Thanks again,
Another question, when it came to parts for rebuilding injectors and pumps it never seemed that they were available to the general client. Was there some kind of licensing or exclusive control over parts like there was on the literature??

Hi OM,
was not aware, over here, of any Fuel System Parts limitations for clients, but the Literature was/is restricted, as was specs. etc.
Have to agree with SJ in that if a nozzle tested below 450 we used to be suspicious of it and would advise the client accordingly. We would suggest a new one, as they are fairly cheap, and to put it away for a spare. After being taught on CAV- Bosch injectors at trade school I was always amazed at how such a simple unit could give such a good spray pattern, just shows how good of a design Cats injector and precombustion chamber is!. These things were meant to burn the old brown furnace oil and would produce more power because of it.
Cheers
Eddie B.

At the shop over the years I tested a truck load of them but once in awhile a nozzle wouldn,t built up any breaking pressure but spit it out so me & the rest who tested would speed flush out the nozzle & once in awhile it would come back up to the correct breaking pressure.Don,t know if a little debris or what got in the valving inside that would cause it to stick.It,s good to flush out all nozzles a little when testing them & not give up just after a pump to bring up to breaking pressure & call it quits with the testing.

Ken, I think the cat fuel systems are the only ones a Shop Floor Mechanic could do anything with. We had the parts and spec info available because it was Cat produced. Other makers bought their fuel systems and they had to be set up on the bench by fuel shops. They where a tight fraternity, only insiders could get parts or information. If you ran the Dyno or set up Hyd Hoes you could see what was needed and repair it yourself.
Later Bob

Yes Bob your answer is right on about the shop floor mechanics. I dyno ran probably 100s of engines over the years of the ones I did & the ones that the customer did themselves or had another shop do them & boy you ran in lots of problems with them (ones sent in by the customer that did his own) of different things & not all fuel system problems either.I fired up a truck engine that was sent in to just dyno test & just got it started & a rod cap came out through the side of the block right by my face. Also another custmer sent in a D397 V-12 in to test run & after a short run the bearings went out of it so they took it back to their shop & repaired it there.At that time they were using all after market cheap parts so I wasn,t surprised with the failure.

Hi Team,
we used to hand brass wire brush,the brush from the Cat inj. tooling, same as a suede leather brush, the tips after inspecting for distortion (over torque), overheat, seat condition, & etc. Then we would Ultra Sonic clean them before testing, any that were low or no atomisation would be re U/Soniced, some would come back as stated.
Boy oh boy SJ are you ever right about some of the outside rebuilds,some of these required:- flack jacket, fire suit, scuba gear, fast feet, etc.
I guess we could write a book on some of the frights weve had, and failures. on good one is miss timing D343 Etc. OHCam timing trains. On the Vee engine versions you could get the valve timing Advanced or Retarded in increments up to 18 Degrees. Had a 621 engine one time with one bank 18 Deg. advanced and the other 14 Deg. retarded, reluctant starter, knew there was trouble but client insisted "engine urgently required, must be tested and go tonight", almost pulled full HP and seized one bank.
Upon return from clients shop next day same thing, reluctant start. I refused to go any further until I checked things out. Many heated words later I got my way and found the above. I pulled the exhaust manifolds and ran it, flames from one bank and blue smoke from the other. Found out from the clients mechanic that they had not timed the crank and first timing gear for each bank--a seperate drive for each bank. The first timing gear is a double gear and will vernier around ranging from + to - 18 Degrees cam timing. The client thought he only had to time the camshafts at the cyl head! The client was good about it in the end, I recieved a thank you letter.
Cheers
Eddie B.