Volvo EC15B mini - engine removal & injection pump overhaul - plus ......

[jackpreacher]

Doug Stuck.jpg
Doug Stuck in the Mud


Doug's Engine.jpg
Doug's engine removed - Fuel tank removed first before the main lift out.

Injection Pump.jpg
Injection pump prior to removal - the access panel just underneath the pump allows access to release the pump control linkage. This is just one spring. It is an odd shaped spring but it is designed to be easy to release. The engine stop solenoid has already been unscrewed and removed.


Injection Pump timimg camshaft.jpg
View of the Injection Pump timing camshaft. These lobes activate/push the spring loaded cam-followers on the injection pump so there is no need to re-time the injection pump like in a regular car-type system powered by cambelts. So if you have to take the pump out you won't lose the timing. Beware of the pressure that this camshaft appears to apply upwards on the injection pump.


Doug's IP in bits.jpg
This was the cause of the pump failure. This looks pretty catastrophic at this stage but it was reassembled and put back, just to see. These three mini pumps are activated by the camshaft in the previous picture.






Thursday 25th October 2012.
Last night we put the engine back in Doug. I had run the engine over by hand [big socket turning the bottom pulley] to see if the IP was going to fall apart . It didn't.
The sump was filled with 3.6 litres of oil but I haven't filled the coolant system yet.
Straight after installation the 12v Fuel pump failed. The failure was caused by contaminated fuel. The pump was cleared by blowing through with compressed air [of the human variety] and some tapping with a wooden stick. It started to work again. Doug's battery was flat. Went home.

ON ANOTHER TACK.....
The fuel pump contamination led me to investigate the red diesel storage we have in 210 litre oil drums. The hand powered pump which is specifically designed to attach to oil drums has a draw pipe extension which allows fluids to be drawn from lower in the oil drum. This had failed to hold it's set position and had sunk to the bottom of the oil drum. This meant that the last fuel load Doug had been given was contaminated. I failed to spot this.



TBC

[Muz]

cool .. good to see it now .. I wonder why it fell apart ? I was looking at one I have here, I assume the flat plate on the side holds in 3 locater pins on the side of the plungers ? .. But one of your plungers has come right out ?


Everything else ok in the engine ?

These engines are very hard to source bits for other than Volvo .. but I bought a replacement whole engine from a company called Diamond Diesels .. they might have a pump for an L3e or do a service ex ...

http://www.diamonddiesels.co.uk/

[jackpreacher]

QUICK UPDATE:
Doug didn't start.
Slight Fuel Loss around IP so I took the IP out agin, with the engine in situ - now it takes around 5 mins to do this. This is the procedure:

1. Remove fat air pipe from inlet manifold.
2. Remove all fuel injector pipes and fuel supply/return pipes
3. Remove front access plate on the IP
4. Remove stop solenoid
5.Remove inlet manifold
6. Unclip IP control linkage rod by unclipping the retaining spring.
7. Remove 4 bolts from the top of the IP
8. Draw out the IP.


On withdrawal of the IP one of the spring/plunger units [there are 3] fell out of the IP - into the sump.
All parts were easily retrieved with a magnetic retrieving tool. What a relief.
The pump timing camshaft has sustained damage because one of the cam-followers had rotated 90 degrees in it's cylinder and was opposing the natural motion of the camshaft.

I'm going to try and repair the IP so that the cam-followers don't twist and reorientate themselves.

..but there is good news. It is a lovely day.

Photos to follow.

J

[Stock]

QUICK UPDATE:
Doug didn't start.


..but there is good news. It is a lovely day.

Photos to follow.

J

With that attitude you be right........

[jackpreacher]

Thank you again Muz, I'll see what parts they may have because.........

..I have some more photos.

Thursday Afternoon:

1. Removed IP
2. Heard that all too familiar 'tinkle tinkle' as bits of the IP dropped into the sump...but this time..
3.....a simple magnetic picker-up-pperer picked all the bits out. As Brian Hanrahan once famously said.." I counted them all out and counted them all back again...."
4. IP on the bench - it's brains are in a jar.


Here are the photos:


Retrieving IP Components.jpg
Retrieving the IP components from the oil sump. Much easier than expected.



IP Camshaft Damage.jpg
Some minor camshaft damage because of the cam-follower twisting out of line



IP Components.jpg
The Injection pump components laid out. I split the third one to show the order the components assemble.



IP Failure Culprit.jpg
The CULPRIT! This little stud/retaining pin is the one Muz identified in his previous reply. Two out of three of them are worn so they don't stop the plunger/cam-followers twisting like....

IP Twisiting Cam Followers.jpg
..this. The top C-F is aligned correctly. The retaining stud just peeps into the barrel of the C-F and stops it twisting out of alignment. The lower C-F retaining stud is worn short and therefore the whole plunger just goes where it likes. This caused some damage to the IP camshaft.


Question:
Is it possible to repair or should I just pay £600.00 for a new pump?

J


Stock: It's getting cloudy.

[ianoz]

Braver man than me gunga din,Pulling an injector pump apart .But you had nothing to lose and a running machine to gain if it came off .

[Muz]

I guess the answer is it depends how long you are keeping the machine ? .. and how much you can be bothered doing the work, ..cos one of those times you might not be so lucky and get all the bits with the mag tool ... then its a sump off job ..AND that assumes the bits havent got flung into the crank somewhere or mashed the cams... nah .. more I think about it .. pay da money

Shes a fairly young machine yet, so it will prolong its life ... plus .. I wouldnt bet those pins and plungers are some fancy metal .. so making a fix may not last so well.

