Removing Beta Marine JD3 fuel injector pump

[notaminga]

Hi can anyone give me any information on removing the fuel injector pump from this engine. I can see that the pump body is held in place by three external bolts and I can see an access plug on the front of the timing case to get at the shaft nut. I'm not sure what happens to the pump drive if I release the shaft nut - will it fall out of place and mess up the pump timing?

 

Thanks in anticipation.

[RLWP]

Hard to know really. My experience of other engines is that you think it won't slip out of engagement, and then it does

 

It does depend if it is chain drive or gear driven too

 

Don't forget to mark the pump flange and block ( or some other part you are not going to take off) so you can put the pump back in the right place

 

Why do you want to take it off?

 

Richard

[dmr]

TAKE CARE YOU CAN DO MUCH WORSE THAN MESSING UP THE TIMING

 

If you get this wrong you will drop the drive gear and washer into the engine and then have no option but to do a big strip down.

A special tool is ESSENTIAL, though its the sort of thing you could make yourself.

 

from memory it goes like this......

 

Confirm that there are suitable timing marks on the pump body and engine, if not then make some.

Remove pump gear cover to get access to the nut

lock engine at TDC

undo nut a bit but don't remove it

withdraw nut and washer carefully and make sure washer does NOT fall into engine

Slacken (DO NOT REMOVE) the 3 bolts holding the pump on (after removing injector pipes)...bottom bolt is a bugger to get to

Tap end of pump shaft to free it from gear.

FIT the special tool to HOLD THE GEAR IN PLACE

now fully remove the 3 bolts and take off the pump.

 

Ideally get the John Deere workshop manual which tells you lots of stuff! and gives a drawing of this tool.

 

Why are you taking the pump off?

 

............Dave

[dmr]

Thinking a bit more...

If you make the tool properly it should have a big hole in the middle so you can fit the tool first then tap the shaft thru the hole, and if the pump is not too tight on the gear you could even use the tool to pull the gear off without any use of a hammer...which would be good..

 

Tool is essentially a flat metal plate that goes outside the engine. two bolts go through suitable holes in this plate and screw into holes in the timing gear.

 

..........Dave

[notaminga]

Thanks guys,

 

I'm well aware of the problems involved with dropping nuts and washers inside the timing case and I'm essentially trying to avoid a major strip down. The requirement for a special tool to hold the gear in place makes absolute sense and shouldn't be too much of a problem to fabricate. Not having access to a manual means that I'm not au fait with the arrangement for fuel timing - I'm not sure if it is a belt, a chain, or a direct gear linkage.

 

I'm taking off the pump because it seems to have died from a blockage. It started with intermittent rough running which suggested fuel starvation, which became progressively worse until the engine refused to start at all. Every other component in the fuel system checks out. New filters have been fitted, new lift pump as the old one had a broken priming lever and each section of the fuel line has been removed and cleaned.

 

Whilst every other component checks out, I can't get any output from the injection pump. The solenoid appears to be clicking in and out as normal - fuel runs freely as far as the pump, but no further. My thinking is that getting the pump out and putting it on a test bench will establish whether or not we have a dead pump or whether it is a blockage that can be removed. It might be that the solenoid is malfunctioning, but on this pump it appears to be integral to the pump body, rather than, as on Lucas CAV pumps, a screw in fitting.

 

One thing that has become apparent is that the original installation made significant use of silicon sealant on all the fuel line wade fittings, including downstream of the final filter - I wouldn't mind betting that some of this has found it's way to the pump.

 

Any other suggestions would be very welcome though.

 

Ian

[OldGoat]

Have you tried asking Beta - they may well have a pdf version that could be emailed to you.

The're very nice peeps you know.

 

Otherwise it might be worth having a troll through the JD site - I've had some success with their garden machinery site....

 

[notaminga]

Thanks, Old Goat, I have been in touch with Neil at Beta, but for whatever reason he has not yet been able to get back to me. However, I do have to agree, they are usually very helpful with advice and their customer service is excellent.

[dmr]

Its BIG gears rather than chains..

There might be a centre punch dot or scratch mark on the pump body and gear housing, but if not you can easily make one.

 

I purchased the John Deere 3029 manual (at some expense) but have since found a version on the www, Its not quite as comprehensive as my hard copy but it will do. if you pm me with your email I will send it. Its an 8MByte pdf but most emails should accept this.

 

We also had a pump issue with contamination. It was something in some bad diesel (that I was given) that went straight through the filters and stuck the moving parts within the pump together. I believe Stanadynes work to even tighter tolerances than other pumps.

I found that many pump specialists were not too happy about working on Stanadynes so find a proper Stanadyne agent if you can, and remind them not to reset the idle speed or you will get a very fast tickover.

SS Diesels in Hedge End near Southampton were brilliant but they are not that easy to get to, they stripped and inspected the pump whilst we waited, then had it cleaned, rebuilt and tested the following morning.,

 

............Dave.

[notaminga]

Hi Dave,

 

that's great - I'll send you a PM with email address.

 

Thanks very much.

[notaminga]

Just a quick update. I managed to get the fuel injection pump out without too much trouble. I didn't even drop anything into the darkened depth of the engine. Washing the pump in petrol removed a big ugly lump of silicon debris from the pump inlet. I put the pump back in and it runs perfectly. I have had to go back through literally every connection and clean out the last of the silicon, replacing it with diesel sealant.

 

Thanks for all the help, and thanks again Dave for the manual.

[RLWP]

Now, there's a great result

 

Richard