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My winter project - MEP-803A (multiple problems)

DieselIron

Member
20
34
13
Location
Nashville, TN
I picked up a basket case MEP-803A from Ft. Campbell, KY via IP. It had a locked up motor due to rainwater down the exhaust pipe, disconnected Quad/Excitor wire harness at the control panel, blown quad fix fuse, missing control panel cover and side cover, water in most of the front meters, etc.

There were some additional wires connected to the emergency switch that ran down to the load panel. Guess they tripped it remotely to shut it down. The K1 interrupter contactor was laying in pieces with the covers and little screws scattered over the bottom of the unit. The S1 switch was not secured with two additional S1 switches laying in the bottom of the unit.
Anyway, I knew I was in for a puzzle and needed a winter challenge anyway. :)

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First-order of business was to pull the head and see what I was in store for with the motor. The hour meter was showing 2071.1 hours.

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Not to bad, the exhaust manifold was full of water on three ports. Guess one valve was leaky and dumped its water in the bore.

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ATF and Marvell mystery oil overnight freed the crankshaft and pistons right up... then fill up #1 and #2 bores with evapo-rust for 24 hours.

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100% better, just some minor pitting and staining on the bore walls.

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A quick hone and it's ready to install the pistons with fresh rings.

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The rod bearings were not worn bad at all and the rest of the lower end was fine, so put the lower end back together.
Now to address the head. The injector tips were very corroded and plugged so ordered four rebuilt units from flea bay.

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I didn't get any pictures of the head but had to replace the valve guides as they were well worn. Installed new valves as well.
After grinding new seats it was ready to reassemble.

After Installing new filters, brass well nuts on the fuel tank, fresh fuel, and coolant, fresh JD plus break-in oil; I was not getting the E2 fuel pump to turn on. So checking the S1 switch I found CR4 was installed backwards, and S1 needed mounting screws. The Aux fuel pump was working but not the run pump... Duh, found I had left the battle switch turned on, my fault on that one. So after purging the air from the fuel lines up to the injectors, it fired right up on the first crank.

So now the motor was running fine, however, there was no oil pressure on the indicator as the meter was pegged full on. Corrosion in the meter, after cleaning the rear connection nuts, oil pressure indication was showing a steady 60 psi. The temperature meter was also suspect, so a quick 100 ohm resistor from G to S gave roughly mid-scale, so the meter is good to go.

After brushing away all the rust and carbon-spewing from the muffler, I let it run for twenty minutes to come up to normal temperature. Everything was looking good, now to check for power. The quad fuse was installed, restarted the generator... nothing. Turned off the generator the quad fuse was HOT. I knew the quad winding was good per the TM tests, so it must be the A1. Tear out A1 regulator and put it on the bench.

The second diode down was shorted. Replace all four diodes 1N5404 diodes with 1N5408 ones, a quick shot with High Voltage spray and rivet it back together. So after restarting, it now makes power. Woo hoo.

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Attachments

DieselIron

Member
20
34
13
Location
Nashville, TN
Part 2-

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I still need to give it some more run time and load it up to 100% and see how it does, but it's been a hoot so far getting this guy running again,
I have learned so much from reading all the helpful posts from all of you that I felt I was ready to tackle this project. I also have a MEP-802A and another MEP-803A on trailers to fill my addiction needs. ;)
 

jamawieb

Well-known member
1,405
491
83
Location
Ripley/TN
Good job! I remember that unit, they threw S1 in the engine compartment and a lot of parts were messed with. I'm in West Tn if you ever need help with a unit.
 

DieselIron

Member
20
34
13
Location
Nashville, TN
Good job! I remember that unit, they threw S1 in the engine compartment and a lot of parts were messed with. I'm in West Tn if you ever need help with a unit.
Thanks, Jamawieb. Good to know I have a close helping hand if ever needed...same to you if you ever need a hand as well.

I found two extra S1 switches in the bottom along with a bunch of K1 screws and covers. I got really good at understanding the wiring diagrams and figuring how to put all of the wires back by the time I had the motor put together. I was a little worried about K1, but putting 24V to the coil made me feel a little better as it made a big "clunk"!!
 

DieselIron

Member
20
34
13
Location
Nashville, TN
I was bidding on the same unit until it reached $1500, then I jumped out. I think it went for around $2,000
Close...I ended getting it for 1900. It really drives up the prices when IP starts bidding at 1200 or 1700 on these units. I wanted to bite off more than normal just for the challenge and education, and this fit the bill nicely. :) See what following this forum will get you into!
 

peapvp

Well-known member
Steel Soldiers Supporter
1,025
1,047
113
Location
Basehor, KS
Thanks for posting this tutorial. Question, how much do you think did the repair cost you?
 

DieselIron

Member
20
34
13
Location
Nashville, TN
Well let’s see... not counting oil, batteries and fillers, I would say around $450 for the parts. That includes new rebuilt injectors, piston rings, fuel tank brass well nuts, new valves, guides and seals along with the gasket kit. It really helped having a friend that had a valve seat rework machine, that saved the cost of a machine shop.

I have about two hours on it now and ran it up to 115% load for a very short period to see how the generator was doing. It smoked (black smoke) like crazy, but I understand that is normal. So far everything is going according to plan.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

DieselIron

Member
20
34
13
Location
Nashville, TN
Update:

I finally have my load bank assembled and running to test out the generators. It’s consists of three comfort zone garage heaters that can run at 3000, 4000 or 5000 watts each. This allows for several varied loads to be selected.
I installed them onto a Harbor Freight trailer lift frame. This makes it easy to roll around to where you need it.

I also installed a digital ac volt meter as the analog one had a bent meter needle.

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