It would be best to check the cams for chips too while your in there .. if that shaft needs to come out .. it IS timed and the marks are on the gears as you look at them from the timing cover side .. white dots IIRC ... and you better have patience .. it took me about 150 turns to get them to lign up I was beginning to lose faith it was gonna happen ... but hey presto it did

If Diamond Diesels dont have a service ex , rather than paying Volvos top money .. I have another contact that may be of use ... only took me 5 years to find him

[jackpreacher]

Diamond Diesels supply the retaining studs. £2.10 each plus FAT.
They should arrive on Tuesday. Thanks for that tip Muz.

[Muz]

Diamond Diesels supply the retaining studs. £2.10 each plus FAT.
They should arrive on Tuesday. Thanks for that tip Muz.

Ah ! .. didnt think they would do bits that small !! nice one ... I thought service exchange at best (which is still better than Volvo )

[jackpreacher]

Injection Pump Parts List

I know, I was not expecting them to have any info on such tiny bits. Diamond Diesels sent this PDF through which identifies the parts which have failed in my IP. I asked permission to post it on this forum. The strange thing is that the Volvo parts list has a similar diagram but without 'exploding' the lower part of the IP pump. Maybe there will be a reason for that........

INJECTION PUMP Diamond Diesels.jpg

The parts arrive next Tuesday. I've ordered part #124 [6 off] and they're around £2.10 each plus FAT.
..also ordered the various screws as my IP has been worked on before and has some slight wear on the screw heads.
The Cam follower assemblies [#113] come in at £61.00 each so I gave those a miss. A false economy perhaps. Time will tell.

I'll update this thread when the IP is 'repaired' and refitted. Thanks for all comments to date.
J

[Muz]

I know, I was not expecting them to have any info on such tiny bits. Diamond Diesels sent this PDF through which identifies the parts which have failed in my IP. I asked permission to post it on this forum. The strange thing is that the Volvo parts list has a similar diagram but without 'exploding' the lower part of the IP pump. Maybe there will be a reason for that........

[ATTACH=CONFIG]962[/ATTACH]

The parts arrive next Tuesday. I've ordered part #124 [6 off] and they're around £2.10 each plus FAT.
..also ordered the various screws as my IP has been worked on before and has some slight wear on the screw heads.
The Cam follower assemblies [#113] come in at £61.00 each so I gave those a miss. A false economy perhaps. Time will tell.

I'll update this thread when the IP is 'repaired' and refitted. Thanks for all comments to date.
J

Good stuff ... somone will come across this thread and be grateful for your work Jack Thats what were all here for

[jackpreacher]

The third bolt

Whilst I'm waiting for the IP parts I thought I'd post a photo of the engine tray. To recap, the Volvo EC15B engine/hydraulic pump unit sits on a tray which is attached to the chassis by 3 bolts. It was bolt #3 that originally I couldn't find as my parts list doesn't show it.

If you need to take the engine out to service or repair then these 3 bolts are accessible from underneath the machine. They're all easy to find [100% hindsight]. The photo shows the approximate positions of the bolts although the holes visible on the photo are not the holes that the bolts screw into - they're underneath.

A slight mistake - on bolt #1 I had left a fixing plate loose on the tray in the photo. Just ignore it. The bolt hole is underneath it.

Once the 3 bolts are released and the wiring loom is freed, plus the small radiator next to the main radiator is pulled clear the engine can be pulled out slightly and then lifted by hoist. Have I missed anything out Muz?
J

ENGINE TRAY.jpg

[jackpreacher]

Parts Arrived today

Tuesday 30th October 2012

The parts arrived in the post. In the photo below see the old, worn out pins versus the new pins.
Old to new pins comparison.jpg

That's why my IP fell apart.

Here is the IP re-assembled. It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. If the plunger's are not lined up the correct way [one of two possible ways] the spring assembly and cam follower won't move correctly when activated by the camshaft - they'll bind. If anyone wants a more detailed description on re-assembly please feel free to ask.

IP assembled.jpg
Note: All the cam followers are orientated the correct way and cannot twist as the new pins hold them in place. The pins fit quite loose as there is a plate that is fitted over them and THAT is held in place by 2 bolts. The original bolt heads were well worn suggesting that someone had already tried to fix the problem.

Doug is back in one piece. Battery all charged. It got too dark to start up and leak test the fuel lines so, until tomorrow....

J

[Stock]

Looking good there Jack......

[Muz]

Well done and fingers crossed Jack .. thats a good tip for repairing that pump, I didnt know the pins wore for starters .. or that they were even replaceable

A word of warning when replaceing engine components like this ... (you may already know) but I like to leave only a certain number of injection pipes connected when trying to start the engine incase theres a mis calibration or problem in the pump, I do the same for engines that have been rolled and may have oil in the cylinders, where the motor starts to burn and run on the deposits in the cylinder and causes it to race, and I mean...... do 7000 RPM (for example ) instead of 2000 .. which is a 'stand well back job' if it does .... For an L3e.... connect 1 pipe solid, thumb tighten a second (which wont generate full working pressure) and leave the third undone

If its gonna fire up, it will start just with those two and run like a bag of bolts, but you've eliminated the race problem by this time .. crank up the second and it will improve .. then the third and hopefully you're back in business

Fingers crossed for you mate