through the oil system in the previous runs so we shall see.

Radiator cap is leaking as I figured it would as the damage to the original cap and neck was pretty bad and I straightened it as best I could. So I’m going to try and have a new opening brazed to the neck so I don’t have to try and find a radiator.

It does produce power too so I’ve got that going for me haha.

The starting issue was a low fuel trip problem. Reset the light but the gauge still doesn’t work but it will at least run. (Another small problem, but its fixable)


Finally I did pull the muffler and air filter housing to fix some return leaks and the exhaust manifold had no rust in it just black so no standing water there.

 

[Backwoods deuce]

Pulled the pumps today. One at the time of course as to monkey up the rack alignment. They looked relatively ok but shot some carb cleaner into the ports and up the spring and worked the levers. Also worked the sprung end on the table top up and down and seemed to not have any binding. Upon removing them both pump would fully extend so I don’t think they were hung to start with. But removing them was a good learning experience for me with my machine.

However, I’ve still not fired it back off as I decided to open the main fuel filter drain to see if I had fuel there........nope even with the fuel prime on. (Yes I did check for fuel flow prior to all of this and had it.) I used to open the drain with the pump on and it would shoot fuel out. So, I must now troubleshoot my fuel issue which I hope to find a clog somewhere and hope the pump didn’t decide it was time to check out. But that’s where I am on the journey. Should have more this weekend.

 

[Guyfang]

You are making headway. This is troubleshooting. One step at a time. Check and recheck.

 

[Backwoods deuce]

Well, had a small slot of free time before work this morning and.......it runs now no surge and holds 240v at 60hz steady and sounds good. I would post a video to share but not sure how to do it from my phone.

Now, the solution to the surge was a plugged primary fuel filter so I’ll need to grab some more of those and swap them out a few times. Then I’ll buy the actual NSN model with the spout once that’s taken care of.

 

[LEOK]

Clean fuel tank

 

[Light in the Dark]

If the water separator was junk, make sure you also change out the inline strainer (just south of the primary pump, if you have one) as well as the small fuel filter before the metering pumps.

 

[Backwoods deuce]

Both of those solutions are on the list of to-do’s. On another note does anyone have a lead on where to obtain a replacement radiator for this unit?

 

[Ray70]

You could probably have your radiator re-cored by a local shop if need be.
What's wrong with yours?

 

[Backwoods deuce]

I have no idea what someone was trying to accomplish but this cap was still attached to the radiator looking like this. They did a number on the neck too. I straightened the neck as best I could and got a new cap but it leaks still as it can’t seal well.