Pickup gauge junkies get their info fix
Here's a dash-gauge set-up for any reader who thinks as I do - always collect extra information just in case it's needed.Along with the extra oil pressure and turbo pressure gauges, on the dash of my Ford F250 truck I have a pressure gauge to measure the "charge" fuel pressure developed by the internal transfer pump of the Stanadyne DB2 distributor-type injection pump on the 6.9-litre diesel. The same model pump is used on my four-, six- and eight-cylinder diesel engines.
The gauge is permanently mounted under the dash, but the pressure line has a needle valve at the injection pump, which I only turn on when I want to check that the engine is getting enough fuel. With this test, I don't have to replace fuel filters until I know there's a drop in fuel supply.
I have this gauge:
- To identify the original settings;Since this gauge was mounted when the injection pump was new, I know what my base readings are (58 to 102 psi, idle to full rev).
- To identify fuel supply problems;
- To identify internal pump problems.
When I drive at 100 km per hour in overdrive, with the engine turning at 2,200 rpm, the pump reading is 80 psi. At an idle, the gauge reads 58 psi. At full rpms, it should read 102 psi, but I never rev my 6.9-litre that high.
The Stanadyne DB2 pump has a test port in the head, between two injector lines that enables a mechanic to read the internal transfer pump pressure. See Fig. One. The fuel enters the injection pump body and goes first to this transfer pump. Then the fun begins.
This transfer pump pressure does two things that are important to you:
- Loads the injection pump plunger, feeding the nozzles;In order to grasp the concept of automatic advance timing, compare it with the older gas engines, where the distributor had a set of centrifugal weights, springs and levers under the points to advance the timing as the engine speed increased.
- Operates the Automatic Timing Advance Piston.
Your injection pump has the same action.
On the DB2 pump, as with most common distributor pumps, the transfer pump pressure rises directly with engine speed, so it is used to push on an 18-mm piston, that advances the injection timing as the engine speed increases. When you slow the engine down, this pressure drops and a spring returns the timing to the base setting.I don't recommend that most readers mount this gauge set-up. This is for those who, like me, want to know a little bit more. When you work on these engines, doing troubleshooting and repairs, this is the kind of information you need to know. For ordinary driving, forget it. It would be information over-kill and you've added another pressure line that might break. You don't need 100 psi of fuel spraying around.
That said, here's how.
Purchase Stanadyne adaptor #21900 from a Stanadyne injection pump dealer for under $40. This threads into the pump head, replacing the small screw between the top two lines. I have a one-eighth pipe needle valve in the end of this adaptor. I installed my adaptor in a few minutes, after the air cleaner was removed.Connect to a zero-to-150- or zero-to-100-psi gauge on the dash. If you use an electric gauge, don't mount the sender directly on the Stanadyne tool. Connect the two with a light, flexible line to reduce the weight load on the tool.
Now you have a dash-gauge that goes up and down with engine speed. Mount it beside your turbo gauge, which goes up and down according to load.
Enjoy your new information.
Machinery writer Keith Berglind is licensed in the heavy-duty mechanic repair trade.
Clean-up time for farm oil slick
BY BERNARD TOBIN
Wondering what to do with those five-gallon pails of used oil sitting in the drive shed? On Oct. 25, farmers in Middlesex and Perth counties can load the lifeless lubricant into their pickups and drop it off at any of three locations throughout the counties.The one-day collection is part of a pilot project co-ordinated by both the Middlesex and Perth federations of agriculture and Safety Clean Canada Inc., an oil recovery and recycling company based in Breslau.
Farmers oil everything from manure spreaders to driveways, but they can't use all the spent oil produced by farm equipment. For years, farmers have been trading in their empty pesticide containers for recycling, but pails of used oil have been piling up, says Marina Schmidt, who farms northeast of Stratford and is helping to co-ordinate the project for the Perth
federation. Ontario farmers began developing individual environmental farms plans in the early 1990s and now it's time to put together a plan to handle excess oil, she says
During summer, coupons asking farmers if they would like to participate in the program were distributed through local newspapers. Schmidt says 97 Perth farmers replied indicating they had 28,572 litres in storage.
