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Author Topic: Shanghai (Changchai?) 295d parts availability and looking for a manual?  (Read 13453 times)

Boxelder

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Not sure if this qualifies as a "slow-speed" issue, so I apologize if this is in the wrong section.

As you've all seen, I'm in a new phase of my Diesel addiction, and am apparently acquiring new (to me) metal.  I picked up a 12.5kVa generator with a two-cylinder Chinese 295d engine.

Before you ask, yes I did indeed find the number one Google search return when looking up Changchai 295d with 332 hours, and I fully realize that I might have picked up a lemon.  But since I knew it was a potential lemon I had got it for a very reasonable price.  If the motor craps out in the near future I'm still money ahead on the Stamford Newage gen head, is how I see it.

The radiator has some rust in it, as it was manufactured in 2002 and went to live in a prepper's garage for a decade and a half with no maintenance whatsoever.

At a bare minimum I'll be needing a new radiator cap, oil filter, and fuel filter, and that's just for starters.  Does anyone have a source for these items?

How about oil type?  Would Rotella be a good choice?  I'm still learning when a multi-grade oil is appropriate and when straight weight would be.  I've never found the definitive thread on that topic.

Also I'm looking for some documentation on the thing.  I found a PDF with the dimensions and capacities, but I was wondering if anyone had a repair manual hidden in their computers somewhere?

Thanks, all!

guest23837

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http://bfy.tw/IW7k

Ist one is a PDF

Boxelder

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Aw, man! I’ve been lmgtfy’d! The shame!

Actually that was the manual I’d already found. It’s nice enough, but I was kind of hoping for something by a North American user with experience working on them. The only things which keep coming up when I search is sales sites in China, this manual, or that guy who had the bad luck with one. No juicy shots of teardowns and repairs at all.

So nobody on here finds this particular model even slightly interesting? Nothing to add at all? I mean hell, at least trash talk it a little bit! I’m trying to throw you guys a bone here.


guest23837

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I had to look on YT to see the beastie is Id never heard of it before so I assume it's quite rare in Europe. you could go on Ali express and look at the listings there. There may be a seller or manufacturer on there that understands English enough to email you a workshop manual.

This site has manuals for many engines and they are very helpful people https://www.internalfire.com

I doubt you will find a Haynes type manual with step by step photographs but someone on this site is sure to have one and be willing to share information

ajaffa1

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Well Boxelder, since you have thrown out the challenge, I have also had a bit of a Google search. It would appear that Changchai is the oldest surviving manufacturer of diesel engines in China, they have been manufacturing for 100 years and claim to have produced 2,700 million diesel engines. These vary in size from small engines for home use to industrial engines and even ship engines.

I am in two mind as to the quality. One would expect that a business that has been going that long and produced that many units would know what they were doing. On the other hand it is just possible that the reason they have made so many is that they don`t last long. Either way I am surprised that we in the western world know so little about them.

I think this deserves further investigation, sadly I don`t speak or read Chinese.

Bob

 

Boxelder

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Great stuff, guys!  I was hoping for this type of commiseration with fellow diesel sufferers.  It was an engine which was so rare in these parts that I just had to have one in order to play with it, and to see if (more like WHEN) it conks out.

More background:

This unit was sold new by Hardy Diesel back in 2002.  It currently has 332 hours on the Hobbs meter.  I've tried to both call and email Hardy Diesel regarding info on this unit but have received no response at this point.  They seem to have disavowed its existence, or have gone out of business.  I'd have expected better service from someone who has Paul Teutel Sr. as their celebrity representative! ;)

What shocked me about this motor is how solid it feels.  There's not much artwork used in reducing weight in the block casting, and it's so unexpectedly dense that I thought I might have missed lag bolts holding it down to the floor when I began to lift it with the boom pole on my tractor, a Mahindra 4505DI.  In retrospect I should have brought the Kubota M7040SU and had the extra lift capacity on the bucket loader with pallet forks.  The garage door at the seller's house was a bit low for that beastie, however.  But it all worked out in the end and without incident, so that's nice.

