Manufacturer of Carrol Stream Motors Single-Cyl Horiz. Diesels

[TerryM]

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

[Doug]

Nothing is what it seems when you deal with guys selling imported engines....

Thats not a reason to worry, but I would shut the thing down and clean and do a quick inspection.

Clean the sump look for loose bolts ect. Thats all I know and can offer.

I think Utterpower was one of the first to try and hide the maker of their engines.

Doug

[TerryM]

Thanks for the suggestion, Doug.  I've pretty much camped out on the engine while it's running, looking for loose fasteners. leaks, and anything else that seems amiss.  So far, everything has remained tight.

Do you know if there are any hard-core owners of an 1115 or similar type diesel on this forum?  I'd like to pick their brain about the easiest way to get into the sump.  I can drop the pan, but I'd guess that there are 20 or so bolts I'd have to remove.  Alternatively, there is a side cover on the side of the engine opposite the head that looks like it would be pretty easy to get off.  It would be helpful to get some guidance on the easiest way to go about doing a thorough inspection.

By the way, here's a photo of the engine (keeping my fingers crossed that this works!)

[rcavictim]

Terry,

Pull the cover opposite end of the engine to the head.  This is on the right side in yourpicture.  You might have a starter motor to remove first.  If you can get some close up pictures of what you see inside and post them here that would be of help.  I have pictures of the insides of an actual Changfa 1115 which to compare.

CarrolSteam does not indicate that your engine has a oil pressure lube system, only that it is splash lubricated.  It would be helpful to clarify this.  If you have an oil pump you will see an oil  pick up disc on the end of a steel oil line in the sump.

[TerryM]

RCA, the current specification table for the CS "23 HP" engine does indicate both splash and pressure lubrication.  In fact, the table that CS posts on their site is a direct lift from the Chanfga website.  You can compare them here:

http://www.changfa.com/

http://www.carrollstream.net/23.oHP%20WATER-COOLED%20DIESEL%20ENGINE.htm

That said, I'll see if I can get the side cover off and post some images of the interior.  This is a good exercise anyway to make sure there aren't any stray bench vises or dead gerbils floating around in the sump.  If I don't get it done today, it will be a week or so before I can.  My wife and I are escaping the liquid sunshine of the Pacific NW for a week in Maui - we're leaving tomorrow.

Terry

[Doug]

I don't know about dead animals or bench vices, but knowing what I know from looking inside some generating sets, bikes and 4 wheelers from chinese manufacturers shipped here....

Even stuff claimed to be the best....

Not a bad idea to look inside for cuttings and check for loose bolts.

No one is perfect.

I just looked at the web site. Why the big American flags? Are they trying to compensate for thre lack of a US made product.

[TerryM]

RCA - Here's a few shots of the interior of the block with the side cover removed.  The engine definitely is pressure lubed - the pump is on the back wall of the block "just around the corner" from the side cover, there are oil channels cast into the block, and the pick-up is visible at the lower right of the opening.  Beyond that, there is a pressure indicator on the head side that pops up when the oil pressure exceeds a certain threshold. 

Strangely enough, neither my son (who is an ME) or I could see anything that looked like a cup for splash lubrication.

How does these shots compare with the interior of your Changfa?

Terry

[Doug]

Looks much better than the some of those stinking 4 wheelers.

[TerryM]

Doug, I'm not following you.  Is "four wheeler" a reference to another engine type or something else?

Terry

[Doug]

4 wheeler, quads, you know those off road bikes the kids drives in bush.....

Must be a Canadian thing what do you call those in American?

Doug

[TerryM]

OK, I'm with you now, Doug - I had forgotten your earlier reference to finding debris in the sumps of generators and 4-wheelers shipped in from China.  I was pleasantly surprised to find just how clean the sump of this engine was - pretty much what I would have expected to find in any well maintained engine.

Terry 

[Doug]

Have a look inside Gus.

http://www.putfile.com/dougwp/images/31565

The tears and pain....

A quick glance will tell you the quality difference between you castings and mine.
I've looked at Chinese diesels and they just aren't what I want in a design.

