Engine tip: found a really odd problem that others may benefit from
From: J (W7LS@blarg.net)
Date: Sun Oct 09 2005 - 11:16:27 PDT
We have a deuce with a REO 331 gas engine. Ran fine when first got it,
but progressively ran worse and worse. Checked all the usual suspects
and even replace the engine, to no real avail.What it turned out to be
was the fuel pump. The pump was fine, but that little lever that
military fuel pumps have on them wasn't working right. That lever is
used to manually pump gas up to the carb, if the vehicle has been
sitting for a long time, such that there is no gas in the float bowl.
This eliminates lots and lots of unneccessary cranking, especially in
cold weather, where you risk running down the battery before the engine
starts.
The lever operates the diaphragm on the pump. The engine normally
pushes the diaphragm pump up and down by a cam action in the engine. The
problem was the little hand lever was holding the diaphragm partially
depressed, so that the engine cam was only adding a very little motion
to the diaphragm. Hence, it pumped, but not much. At idle, it pumped
sufficiently to keep up with engine demand. When you try to extract
real power, like on a hill, it fell behind and the engine dies. If you
measure fuel pressure in the driveway, it's fine. It only goes bad as
you try to pump lots of fuel.
The moral to this story is to look at the lever on the pump if your
gas engine (jeeps, included) starts to crap out when you're trying to
make power, but runs fine at idle. The handle has to be retracting to
the free position when not in use.
Jim
--
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
Version: 7.0.344 / Virus Database: 267.11.13/126 - Release Date: 10/9/05
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Tue Jul 18 2006 - 21:30:38 PDT