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3208 cat

petepilot

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I have a 3208 cat n/a that absolutely refuses to run . ALL the known non start reasons have been checked and rechecked- fltrs.-solenoid- stuck shutdown-air in system etc. this engine ran fine when last run in april or may of this year when it was moved by me has been sitting since then. to my knowledge no one else has tried to start it. short of tearing it down I have done everything including some off the wall advice to get it going even shoved some 800 deg. air down its throat today still won`t fire except on ether . anyone with any ideas as to what could have gone wrong with it just sitting i would like to hear them cc
 

RZucker

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I have a 3208 cat n/a that absolutely refuses to run . ALL the known non start reasons have been checked and rechecked- fltrs.-solenoid- stuck shutdown-air in system etc. this engine ran fine when last run in april or may of this year when it was moved by me has been sitting since then. to my knowledge no one else has tried to start it. short of tearing it down I have done everything including some off the wall advice to get it going even shoved some 800 deg. air down its throat today still won`t fire except on ether . anyone with any ideas as to what could have gone wrong with it just sitting i would like to hear them cc
Stuck rack in the pump housing. Ran into this on a drill rig carrier 2 years ago.
 

Theweldor

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Any smoke when you turn it over.
Sounds as though it is not getting any fuel.
 

crane operator

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What RZucker said. You can take a little cover off on the pump, or else its through one of the either solenoid or the hole, I can't remember which right now, and pop it free with a screwdriver. They can get hung up from setting. (had this exact thing happen).

I would probably crack a injector line to make sure you aren't getting fuel, which it sounds like. Then pop the little cover and free the arm. Then leave the line cracked until you get fuel.

I'd have to see a drawing again to remember what the lever is under.
 

Shimmy1

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Can we assume you have verified you are getting plenty of fuel to the pump? Maybe get ahold of a primer can and push pressurized fuel to the pump?
 

RZucker

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What RZucker said. You can take a little cover off on the pump, or else its through one of the either solenoid or the hole, I can't remember which right now, and pop it free with a screwdriver. They can get hung up from setting. (had this exact thing happen).

I would probably crack a injector line to make sure you aren't getting fuel, which it sounds like. Then pop the little cover and free the arm. Then leave the line cracked until you get fuel.

I'd have to see a drawing again to remember what the lever is under.

If the pump looks like a little V-8, take the shutdown solenoid off and see if the plate it pushes on has any "spring" to it. If it's "dead" it has a stuck fuel rack on one side or another. Most times just tapping the plate with a plastic rod will free them up. It has to spring up when the solenoid retracts to let the engine have fuel. There are also a pair of plugs on the back of the pump that cover the rear of the racks a couple of light taps back there can help too.
 

petepilot

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If the pump looks like a little V-8, take the shutdown solenoid off and see if the plate it pushes on has any "spring" to it. If it's "dead" it has a stuck fuel rack on one side or another. Most times just tapping the plate with a plastic rod will free them up. It has to spring up when the solenoid retracts to let the engine have fuel. There are also a pair of plugs on the back of the pump that cover the rear of the racks a couple of light taps back there can help too.
have already done all this except maybe plug holes in back of pump ----- got plenty of fuel i`ll look for plugs tomorrow
 

kshansen

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Not sure if this will help but might give an idea of what is under that big cover plate on the top of pump.

Problems like this is why I liked having a couple odd injectors laying around to hook up to a fuel line and crank engine over to see if there was any fuel being pushed out of the pump. Just don't get hand near the tip of injector while cranking engine over as fuel injected into skin can really ruin your day!
 

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crane operator

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If you crack a injector line from the pump, before the injector, do you have fuel there? With pressure so its "squirting" as you are cranking it over?
 

petepilot

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update on the cat . opened it up - water-dirt-rust- rack loose and movable but just barely` 5 of the 8 plungers stuck up in the barrels hell of a mess filled the fuel cavity with kroil after sucking out the mess with a( turkey baster) took inj lines loose at pump filled barrels full of kroil . going to let it sit for a day or two and see if anything else will move. if not will have to change pump and most likely all inj.
 

petepilot

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Not sure if this will help but might give an idea of what is under that big cover plate on the top of pump.

Problems like this is why I liked having a couple odd injectors laying around to hook up to a fuel line and crank engine over to see if there was any fuel being pushed out of the pump. Just don't get hand near the tip of injector while cranking engine over as fuel injected into skin can really ruin your day!
ks sure appreciate this it helps a bunch. just found it but will help in resurrecting this thing . i have bunch of books on older cats but 3208 is not one of them. am going to school my self on this one and see if i can make it run again . apparently when i had it running last about 8 months ago it got full of trash and decided that was enough:eek:
 

RZucker

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update on the cat . opened it up - water-dirt-rust- rack loose and movable but just barely` 5 of the 8 plungers stuck up in the barrels hell of a mess filled the fuel cavity with kroil after sucking out the mess with a( turkey baster) took inj lines loose at pump filled barrels full of kroil . going to let it sit for a day or two and see if anything else will move. if not will have to change pump and most likely all inj.

Ouch. If all else is good, I think the pump units can be replaced with the housing on the engine. I think... never got that deep in to those pumps.
 

crane operator

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I removed the whole pump on mine for repair. It been quite a while, but I remember rotating the engine and locking the front in time with a pin, before removal. If you have trouble sourcing a pump PM me, I've still got a pump around.
 

petepilot

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I removed the whole pump on mine for repair. It been quite a while, but I remember rotating the engine and locking the front in time with a pin, before removal. If you have trouble sourcing a pump PM me, I've still got a pump around.
will do if it comes to that` I have a total of 4 pumps including the one i`m working on but i dont know what shape they`re in` should have enough pieces to make one.
 

kshansen

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I seem to recall in one of those pages I posted it cautions against loosening the set screw that holds the lever to the shaft that raises and lowers the collars but sounds like you can change the individual pumps with the correct tooling to loosen them from the main body.

Good luck and let us know what you fine.

One word of caution would be to disconnect the intake so if something goes wrong on start up you can slap a piece of steel plate over the intake to choke the engine in the event it wants to over-speed. Just keep fingers clear of getting pinched!
 

petepilot

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I seem to recall in one of those pages I posted it cautions against loosening the set screw that holds the lever to the shaft that raises and lowers the collars but sounds like you can change the individual pumps with the correct tooling to loosen them from the main body.

Good luck and let us know what you fine.

One word of caution would be to disconnect the intake so if something goes wrong on start up you can slap a piece of steel plate over the intake to choke the engine in the event it wants to over-speed. Just keep fingers clear of getting pinched!
thanks you can be sure i`ll have all important parts of me out of the way :D its snowing like crazy here right now so i won`t be messing with that motor for now
 

thepumpguysc

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DO NOT.. repeat.. DO NOT loosen the set screws.!!!
When u remove the top nut{bonnet} u wiggle the whole assembly lose & "scoop/tilt" the sleeve out of the control rack.. & reverse it to install..
IF your going to replace it w/ another from a "core" pump.. just measure the width of the plunger & MAKE SURE they're the same dimension. Cat has 2 or 3 diff. ones.. 7-7.5 & 8mm The larger plunger being for a turbo charged engine.
& PAY ATTENSION to which way the metering sleeve is on the plunger.. it'll go on 2 ways.. but only 1 is correct..
You prob. wont have to replace it.. its just needs a good cleaning to free it up.. & start using an additive..
Good luck.
 
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