[Tfrazier]

Hi All,

The winner for this round of resolution is Michael Day. House batteries were only charging to 10.5-11 Volts. Lots of great advice along the way. Thanks to everyone for helping me out. Special thanks to Tom for recommending O'Riley's (they did all the heavy lifting) and explaining some of the details of the electrical system, and to Richard for his sage advice on things to do (and not to do) during the install and the new tool in my tool box.

[Winegrower]

Last fall while on the road in warm country I started the generator to give us more air conditioning.  It would run for a while and quit.  It had been serviced < 1 month previously at Newell.  It turned out that it was low on coolant and has run fine ever since topping it off.

[TyVis-789]

I certainly may be incorrect here but, I think Dave’s PT set had isochronous governing.  The stop solenoid is removed and replaced with an electronic actuator which acts directly on the fuel rack of the injection pump..  it has a spring pushing the rack to the no fuel position when power is removed.  It uses PWM when operating delivered from an engine speed controller.  The engine speed controller receives a signal from a mag pickup.   If Dave has a MPU, it is likely an Isoc governed engine.  I’m sorry if I’m rambling here...but it could explain some of the erratic operations.  They are very temperamental.  I remember Dario Framchiti’s coach (785) had one,  it came in here for repair and I removed the electronic portion and that stopped all the aggravation.

Would love to know more about the electronic portion you are referencing.  I have #789 w/ Powertech and the Fuel Stop solenoid is causing issues.  When i hook to strait 12v it opens/closes - when I attach back to the gen, it stays in the closed position, or opens briefly and shuts everything back down.  When its removed, the gen runs perfect and I can manually shut off by feeding a small straighthead to push the fuel stop.

Any info much appreciated

[bestgenman]

I’m addressing what I think you are asking for.  
The isochronous governor is a steady state speed control regardless of load.  Most of our sets are droop governed.   There are three components to make up the system.  
1. Mag pickup.  Senses speed by counting the teeth on the flywheel generally. Generates a somewhat square wave.
2. Speed controller.  This receives the pickup signal , has power (12vdc), and converts to an output which feeds the actuator.  The signal is generally PWM (pulse width modulated). There are gurus here that can explain that better than I can.
3. The actuator.  It appears, on these engines, attached to the injection pump resembling the shut down/run solenoid.  It moves the fuel rack inside the pump adjusting fuel delivery in accordance with speed.

The common downfall is actuator sticking.  This causes erratic speed or no speed at all mostly. The fix is , replace the actuator.  Occasionally, the controller fails and this almost always results in no signal to the actuator.

Hope this is what you were looking for.  If not, I’ll take another stab at it!

[whited44]

I would check two things. First, replace all the fuel filters. Second, observe fuel shut off solenoid while the generator is misbehaving, sounds like it is not holding in. If those two dont cure it, check electrical connections to fuel pump.

I’m having a similar problem..  will start but barely run.  And craps out after a couple seconds..  put new fuel filter, and water separator on it today..  same thing will run for a few seconds maybe 15-20 and then die. It never gets revved up..  I tried holding what I thought was the “fuel solenoid” on but it didn’t change anything. 

Is there a fuel off solenoid that may be getting stuck??  Maybe the fuel on solenoid is going bad??

Ran good last fall like it was supposed to

[HoosierDaddy]

Dennis. On 316 the fuel solenoid is on the side of the engine. There is a linkage that attaches to the fuel injection pump. That linkage moves an inch or so from the off to on position. It can be held on easily. Do you have an electric lift pump in the fuel line closer to the tank? Most likely you need to bleed air out of the system. Also, check for microbial activity in the fuel tank.

[whited44]

Dennis. On 316 the fuel solenoid is on the side of the engine. There is a linkage that attaches to the fuel injection pump. That linkage moves an inch or so from the off to on position. It can be held on easily. Do you have an electric lift pump in the fuel line closer to the tank? Most likely you need to bleed air out of the system. Also, check for microbial activity in the fuel tank.

I was trying to hold that rod in the “on” position but it still wouldn’t stay running. Really there was no change.  How do you bleed it the system??

[Richard]

Look on the top of the fuel filter for a white knob that will unscrew. That is a manual pump.

Crack the nuts on top of the injectors. Use that pump until no bubbles come out of the cracked fittings.

Some generators may have had an electric switch added to power the fuel pump.

If you don’t have either of the methods of pumping the system. Crack the injector nuts and crank the engine over. You may have to do it several times. Don’t engage the starter for more than 15 seconds at a time.

[whited44]

Look on the top of the fuel filter for a white knob that will unscrew. That is a manual pump.

Crack the nuts on top of the injectors. Use that pump until no bubbles come out of the cracked fittings.

Some generators may have had an electric switch added to power the fuel pump.

If you don’t have either of the methods of pumping the system. Crack the injector nuts and crank the engine over. You may have to do it several times. Don’t engage the starter for more than 15 seconds at a time.

I’m familiar with the screw on top of the water separator housing.  Do I unscrew that, crack the nuts on the injectors, and then press the start switch to spin it over??  I guess I don’t understand how this manual pump works

[Richard]

No don’t unscrew the pump AND crank the engine over. That’s a recipe for sucking air in the lines.

On mine, IIRC, once the white knob is unscrewed it moved in and out like a bicycle pump. But yours may not be that way or my memory chips are corrupted.

If in doubt, just crack the injectors and spin the engine.