I recently purchases a "ZS1115" diesel from Carrol Stream Motors for a very reasonable price of $699. It was an easy transaction - made one call, someone knowledgeable answered the phone after a couple of rings, gave them my credit card number, and 5 work days later, I was the proud owner of 195 kg of genuine Chinese cast-iron quality, albeit completely unbranded - no indication whatsoever of who the manufacturer was. If there's interest and I can figure out how to post an image on this forum, I'll provide photos.
Initially, I thought I was purchasing a Changfa-clone, but after examining the engine, I think it's the real McCoy. Comparing it to the images on James Lerch's excellent site at
http://lerch.no-ip.com/ChangFa_Gen/the two engines are dead-ringers for one another with a couple of noteworthy exceptions. The mufflers are identical, the air cleaners are identical, same plastic shipping cap over the intake mainfold, throttle lock knob and arcs are identical, starters and wiring (right down to the color) are identical, shade of red on the tank is identical, same chromed fuel cap, same fuel line and shut-off valve, same legs, same fuel filter, same type and routing of injection lines, same compression release, same plastic cover over the oil pressure indicator, and so on.
The differences are: (1) the starter on Lerch's Changa is mounted on top of the fly wheel between the fuel tank and hopper. Mine is on the right of the flywheel when viewed from the side with the crank handle. (2) Lerch's has a water pump, mine does not. (3) It appears that Lerch's fuel tank may be smaller to accommodate the starter between it and the hopper.
I'm fairly new into this Chinese diesel obsession, but it appears to me that this is a well built engine. It certainly fired right up as soon as I got fuel in it and a battery hooked up. So far, I've only got an hour or so of running time, but so far it's running well.
I called Carrol Stream today and asked who the manufacturer of the engine was. After some hesitation, the person I spoke with said that they had the engines made by Changfa without branding because Carrol Stream wanted to brand them with the CS name. That struck me as odd because there was no branding, Carrol Stream or otherwise on my engine. The placard says "YX1115 Diesel Engine", power/rpm ratings, and "Made in China" The only thing I can figure out is that they're still working on getting the name plates made and haven't started putting them on yet. Another thing that is odd is that Changfa has a great reputation and other manufacturer's engines don't so you'd think that CS would want to capitalize on it.
Does anyone on this forum have any additional intelligence or first hand experience with an 1115 from CS?
Terry