petter/lister PH1

[Christoff1984]

Hi , I am new to this forum , I have recently bought myself a non running petter PH1 stationary engine which came off a small dumper truck , So far i've fitted a new exhaust and air filter , ive rebuilt the injector and bleeded the fuel system and im getting the clicking noise from the injector and getting a good spary from the nozzel , the engine is free and turning over no problem with the decompression lever in its on position which allows me to crank the engine upto speed , when i move the decompression lever to the off postion the engine compression becomes to high to keep turning the engine by hand and the engine trys to backfire and run backwards , when the engine backfires i get a small puff of smoke from the inlet manifold , can anyone give me some advice on what im doing wrong of what could be wrong with the engine . chris

[cobbadog]

Welcome to the Forum.
One of 2 possibilities.  You need to have a bigger breakfast and put your back into it. OR, have you tried using the 'cold start' position on the pump?
DO you have a hand book or manual on this engine? Worth using Google and find one online and download it. Cold start might be similar to the Lister and that is to lift the lever at the pump out and turn it slightly. It will lock there until the engine starts.
Are you able to actually get the engine over compression at all? Hope this helps.

[Christoff1984]

thankyou for your reply ,
Im very new to this engine and as far as i was aware the pump only has 2 postions on and off ,
i have downloaded the manual but it was'nt much help,
when the engine is upto speed and i throw the decompression lever it trys to brake my wrist ,
Ive watch many vids on youtube of this model of engine being started and they all seem to be able to keep turning the engine on compression ,
whith all my experince being with petrol engines in my mind it points to a stuck valve but that doesnt make sence when it turns ok with the decompression lever in its on postion

[38ac]

 My experience with PH1 engines is somewhat limited but some of them, maybe all?  have a stub shaft on both the crankshaft and on the camshaft. You crank them from the camshaft to double your cranking speed.  As was said if your are barely getting enough speed to get it over center when you decompress it then it will kick back, even when everything's right. If the pump to too far advanced it will also kick back. The crank action required to start one is best discribed as brisk, casual cranking isn't going to cut it. Checking the pump timing will require either a manual or someone more knowledgeable than I to tell you how to do it.

[Christoff1984]

Update on my ph1-t , finally got the time to remove the head which I have de-coked ,re-lapped the valves ,new head gasket ,set the rocker lash ,the injector has been professionally rebuild with new nozzle, and happy to report she's running ,also replaced oil,oil filter,fuel filter and air filter , only problem I came up against was the oil feed to the rockers so I removed the oil filter housing and pump soaked it diesel to free everything up had to braze a new oil line because the broke into bits on removal .c