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3208 cat

petepilot

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2018
Messages
2,168
Location
central shenandoah valley va,
after sending the pump out for an over haul finaly got it back and am about ready to put it back in place. if engine has not been disturbed since pump was taken off i should be able to put timing pin in place and reinstall the pump with out resetting the engine timing am i correct or must everything be reset?
 

Tenwheeler

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 15, 2016
Messages
870
Location
Georgia
I thank they hand prime out the third injector out back on the left side. Leave all the lines a little loose on the injectors. Pump until
you find fuel, on one of them, and tighten all the lines. Pump until hard and lock the hand pump. It should fire pretty quickly.
 

kshansen

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 11, 2012
Messages
11,168
Location
Central New York, USA
Occupation
Retired Mechanic in Stone Quarry
Good news,glad to hear you're running. And with the weather that we've been having lately- I'll say this much good about the 3208's, cold weather starting was never a issue.

Often wished I had been allowed to do some work on the 3208 we had at the quarry. It was in an old GMC single axle dump truck with snow plow and wing plow.

Anything above freezing if you had halfway decent batteries in it it would start right up. Only problem is the smoke, raw unburned diesel smoke. I swear it was like you poured a pint of fuel oil in a hot frying pan and just let it smoke.

You could run that truck for an hour or more pushing snow and it only got very slightly better. Thing seemed to have good power and ran smooth but OH! that smoke.

Problem was the general attitude from upper management, truck was more of less free. Then there was the problem of can't work on it in winter as only important equipment was allowed to be worked on in off season and if it snows we have to have it to plow. Then in warmer weather "Why work on it now it's not going to snow so why worry about a snow plow!"

It's the old "Can't fix the roof because it's raining and why worry about it to day it's not leaking!"

Did I ever mention one of the main reasons for taking my retirement the day I hit 65?
 

RZucker

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2013
Messages
4,077
Location
Wherever I end up
Occupation
Mechanic/welder
Often wished I had been allowed to do some work on the 3208 we had at the quarry. It was in an old GMC single axle dump truck with snow plow and wing plow.

Anything above freezing if you had halfway decent batteries in it it would start right up. Only problem is the smoke, raw unburned diesel smoke. I swear it was like you poured a pint of fuel oil in a hot frying pan and just let it smoke.

You could run that truck for an hour or more pushing snow and it only got very slightly better. Thing seemed to have good power and ran smooth but OH! that smoke.

Problem was the general attitude from upper management, truck was more of less free. Then there was the problem of can't work on it in winter as only important equipment was allowed to be worked on in off season and if it snows we have to have it to plow. Then in warmer weather "Why work on it now it's not going to snow so why worry about a snow plow!"

It's the old "Can't fix the roof because it's raining and why worry about it to day it's not leaking!"

Did I ever mention one of the main reasons for taking my retirement the day I hit 65?

I've been around a few that were the same way, Nasty smelling things that ruined visibility for 200-300 ft. But get them hot and they would run. One had a breather hose that went all the way to the rear axle because the blow by was so bad when it idled. But it put out decent power when it had to. They were an odd little engine as far as how they liked to perform.
 

kshansen

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 11, 2012
Messages
11,168
Location
Central New York, USA
Occupation
Retired Mechanic in Stone Quarry
One had a breather hose that went all the way to the rear axle because the blow by was so bad when it idled. But it put out decent power when it had to. They were an odd little engine as far as how they liked to perform.

The smoke on this one was coming out the exhaust for sure! Might not have been too bad if it was running down the road at 45 MPH but going slow in quarry the stink stayed right with you!
 

crane operator

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 27, 2009
Messages
8,326
Location
sw missouri
I will admit, I'm somewhat immune to the stinky diesel smoke. My wife has come down to the shop on many occasions when I've been running something with the doors shut in the winter, and she's coughing and hacking, eyes watering. "how can you guys even breathe in here- this is awful" type stuff. But I do know what you're saying, they do send smoke signals in the morning.

That said, I did kind of fog up the valley a while back- I have a 60 series in this western star that's a little smoky on start up too...

20181218_072854.jpg 20181218_072858.jpg 20181218_073531.jpg 20181218_073544.jpg
 

Labparamour

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 6, 2013
Messages
734
Location
Washington
A company I drove as a casual for in the 80’s had fleet of ford C series tractors- 3208’s, some turbo, some N/A.
Visibility in the yard in the mornings was severely limited :p

I have a little 7yd dump now w 3208 N/A- smoke on start-up and rattle of dual disc clutch reminds me of those days.
Also why I’m following this thread...hoping I can remember some of this when the time comes for any repairs.
She doesn’t get used often but, knock wood, still lights right off like you guys are saying.

Darryl
 

kshansen

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 11, 2012
Messages
11,168
Location
Central New York, USA
Occupation
Retired Mechanic in Stone Quarry
And if anyone thinks I just a bit too sensitive I spent many years working around old B81 and DM800 Macks with END707/711 no-turboed trucks. I thought they would smoke up the shop if you let them idle inside with doors closed. Those old Macks would be like fresh mountain air compared to that 3208!
 

petepilot

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2018
Messages
2,168
Location
central shenandoah valley va,
And if anyone thinks I just a bit too sensitive I spent many years working around old B81 and DM800 Macks with END707/711 no-turboed trucks. I thought they would smoke up the shop if you let them idle inside with doors closed. Those old Macks would be like fresh mountain air compared to that 3208!
it just needed a 32ft vertical stack:p
 

petepilot

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2018
Messages
2,168
Location
central shenandoah valley va,
fwiw I have all the pieces of a turboed 250 hp 3208 except the block. it was a name brand reman that had been sleeved in 3 cyl.& bored to 0.40 over size` 1or 2 of the sleeves did not hold. let water into the crankcase so was taken back out and sidelined
 
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