1955 B61 w/175hp naturally asperated motor looking for help on Injection pump

[Mike Strait]

Hello everyone this is a first post for me i have been here before researching a newer mack truck clutch and hi-low transmission control setup, and found good help.

I am being asked to help a friend with his 1955 B61. It hasent been started in several years. it was supposed to have had the injection pump rebuilt not to long before it was left to sit for several years. We put some solvent (paint thinner, mineral spirits) in the tank and pumped it up into the injection pump to try and clean it out, get the old diesil to clear out. it wouldnt start not even smoke cough anything is why we did this. Anyway after this we put clean fresh diesil in it and tryed starting it by towing it behind another truck for a couple blocks still not even a cough or smoke. I am not a diesil mechanic but am a ase certified master tech with 30 years of experiance and have worked on a few old diesil cattipillers and managed to get them running.

My question to the fourm is does anyone have any knowledge as to the best way to get this thing up and running? The truck ran before it was left to sit. It is in pretty good shape for a 1955. i am just missing something any help would be of great help to me. Thank You in advance.

[thomastractorsvc]

Check the air intake all the way to the motor, may have a rats nest or birds nest.

Make sure the fuel shut off is in the right postion to allow fuel to the injectors, if you can get it to crank over crack the fuel lines to make sure its getting fuel, the filters, tank pick up, fuel lines could be bad etc.. make sure to bleed the air out of the system all the way to the injectors

If you do all that and still nothing, try very small shot of either just enough to see if it will catch.

[Freightrain]

Is the fuel shut off open?

Here is a shot of my pump:

The fuel shut off is the lever on the far right/middle of picture. Mine is shown in the OFF position. It needs to be pushed forward to allow fuel to start.

Have you pumped the primer to see if you can build any pressure? It should be easy at first, then get hard as it builds pressure. If it doesn't get stiffer, then it's not getting fuel.

[Maddog13407]

yup, what they said haha. worst case scenerio is the plungers are stuck in the pump but thats an easy fix. take side cover off pump or even remove the pump but DONT turn the engine over with it removed. soak it in some kerosene in a tote for a week or so, then usually i use a flat screwdriver and hammer, stick it in the springs and gently tap down. they should free up. keep turnin the pump over til you see all the springs and plungers movin up and down freely. reinstall pump and prime it, it should run.

[Mike]

Hey Larry.......where is the GOLD motor you described to us, many threads back? LOL I do think I see some gray in the photo.

mike

[Mike Strait]

Hi everyone that is exactly the kind of info i was looking for. Yes we changed the filter and have pumped up the the hand pump, it does build pressure and bled the filter but havent got around to try bleeding the injectors themselves yet but will try that next. I will let you all know how it goes. It is a side project so it may be a few days. Thank You for the info on the injector pump also, i will probably end up there before this is all over.

[Mike Strait]

Oh i forgot to ask, I saw on a post here that when changing the fuel filter, to use a quart of ATF (auto transmission fluid) to prime the filter and housing. Is this a good thing to do? I know that atf is good at freeing up stuff that is frozen up or rusted.

[Superdog]

Oh i forgot to ask, I saw on a post here that when changing the fuel filter, to use a quart of ATF (auto transmission fluid) to prime the filter and housing. Is this a good thing to do? I know that atf is good at freeing up stuff that is frozen up or rusted.

I've done it before,doesn't hurt a thing,but I think I'd wait until I had it running on diesel first.I don't know how well a first in a long time fire up would go on straight ATF.