Best viewed listening to The Bureaucrat Polka by Shostakovich for full effect ( the fat guy will screw you in the end )

Doug

[joek]

Here is a link to the company that made my carrol stream  r165 according to my owners manual.

http://www.jc-swan.com/e1/Product1.asp

[rcavictim]

I just discovered that Carol Stream has their own online forums now.  They have a area to post videos of your engine projects . etc.  Guess what!  It is full of porn spam.  Hahaha.  Thank goodness our site owners finally took steps to lick that problem in the butt here!

http://www.carrollstream.net/fourm/viewforum.php?f=4&sid=91495bec374e965ff83351ad6391bf05

[rcavictim]

RCA - Here's a few shots of the interior of the block with the side cover removed.  The engine definitely is pressure lubed - the pump is on the back wall of the block "just around the corner" from the side cover, there are oil channels cast into the block, and the pick-up is visible at the lower right of the opening.  Beyond that, there is a pressure indicator on the head side that pops up when the oil pressure exceeds a certain threshold. 

Strangely enough, neither my son (who is an ME) or I could see anything that looked like a cup for splash lubrication.

How does these shots compare with the interior of your Changfa?

Terry

Terry,

Thanx for posting those images of your 1115.  I do not yet have a Changfa 1115 in my possession but hope to shortly.  I do have some pictures taken of the insides of one and comparing them I see that yours has as nice a inside finish quality as the Changfa appears to.  I see a slightly different style lower rod cap casting.  The rotating counterweights on the true Changfa seem polished smoother as opposed to yours which are more rough casting surface in appearance but that is not something I would worry about myself. 

Your engine has the screw holes in the block but does not have the corresponding main bearing retainer clips and screws that my JD HAD until I removed them as unnecessary and potentially hazardous to engine life IMO.  On my JD the small screws were loose and not IF but WHEN they came out the screws and clips would have been run through the machinery, possibly causing severe internal engine damage.  I saw absolutely no need for these clips, in fact they are a pain, adding work to engine dissassembly and reassembly.  The picture of the Changfa shows that these bearing retaining clips are installed.  If they used loc-tite on the screws I guess this is not an issue.

I have a question for you since I cannot see it from your picture.  As you look forward in the engine through the opened cover, below the crank you see the camshaft.  Does the right end of the cam run in a ball bearing, a bushing, or a plain hole milled in the crankcase iron?  How about the left (driven) end of the cam?

In my JD175A I discovered that the way the con rod lower bearing on the crank pin is lubed is through a process I`d call pressure splash feed.    In this engine the layout looks quite like what we see in your pictures except there are no rotating counterweights.  In the 175 the oil pump is on the left side in the timing cover cam gear area.  It squirts a continuous stream of high pressure oil through a small hole on the left side of the crankcase, towards the right into the crankcase, directly at a point that lines up with the center of the lower rod crank pin once every revolution. There is a hole bored into the side of the crank throw that acts as a pickup cup and storage reservoir for a slug of oil.  This gallery is drilled at an angle to allow the centrifugal force of the crank to push the contents of this collecting `cup` into a conventional oil channel drilled inside the crank that feeds the lower rod bearing in the usuall way found in truly pressurized automotive engines.  Now, when the crank `cup` isn`t lined up to catch some oil there is a whole lotta `splash` as the oil stream is deflected every which way inside the crankcase from the rotating crank.

Despite this I felt there was insufficient oiling in the crankcase and so I added a dipper to the lower con rod cap bolt that actually dips into the oil pool and flings some oil forward towards the cam and lifters every revolution.  It also gets much more oil on my cam far end bushing (cam runs in a smooth hole bored into the block casting, no bronze bushing or ball bearing here) and the big crankshaft main ball bearing assemblies.  One user of a small JiangDong engine (I do not know which model)  complained of microwelding of the ball bearings on the crank mains within about 10 hours of use.  I think this is evidence of oil starvation and my added dipper has apparently solved what may have been a similar oil shortage problem in my JD, verified by inspection quickly after running with and without the added dipper.

You do not have room in a 1115 for such a added oil slinger because of the rotating counterweights, and from the reports of long engine life that I have run across I don`t think any additional oiling is needed in this larger engine design.  Many 1115`s are apparently in service 24/7 powering villages in the 3rd world with little trouble I hear.  It seems to be the new `most popular` engine taking over for the venerable 195.  At ~1200 cc versus ~800cc  it is capable of just that much more.

When the main bearings are bronze or babbit bushings the oil pump can pressurize a gallery within the crankshaft through a cirumferential slot within the bearing area.  Modern automobile engines mains and lower rod bearings are pressure lubed this way. 
I do not know what technique is used in the 1115 to deliver oil to the lower main bearing at this time.  If it is the same as on my JD-175 it is a clever engineering solution around the ball bearing mains and appears to do the job.


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