Starting a Petter PH1 single cylinder Diesel engine

[Baldbloke]

You can get a decent ride on mower seat off ebay, which will feel like an armchair after the  old steel pan seats, then start a new thread " Pimp My Bitch Dumper Y'all"  or something along those lines  [emoji5] K

I put one on a small tractor I sold a few months ago. Comfort that little tractor had never seen previously

[Paddy1000111]

14 hours ago, Khriss said:

I'll have it 😉 K

If you can get it out (which would involve disassembly of the shed around it and then drag it up a muddy hill then be my guest 😂 in all seriousness though, I'd love to rebuild it one day! 

[Deafhead]

15 hours ago, Baldbloke said:

The lighter strap broke, so put on a heavy duty one. Certainly turned it over but zero smoke coming from the exhaust to suggest it’s getting fuel. Undid the nut at the injector, and turned her over using the decompression lever, and there was a weak pulse of diesel oozing out. The question is, how much should be coming out of this feed pipe for this little engine?

 

I take it you have undone the bleed screw on the pump and made sure bubble free fuel is coming out, also does the pump rack slide easily back and forth. Stopping the engine with the decompressor lever will wash the oil off the bore and eventually cause poor compression for starting. When turning the engine over, you should hear an audible creak from the injector.

[Kevm]

I have a Thwaites orline with the same engine, slightly different throttle setup.

Here are a couple of pics of mine, pic 1 the pump is in the stopped position, pic 2 the little swinging block has been lifted up which allows the rack to move an extra 1/2" to the left to give excess fuel for starting, if it's not going into this position you will find it almost impossible to start from cold.

As Deafhead  says you should hear the injector creaking as it squirts fuel.

[Baldbloke]

Yes, undone the bleed screw on the pump and got air free fuel. Also cracked the nut at the injector and got weak pulse of fuel.
Pump rack slides back and forth easily enough.
One thing I have noticed is that the primer only travels through 90 degrees before hitting the chassis. Should it rotate a full 180 degrees?

Not hearing an audible creak from the injector though

[Baldbloke]

I have a Thwaites orline with the same engine, slightly different throttle setup. Here are a couple of pics of mine, pic 1 the pump is in the stopped position, pic 2 the little swinging block has been lifted up which allows the rack to move an extra 1/2" to the left to give excess fuel for starting, if it's not going into this position you will find it almost impossible to start from cold.

As Deafhead  says you should hear the injector creaking as it squirts fuel.

 

Thanks for that. Very helpful. I’m thinking my pump is on the weak side.

 

I got a tow from the wife and got her going and once going she runs fine, but once you stop her (using the correct way, and not the decompression lever) I still can’t get her to go without another tow start.

It took a fair amount of towing to get her going. It certainly wasn’t instantaneous, and shows what a waste of space it is trying to start her on the cranking handle.

 

I’ve taken a video of her idling but struggling to figure out how to post it. It idles perfectly and responds well enough to the throttle pedal well enough and I’ve been assured the engine doesn’t use noticeable amounts of oil. But, as I earlier, even trying to start her immediately after stopping her, she doesn’t even offer.

 

[Kevm]

If it is easy to swing when on compression then maybe it needs a rebore, mine was like that when I got it.

Now in cold weather it is hard to get enough speed to get it over TDC.

Have you tried the oil in the inlet trick used by the kid in the earlier video.

If you are not hearing any noise from the injector could be that at fault, but I would imagine it would be smoky when running if that was the case.

Edited May 7, 2021 by Kevm

[Baldbloke]

If it is easy to swing when on compression then maybe it needs a rebore, mine was like that when I got it.
Now in cold weather it is hard to get enough speed to get it over TDC.
Have you tried the oil in the inlet trick used by the kid in the earlier video.
If you are not hearing any noise from the injector could be that at fault, but I would imagine it would be smoky when running if that was the case.

She’s briefly smokey on throttle after idling for a while, but otherwise is remarkably clean running.
Hard to get over TDC when cold and a bit easier when warm. I’d say if there was any more compression it would take an exceptionally strong person to start her. While towing behind a 4WD car which was in first gear, the driven wheels of dumper on grass were locking up in 2nd gear where the ground was a bit wet. It actually didn’t start until it was over tarmac.

[Baldbloke]

 

 

Still trying to figure out how to post a short video by transferring a file[emoji849]

[Baldbloke]