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Topic: cat 3208 cranks, no start :/ (Read 1294 times) previous topic - next topic

cat 3208 cranks, no start :/

Hi y'all,
Moby the Road Condo has always fired up on the first half-revolution, til now. Turns over, but no go, no smoke out tailpipe. After doing a search here, I primed the system with the hand pump in the fuel filter housing, and verified I have electrons in the upper of the 2 wires on the fuelpump solenoid. What I don't know yet, is if that's the one that needs current, or is that the one that goes to the alternator? And if that top wire is the right one to get that solenoid to talk, and I still have no fuel, what do I do next? Thx!
Jay
1989 U280 SE, 36', 3208T Cat, build 3292

Re: cat 3208 cranks, no start :/

Reply #1 –
Put you hand on the fuel solenoid and have someone turn your key off and on and
off and you should feel it click. If it doesn't click the solenoid is shot or you don't have
enough power to it or a bad ground.
Peter and Frieda Morin
1999 36ft. U320 Foretravel
Build # 5436
1998 Suzuki Sidekick Sport

Re: cat 3208 cranks, no start :/

Reply #2 –
Okay! Now to find a solenoid cuz this one appears to be done. (brief search) that was easy but maybe I better remove this one and see if I can get it to work. or see if it starts and all that..
Jay
1989 U280 SE, 36', 3208T Cat, build 3292

Re: cat 3208 cranks, no start :/

Reply #3 –
If you lost prime you will probably need to purge air from fuel/injector lines by loosening them while pumping maybe only have to do a couple than try to start. Last resort couple squirts of ether in air intake while someone cranks the engine.
  You might check top of engine with a flash light in the V of the block under the injection pump for fuel leakage.
Doug W.
96 36' U270 CSGI #4946
04 Toyota Tacoma 4x4
PNW

Re: cat 3208 cranks, no start :/

Reply #4 –
How many pumps of the manual primer did it take to prime/stroke go from easy to very hard?
Brett Wolfe
EX: 1993 U240
Moderator, ForeForum 2001-
Moderator Diesel RV Club 2002-
Moderator, FMCA Forum 2009-2020
Chairman FMCA Technical Advisory Committee 2011-2020

Re: cat 3208 cranks, no start :/

Reply #5 –
Quote from: twobus –
Okay! Now to find a solenoid cuz this one appears to be done. (brief search) that was easy but maybe I better remove this one and see if I can get it to work. or see if it starts and all that..
When 12V is applied to the shutoff solenoid, it lifts an apparatus that opens the fuel rack fully. You can bypass the solenoid by tie wrapping whatever it lifts up to the fully open position and you can run normally. To shut the engine off you must cut the tie wrap which cuts the fuel feed. The engine should fire right up because with the loss of the solenoid, there is no loss of prime. I have my fingers crossed.
1994 U280, Build 4490
Deming, NM.

Re: cat 3208 cranks, no start :/

Reply #6 –
Could you post the part # when you find it please?   
 Thanks,MM

Re: cat 3208 cranks, no start :/

Reply #7 –
Update.. the lever that the solenoid pushes on to shut off fuel was stuck in the down (off) position. So, no start no matter what the solenoid did. Liberal cleaning and fiddling and applications of BreakFree make it so it easily springs upward, and it fires right up with the solenoid uninstalled. But as soon as I bolt it back in place, after verifying that yes indeed it does what it should when wired up, we're back to no start. So even at full retract, it's still keeping the lever from coming up enough to flow fuel. Well this bothered me, until I couldn't help but notice that there is no gasket between the solenoid and the pump, and I got curious enough about that to go online and yes, it sure looks like there's supposed to have been a gasket there, which would raise the solenoid up presumably enough to make everything work as intended. Hmm. Instead of gasket, all I saw was junk that needed wiping away. Good thing for me, I have plenty of gasket material laying about. To answer your question Mr. Wolfe, I had one soft pump and then it stiffened right up. And for Protech Racing, it appears the stop solenoid part number is 6686715 but I haven't bought one as this one works just fine..
Jay
1989 U280 SE, 36', 3208T Cat, build 3292

Re: cat 3208 cranks, no start :/

Reply #8 –
OK! She starts and stops as normal. But of course we can't stop there, oh dear me no. I stepped out, onto the retractable porch step, and all the rivets holding the step to the hinge said " I've had enough" and now I have a whole new problem. Foretravel doesn't carry this item, can't say I'm surprised. Oh boy! Won't this be fun. Will fill the holes with some stuff I have here that makes Devcon look weak, see if self tapping screws are strong enough to replace the rivets, and hope for the best unless one of you wizards here has a better idea...
Jay
1989 U280 SE, 36', 3208T Cat, build 3292

Re: cat 3208 cranks, no start :/

Reply #9 –
Don't have a better idea for you but would sure like to know what's better than Devcon!
Richard & Betty Bark & Keiko our Golden Doodle
2003 U320T 3820 PBDS
Build # 6215
MC # 16926
2016 Chevrolet Colorado 4X4 diesel
 

Re: cat 3208 cranks, no start :/

Reply #10 –
I have several boxes of Huntsman Epocast 1635. I got it at Boeing Surplus, they use it in 787 wings. It's kinda astonishing. But I'm not gonna use it, after looking the situation over, I've decided that going up one size in rivets is the way to solve this problem.
Jay
1989 U280 SE, 36', 3208T Cat, build 3292