Urgent Perkins Geny Questions...

[Gregory OConnor]

Andy, The prob with starter fluid is it may fire too soon and bend a
rod at TDC. If the battery was a problem in the past, the starter is
now a problem and may need a rebuild. Starter fluid wont run a diesel
it will just help it develop a faster spinn for a stronger
compression.

No matter what battery you use, if the starter is compramised, the
spinn wont develop good compression. I would use a marine battery
that can handle discharg/recharge more time then a car battery if you
park the rig without a trickel maintainance charge.

bleed the fuel lines and do a complete glowplug preheat prior to
starting. In the past I have used wd40 and a rag soaked in some
gasoline at the intake to fuel the intake air in the event there is
too much air in the lines leaving a clean air compression. On a
compramised starter I have hooked 2 12V batts in series to give a 24V
spinn. But when it takes all that to start a diesel, you have fuel
and or piston ring/wall problems.

GregoryO'Connor
94ptRomolandCa

--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "Andy Coleman"
wrote:
>
> Fellow Wanderlodgers:
>
> Today was an exciting day for me! I moved my 83' FC-35 10 feet
> forward and 10 feet back. First time it has moved since I started
> working on it a year ago.
>
> Now that I have air in the system again, I'm able to pull out my
> Perkins Generator. The last owner of my FC-35 started the geny with
> starting fluid.
>
> I was testing the geny battery today (it is quite dead). It looks
> like the previous owner installed a small car battery - it is way
too
> small for its holding clamps. I'm wondering if that is why he used
> starting fluid - the battery is too small to effectively pre-heat
the
> engine.
>
> Unfortunately, I have no owners or maintenance manual for my
Perkins.
>
> Does anybody know what size battery the manufacturer recommends for
> the Perkins?
>
> Also, I was going to change the oil with 15W-30 Rotella. Is this
the
> best oil to use?
>
> Finally, does anybody know a resource to find an owners manual for
the
> geny?
>
> Any assistance is greatly appreciated! I leave in 10 days for my
> rig's first big trip.
>
> Andy
> 83' FC-35
> Spring Lake Heights, NJ
>