In Middlesex, 100 farmers have hoarded 49,490 litres, almost 500 litres per farm. Schmidt says there's little information on how much oil is currently stored on farms, but some farmers who responded to the newspaper campaign have more than 1,000 litres, and most of them don't know what to do with it.
On Oct. 25, farmers can drop off oil at designated areas at Coldstream, Middlesex county, and Newton and St. Pauls, Perth county. For more information, farmers in either county should contact their local federation township director.
Schmidt adds that the depots will accept up to 200 litres of oil from any Middlesex or Perth farmer, not only those who replied to the newspaper campaign. Farmers who have more than 200 litres can arrange to have Safety Clean collect the oil at the farm. To arrange a pick-up date, farmers must visit one of the three locations on Oct. 25.
Schmidt hopes the pilot will prove successful and a farm oil recycling program can be developed across the province. But that will only happen if the provincial government carries out a promise made by the New Democrats to develop a voluntary oil recycling program across the province, says Dale Schofield, Safety Clean's senior vice-president, oil recovery division.
Currently, there are 600 selective waste depots across the province, but a total of 2,000 depots are needed to make the project work, Schofield says.
Schofield, who proposed the pilot project, says the two counties "would give us a snapshot" of the farming community and help determine the need for an oil recovery project.
Safety Clean is one of four oil recovery and recycling companies in Canada and currently does business with some larger farms in Ontario, charging for pick up and disposal. Distances between farms, however, push Safety Clean fees beyond the means of small farmers.
Schofield says if farmers' needs for recycling can "dovetail" with those of other rural businesses, there could be enough used oil to make the project viable.
And how does Safety Clean benefit from farmers having a place to drop off used oil? The company recycles it and sells it back to major oil companies as finished lubricant, Schofield says.
Two new tractors
Look for two new tractor faces on the farm show front this winter. Both come out of a tractor plant in northern Italy, and both go head to head with the red and green market.Blue Lam-borghini and olive-green Hürlimann tractors come out of the Same-Deutz-Fahr plant in Treviglio, Italy, where AGCO-Allis and AGCO White 45- to 80-hp tractors are built.
Canadian Lamborghini distributor J. L. Hans Bouwers, general manager of Motokov Canada, which markets Czech-built Zetors, says the Lamborghini "Racing" tractors are related to the legendary Italian sports car in name only - the car side went to Chrysler 10 years ago.
The tractor line comes in 148 pto-hp (list price $101,800) and 170 pto-hp ($110,500) with "standard everything," right down to air conditioning and front weights.
The Racing line has a six-cylinder Lamborghini water-cooled engine with a 27-speed transmission and nine-speed powershift that can hit 40 km per hour on the road. There are four sets of remote hydraulics with eight outlets total.
The company will also market a 25-, 35- and 45-hp "Runner" compact line and a utility 60- and 70-hp low-profile tractor.
The Hürlimann, of Swiss origin, has a water-cooled engine. Dan Chiru, marketing manager with the Toronto-based Canadian distributor Catex Equipment, says there are 29 models and configurations, ranging in horsepower from 25 to 165 pto-hp, with Mitsubishi engines in the compact range. There are also 65 and 77 pto-hp specialty tractors for vineyards, orchards and blueberry fields.
The 102, 111, 149 and 165 pto-hp models range in list price from $85,000 to $120,000, not including options.
Farmers may find the Hŝrlimanns less of a pain in the neck: A rear- mounted video camera shows the operator the implement on a monitor in the cab. Also easier on the chiropractor bills: The seat swivels 180 degrees to a rear steering wheel, allowing the tractor to be operated backwards, with the operator facing the rear pto and three-point linkage.
Front pto and three-point hitch are optional on the larger tractors, and available factory-installed on the compacts. Compacts also have optional cabs.
For information on the Lamborghini: Motokov Canada, 307 Humberline Dr., Rexdale, Ont. M9W 5V1. (416) 675-1710;
On the Hürlimann: Catex Equipment, 43 Goldthorne Ave., Toronto, Ont. M8Z 5S7. (416) 2253-2283; ktx@catexequip.com
- JMM