Chinese 196cc diesel engine from Amazon?

[eljefino]

I don't dare leave it unattended, because it can easily walk away, LOL.



Well here it is-- I unboxed the cardboard and found this gem inside, wrapped in 1/4 plywood.

Yeah the shaft made a hole, but nothing got damaged.

"No fireworks"

Of note, when fueling one of these things, if you burp fuel out the top, it's on you to clean it up, 'cuz it'll stick around if you don't.
I hope Checker J04 is living his best life.

It was tight when I first-first started it but seems to have loosened some on subsequent cold starts. A 5w40 would be swell in this.

 

[SC Maintenance]

I still haven’t figured out how to justify it, I need something to plop it onto first, then deal with that shaft size discrepancy.

 

[92saturnsl2]

Well here it is-- I unboxed the cardboard and found this gem inside, wrapped in 1/4 plywood.

Ha, you got lucky! My first engine came in nothing but a cardboard box protected with styrofoam. It survived the shipping, but I'm still picking up bits of styrofoam more than week later. The second one came in a plywood box as you had pictured.

 

[wings&wheels]

I don't dare leave it unattended, because it can easily walk away, LOL.



Well here it is-- I unboxed the cardboard and found this gem inside, wrapped in 1/4 plywood.

View attachment 195656


Yeah the shaft made a hole, but nothing got damaged.

View attachment 195657

View attachment 195658

"No fireworks"

View attachment 195659

Of note, when fueling one of these things, if you burp fuel out the top, it's on you to clean it up, 'cuz it'll stick around if you don't.
I hope Checker J04 is living his best life.

It was tight when I first-first started it but seems to have loosened some on subsequent cold starts. A 5w40 would be swell in this.

Exact same here, down to the shaft poking out of the side and no damage. Surprisingly complete manual, if not perfect English.

 

[92saturnsl2]

Both of mine came with this- Though I think the target audience for these engines know better, I can't help but wonder if there's people out there that interpret this as "Don't put oil in here!"

 

[SC Maintenance]

Both of mine came with this- Though I think the target audience for these engines know better, I can't help but wonder if there's people out there that interpret this as "Don't put oil in here!"

I could see someone getting excited and wanting to fire it up - and forgetting. My generator came with the same sort of thing.

 

[Rand]

There's a few videos of people using a flapper disc or piece of sandpaper to turn the output shaft down. They do it with the engine running, so the shaft stays round and it seems to work

I think I'd grab a 3-4ft strip and pull it against the shaft back and forth while its idling.
(hopefully it has a good air filter)

 

[SC Maintenance]

I think I'd grab a 3-4ft strip and pull it against the shaft back and forth while its idling.
(hopefully it has a good air filter)

20mm is 0.787. So 0.037 has to go - half it for each side, so your at 0.019. Taking 20 thousands off a hardened shaft with sandpaper sounds like a really, really long haul.

I would be looking at rigging up a mount for a bastard file at least to get closer, but again using the engine itself to do the work. And a shop vac to pull the debris away immediately.

 

[dumkid]

20mm is 0.787. So 0.037 has to go - half it for each side, so your at 0.019. Taking 20 thousands off a hardened shaft with sandpaper sounds like a really, really long haul.

I would be looking at rigging up a mount for a bastard file at least to get closer, but again using the engine itself to do the work. And a shop vac to pull the debris away immediately.

Consider using 30 grit sandpaper for faster speed of work

 

[92saturnsl2]

20mm is 0.787. So 0.037 has to go - half it for each side, so your at 0.019. Taking 20 thousands off a hardened shaft with sandpaper sounds like a really, really long haul.

I would be looking at rigging up a mount for a bastard file at least to get closer, but again using the engine itself to do the work. And a shop vac to pull the debris away immediately.

Yep, you're in for a long haul using sandpaper. Tried some ~60 grit I have in long sheets and it's not the inexpensive stuff- think the brand was Mirka made in Finland. Doesn't really work unless you're just trying to polish the shaft.

Only thing that threw some sparks and removed material was a spinning angle grinder (4-1/2" 10000rpm or so), think I was using a 60 grit sanding pad (the ones you put against a rubber backing). If you go lightly this does the trick easily and still leaves a fairly decent finish that you can smooth out with sandpaper. I imagine a flap disc would work as well, I might try that on my next one, but I don't think they're as flat as a sanding pad.