All in all, I thought the same thing as Glort - it should be a fun little unit to play with.  For the price, I have allowed it some mental wiggle room on the dependability factor.

Let's talk about rust in the cooling jacket.  How have folks successfully removed it without disassembling the entire engine and hot tanking?  I'm going to remove the radiator and have a pro give it a once-over.  Then it'll get all new fluids, belts, and hoses.  But from the look of the radiator I'm expecting some pretty significant rust in the jacket.  My normal rust removal techniques of electrolysis, muriatic acid, or purple power degreaser seem out of place here.

guest23837

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I was thinking about this engine this morning. The "not for sale" brothers near me bought a scrap walk behind road sweeper it has a Kubota engine 2 cylinder liquid cooled diesel engine.

I was looking at diesel generators on an Irish website they are Branded Pacini, the seller claims the engines are made under license from Yanmar. And the chain of thought continued...

I think it's unlikely the engine is an original Chinese design unit it's a copy of something that is or was in production and theres likely a manual available for the original design.

Photographs would maybe help

ajaffa1

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Hey Boxelder, found this review of your engine on Google, looks like you might be in for a bumpy ride http://gpsinformation.net/chinagen.htm

Bob

ajaffa1

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Found a maintenance manual https://www.rotek.at/produkte/pdf-aktuell/Motoren/!ED4W-Huafengdongli/295-2100-Series/ED4W-295&2100-Serie_01_Operation-Maintanance_en.pdf.

Page 61 recommends de-scaling using a mixture of caustic soda and kerosene added to the cooling system. Just be very careful with caustic. It eats aluminium and brass components.

Bob

guest23837

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Hey Boxelder, found this review of your engine on Google, looks like you might be in for a bumpy ride http://gpsinformation.net/chinagen.htm

Bob

Im amazed someone hasn't offloaded one onto me!

ajaffa1

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Hey Johndoh, once Boxelder reads that review, he`ll probably want to part with his if you want it! ;D

Boxelder

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I'd read all about the trials and tribulations of that gps fella before arriving at my maximum offer price.  I figured with the generator head being of seemingly good quality, made in England and all, I could always remove the gen head from the motor if it craps out and turn it into a PTO driven or another small diesel genset.  My eyes were well and truly open.

There's something in me that seeks out the rare and unusual, especially things which are extremely prevalent in the rest of the world but for some reason aren't popular here in the U.S.  Some recent examples include my discovery of the Lister style engines and the Changfa diesels.  They currently provide power for so much of the rest of the world that it seems unbelievable that this style of engine never caught on here.  We have Briggs and Stratton, I guess.  But that seems like a pretty weak substitute for these things, which are designed to run on and on and on for years on end with minimal maintenance.  Maybe we don't have them because we've had for a very long time a fully developed and reliable electrical grid to power pumps and other industrial gear.

So this Chinese motor and its notorious unreliability is actually a selling point to me.  I want to run it and see if it fails, and I'm willing to take a gamble on it just to see how it plays out.  Who knows, maybe this is a clone of another design as was mentioned earlier, and it's made by one of the more dependable manufacturers.  Maybe the gps dude got a dud from a no-name chop shop.  I'll report back occasionally with the details.

My wife is very understanding regarding my unusual personality traits, have I mentioned that already?

Boxelder

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More pics

Boxelder

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Very interesting tip about the kerosene and caustic soda.  Back when I first got into machine restoration I thoroughly pitted an aluminum guard for a South Bend lathe by leaving it sit in Purple Power cleaner.  Lesson learned there.

ajaffa1

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Hey Boxelder, It would appear from the photos and the reviews that the engine itself is probably well made, I believe the problem is that in an effort to expand production and sales they have cut corners. This usually involves sourcing the cheapest parts while cutting back on R&D and quality control. If the engine design is robust then run it and replace cheap hoses and ancillaries as you go, you should end up with a reliable donkey. Sounds like the genny head itself is worth the money.

Good luck and keep us posted,

Bob