Forum for air cooled diesel engines and clones

TimberXX · Feb 19, 2014

Does anyone have experience with the small kohler diesel 9 hp ( they were lombardini)? I want to know what to expect for maintenance costs. We are considering them over Hondas since we will be running them about 4 to 8 hours everyday.

normde2001 · Feb 19, 2014

Sounds like typical water in fuel problem. Anybody checked?

Ilikeurtractor · Mar 2, 2014

I just acquired two Yanmar L40 engines (not clones) and they run identically to the Launtop L100 I have on a snowblower - miss at around 3200 rpm or higher with backfiring sometimes and blowing white/gray smoke. I made sure the oil level was no higher than the "max" mark on the dipstick in case that was a cause. I can only conclude it is due to the relatively high elevation I live at. Apparently not enough air can get into the cylinder at these relatively high speeds and therefore not enough heat is building to ignite the fuel. I'll have a definitive answer this summer when I take a couple of the engines to a lower elevation and run them. I'll report my findings when I have them. I can't think of anything else that would cause this since all three engines act exactly the same way. Unless there is something wrong with my fuel source here (?)

barneyrb · Mar 3, 2014

Ilikeurtractor said:
I just acquired two Yanmar L40 engines (not clones) and they run identically to the Launtop L100 I have on a snowblower - miss at around 3200 rpm or higher with backfiring sometimes and blowing white/gray smoke. I made sure the oil level was no higher than the "max" mark on the dipstick in case that was a cause. I can only conclude it is due to the relatively high elevation I live at. Apparently not enough air can get into the cylinder at these relatively high speeds and therefore not enough heat is building to ignite the fuel. I'll have a definitive answer this summer when I take a couple of the engines to a lower elevation and run them. I'll report my findings when I have them. I can't think of anything else that would cause this since all three engines act exactly the same way. Unless there is something wrong with my fuel source here (?)

There is a cheap way to prove your theory.....is there any way to use a leaf blower on the intake? Not to pressurize but to have an ample air flow....

Ilikeurtractor · Mar 3, 2014

I don't own a leaf blower but I suppose a shop vac blower side would be similar. I think I'll just wait until I can take it to a lower elevation (which is cheap too since I'm going there anyway) and test it. Thanks for the suggestion though.

Aquatek · Mar 17, 2014

jasonwolfington said:
I got the new gasket set and it only had one copper fuel pump gasket. It was about as thick as a business card, so was the original one on the generator.

I installed both shims and it ran worse. I ended up putting the original shim back.

If I slow the engine down (by turning the governor plate)...the engine slows down to where it is putting out 100 volts, it runs perfect and produces no smoke.

If I try to raise the rpm back to where it needs to be, it runs rough, pops, smokes, etc.

I am going to check the valve clearance this weekend and make sure they are within specs.

I am looking for some of the thin shims, just can't find anywhere that sells them...any suggestions?

TIA
Jason

Hi i'm having problems with a yanmar clone too, I've watched the "Aurora" video on youtube in relation to the fuel pump & the guy has 3 copper shims, mine has only 2 & i'm pretty much at sea level.... Here's the problem, it is trying to start backwards!! I took off the air filter & the inside is full of black gunk, while the filter was of I cranked it over & sure enough a backfire came from the air intake.
Could one more copper shim under the fuel pump ****** the timing enough to get the piston past TDC & allow the engine to run correctly??? HELP!!

Thanks from a snowy Sweden.
John.

NateMonkey · Mar 17, 2014

Your intake valve guide might be leaking engine oil into the intake. Can you see the valve stem from the intake? does it look gunky?

Aquatek · Mar 17, 2014

Latest news, before I did anything else I took off the rocker cover, one of the pushrods was disconnected!!!! I have it connected now so extra shim back out, bleed AGAIN & after a cup of coffee we'll see if it self destructs;-)
John.

Volp · Mar 17, 2014

Hello Aquatek,
Nice to wellcome a fellow countryman on TractorByNet!

You will find a lot of useful information here including the problems I had with my chinese clone.

And my motto is "Quisque eget tractor" or every man needs a tractor.

Volp · Mar 25, 2014

Wet stacking?
Today I had gray smoke from my 6K generator with a Yanmar L100 engine.
After googling, I saw that it could be Wet Stacking as the generator had been running with a low load for some time. We use it to power loads that are to much for our solar panel-battery system. Meaning more than about 1200 Watt load, such as washing machine, oven or vacuum cleaner. I also use it for welding with my inverter welder.
The suggested treatment was running the generator at around 70% of maximum capacity for some time.
I loaded it with two heater fans of totaly about 4000 watt and let it run for about one hour.
The gray smoke disapeared after about 10 minutes.:thumbsup: The outside temperature of the exhaust at the engine head increased, during high load, from around 150C to 250C measured with a infrared thermometer.
To me this suggest that it could have been wet stacking.
Anyone else had similar problems?