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Detroit 4-53 misses on one cylinder

ichudov

ichudov

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 17, 2014
Messages
432
Location
United States
I have a 15,000 lbs forklift with a Detroit 4-53 engine. It always worked great. Now it seems to not fire on one cylinder and also emits black smoke, and operates at a reduced power. Would anyone have an idea what to look for and what sort of thing could be the cause? Thanks
 
T

thepumpguysc

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 18, 2010
Messages
7,523
Location
Sunny South Carolina
Occupation
Master Inj.Pump rebuilder
Just swap an injector from 1 hole to the other, to find out if its an injector problem..
OR just get a rebuilt set of injectors.. they're pretty inexpensive..
Just take the valve cover off & inspect the fuel rack.. that what controls the injectors.. maybe you'll get lucky & find one of the adjustments came loose.. & check the valve settings while your there..
Its NOT uncommon for a Detroit injector tip to blow off, normally water is the culprit, so check your fuel & filters..
IF you have to remove the fuel control rack & have NEVER set a rack before.. GET HELP.. OR take it off as an assembly & don't mess w/ the adjustments..
Personally, I would get a cheap temp gun & shoot the exhaust to find out which cylinder it is, rather than guessing.. Good luck.
 
kshansen

kshansen

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 11, 2012
Messages
11,160
Location
Central New York, USA
Occupation
Retired Mechanic in Stone Quarry
The temp/heat gun is a good way to find a miss.

Another is if the exhaust manifold is easy to get off would be to remove it and start the engine and just look at the exhaust coming out of each cylinder. Just be a good idea to have hearing protection on as it will be even louder than normal!

One more idea is to remove valve cover and use a large screwdriver to push down on the plunger of one injector at a time while engine is running. This will stop the injection on that cylinder and if there is no change in the running of the engine you know the problem is in that cylinder. Then swap injector with one from another cylinder to see if the miss moves with injector. Look at the tips while they are out to see if there is a problem with the one that had the miss.

Agree on not messing with the rack adjustments if never have done that. They might be off a bit when reinstalled but should be close enough. Once you have it running on all cylinders again you can find someone who knows how to do a proper tune-up.
 
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