Farymann diesel engine in vetus generator

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blaze_away

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I have a vetus GSH4SIK generator with a Farymann 15W or 18W (cant get at name plate yet)

Its been running fine for last year or two but last night the engine speed started racing away with itself.

Let it cool retried and it starts fine and runs at target speed of 3000 rpm ( I believe thats correct) then after a few minutes it began increasing in revs quite dramarically.

Anyone had any similar experiences and what do you think could be the cause.

Reading the manual I see there is a mechanical govenor needs special tools to remo e adjust etc.
 
blaze_away said:
I have a vetus GSH4SIK generator with a Farymann 15W or 18W (cant get at name plate yet)

Its been running fine for last year or two but last night the engine speed started racing away with itself.

Let it cool retried and it starts fine and runs at target speed of 3000 rpm ( I believe thats correct) then after a few minutes it began increasing in revs quite dramarically.

Anyone had any similar experiences and what do you think could be the cause.

Reading the manual I see there is a mechanical govenor needs special tools to remo e adjust etc.
Click to expand...
How bad is the blow by....ie the crankcase pressure. IF you dip the sump oil then rub your fingers in the oil on the dipstick do your fingers smell of diesel.
When did you last change the sump oil ?
If you have blow by and a diesel smell on your fingers then you could be getting runaway where the engine is running on the diesel in the lube oil. You need to change the sump oil and in future change the oil more frequently.
If no blow by and no diesel smelling oil, it could be a governor fault.
 
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Oil is not smelling or feeling of diesel, but will change it anyway.

Now on to next issue, how does one drain the oil from a Farymann 15W in a Vetus GHS4SIK.

The oil drain/sump plug is inside the casing with no means to drain oil other than allowing it to spill all over the insides making one hell of a mess. Thanks Vetus nice design.
 
Bilgediver said:
How bad is the blow by....ie the crankcase pressure. IF you dip the sump oil then rub your fingers in the oil on the dipstick do your fingers smell of diesel.
When did you last change the sump oil ?
If you have blow by and a diesel smell on your fingers then you could be getting runaway where the engine is running on the diesel in the lube oil. You need to change the sump oil and in future change the oil more frequently.
If no blow by and no diesel smelling oil, it could be a governor fault.
Click to expand...

Blowby normally occurs when worn/damaged rings allow combustion gasses to escape into the sump increasing the pressure. The increased pressure blows oil out of the breather which is connected to the inlet manifold. The engine then starts to run on the excess engine oil. Diesel would normally only get into the lube via a failed seal on the lift pump or injector pump. Oil can get in to the inlet manifold from a blown turbo too, but I guess your genset isnt turbo!

If the engine can be stopped normally by the fuel cut off solenoid, then its not blowby. If it is feeding on its own lube, then it cant be stopped by cutting the diesel supply, and things get pretty scary as it races to destruction. I had anengine that would accumulate enough oil in the manifold, would run away violently until it cleared themanifold, and would then return to normal operation. Run it more than half throttle and it would run away again until it cleared itself.

Another symptom of runaway is spectacular clouds of acrid smoke from the exhaust.

 
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Thats useful. I can stop with the "stop" button, but takes a little longer than normal to stop it. No smoke either.

Oil change wont hurt so will pursue that and do it anyway.

As it runs ok for minute or two is it reasonable to expect its more likely to be sticky rather that broken ?

Got quite some detail in the repair manual except where on the engine the govenor is. Gives details on its strip down and rebuild but not where it is. Ah well will have to start pulling bits off see whats in there.
 
Had a similar farryman engine, on a zise genny

A regular problem with ours was the adjuster lock nut to the governor control would come loose and fall off. then the screw would undo and the engine speed rise. think it happened about 6 times in 3000 hours.

Surprisingly easy to fix as it was behind the little oval plate at the front, near the front pulley. be prepared with a 10mm nut to replace the missing one.

adjustment was pretty easy as well , got it down to 15 min from start to finish, as was always afraid to over tighten the locknut, as the governor arm is alloy.

PS no special tools required, 10mm spanner/ socket , screwdriver etc. this screw does not alter the fueling of the pump delivery, just the running speed,

and I left the lost nuts in the sump without detriment
 
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david_bagshaw said:
Had a similar farryman engine, on a zise genny

A regular problem with ours was the adjuster lock nut to the governor control would come loose and fall off. then the screw would undo and the engine speed rise. think it happened about 6 times in 3000 hours.

Surprisingly easy to fix as it was behind the little oval plate at the front, near the front pulley. be prepared with a 10mm nut to replace the missing one.

adjustment was pretty easy as well , got it down to 15 min from start to finish, as was always afraid to over tighten the locknut, as the governor arm is alloy.

PS no special tools required, 10mm spanner/ socket , screwdriver etc. this screw does not alter the fueling of the pump delivery, just the running speed,

and I left the lost nuts in the sump without detriment
Click to expand...

That's worth a try, thank you.

Is it the panel marked here that needs to come off ?

Farymann.jpg
 
Thanks for the link. Still trying to identify exactly where that oval cover is. Cant readily find it on mine, maybe its hidden by the casing that vetus have enclosed the whole unit in.
 
blaze_away said:
Thanks for the link. Still trying to identify exactly where that oval cover is. Cant readily find it on mine, maybe its hidden by the casing that vetus have enclosed the whole unit in.
Click to expand...

The location of the cover indicated also puzzles me.

I have mt farymann in my garage so will have a look later.
 
The adjustment sacre and slotted nut is behind the raw water pump but due to the gear that is attached to the pump shaft you cannot just remove the pump.

You need to remove the casting that the pump bolts too. This casting also has the hole for a manual start handle. To remove this casting you remove 4 socket cap screws. on mine there use a 5mm A/F allan key then pull off the casting and pump. The adjustment can then be access through a hole that was behind the pump gear.

It looks like that the cover plate shown in the manual is fitted in place of where the pump bolts.
 
mine was a much older set, where the pump was originally belt driven. mine had a plate where the water pump is on your photo.. suspect the screw is behind the pump gear!

Just seen rogershaws post. he has beaten me to it.
 
Thank you both David n Roger

Its all clear now why I cant see it.

Right tools out and pump off next job. May need to get the whole limp out of the engine bay forst as access is awkward. I might be some time......
 
Roger
I had trouble with mine not generating electrickery. Ended up replacing "varistor set". Vetus wanted 125 gbp for 2 resistors and 2 diodes. I sourced same elsewhere at 15 gbp for 10 sets. So if you need help with that side let me know.
 
blaze_away said:
Roger
I had trouble with mine not generating electrickery. Ended up replacing "varistor set". Vetus wanted 125 gbp for 2 resistors and 2 diodes. I sourced same elsewhere at 15 gbp for 10 sets. So if you need help with that side let me know.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the offer.

Mine is a very old farymann engine that I picked up at a boat jumble with a second for spares. I then purchased a 4.2 KVA 240V ac alternator. I then built a mounting frame to connect the engine and alternator together.

I got it working but due to a blockage in the anti siphon valve water siphoned back into the engine and I had to strip and clean out the sump. Putting it back together I needed to reset the governor but lot interest when I got shore power.

So your post kicked me back to finish it off.
 
Thats brilliant, love getting eclectic bits and bobs together to make something useful.

Good luck with it glad my troubles have helped, so its not all bad.
 
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