 

[92saturnsl2]

I had a buddy over who was helping me do some maintenance around the house. Long story short I think he got a laugh out of seeing a diesel pressure washer. Starting it in 40 degree weather isn't for the faint of heart. And just when you think it's been running long enough that the next start will be easy-peasy, you might be surprised! Let it sit for 20 minutes and you're back to square one, it never really warms up/gets hot like a gas engine. I need to find a way to adapt a drill or some power tool to crank this sucker over, my arm is still recuperating!

 

[supton]

Looks like the decompression level automatically comes off on its own? I wonder if you could hold it down while spinning? idea being, if a power drill or whatever could get it spinning fast enough, then let the compression lever flip back, if it’d start up on its own. Might take a moment for a small drill to get the motor spinning fast enough, it’s good sized flywheel.

Not sure I’d want to do it, but one of the teardown videos showed that it is a 19mm (or 17mm?) nut on the flywheel, after removing the recoil starter. I think though the cooling fan comes off too… but I wonder if you could use an impact on that nut. Problem with that is, it might overtighten that nut with repeated usage…

 

[92saturnsl2]

I just watched the teardown video, good stuff.

I did the first oil change yesterday at probably ~4 hours runtime. Oil was nice and black, definitely want a diesel oil that can handle soot loading.

Takes right at a quart, I used Harvest King 10w30 All-fleet oil for this change. The straight 30-weight Rotella T1 I used for initial fill seems like a good fit for this engine, but I didn't have any more. The newer CK+ emissions friendly stuff is probably overkill for this application.

 

[92saturnsl2]

So I'm on to adapting my 2nd Chinese diesel to my rear-tine tiller and I've clearly received a used engine, no question. Open the oil fill and it's coal black inside. The engine case / valve cover / "throttle" shows signs of wear and an attempt to clean it, but you can't hide everything. My first engine was clean as a whistle throughout, and oil hole showed no signs of previous use (other than perhaps brief testing).

Looks as though they took a used (returned?) bottom end and put new painted parts on it (orange fuel tank and engine cover). I'm still debating how to process this return, Amazon just spits out a generic label and wants me to pay for return shipping. Not sure I can contact seller directly. Ordinarily I'd start a chargeback, but I paid for it with an Amazon card (that gives 5% cash back), so who knows what would come of that...

If anyone has ideas on how I can contact the seller, I'm all ears.

 

[supton]

So I'm on to adapting my 2nd Chinese diesel to my rear-tine tiller and I've clearly received a used engine, no question. Open the oil fill and it's coal black inside. The engine case / valve cover / "throttle" shows signs of wear and an attempt to clean it, but you can't hide everything. My first engine was clean as a whistle throughout, and oil hole showed no signs of previous use (other than perhaps brief testing).

Looks as though they took a used (returned?) bottom end and put new painted parts on it (orange fuel tank and engine cover). I'm still debating how to process this return, Amazon just spits out a generic label and wants me to pay for return shipping. Not sure I can contact seller directly. Ordinarily I'd start a chargeback, but I paid for it with an Amazon card (that gives 5% cash back), so who knows what would come of that...

If anyone has ideas on how I can contact the seller, I'm all ears.

I'm wondering if you are SOL... bet those sellers are "here today, gone tomorrow" for this reason. Good luck.

If it falls through, I wonder if you have a good parts motor.

Question: have you tried to start it? Or are you waiting until you find out that it's just not returnable? I'd want to return it too, if I bought new, I'd expect new. I'd be waiting until I couldn't do a decent return before moving forward with starting--to be fair, maybe someone did a return on something with a bad injector, some flunky did a pick and match from other returns, and sent what might be a perfectly fine running engine.

I've long assumed that a lot of the cheap junk that I could buy, should be bought on the premise of "buyer beware--no returns" sort of thinking. If I can't afford to toss it out right after opening, then either spend more to get more, or just don't.

Still wondering when the EPA is going to wander into all of this...

 

[SC Maintenance]

So I'm on to adapting my 2nd Chinese diesel to my rear-tine tiller and I've clearly received a used engine, no question. Open the oil fill and it's coal black inside. The engine case / valve cover / "throttle" shows signs of wear and an attempt to clean it, but you can't hide everything. My first engine was clean as a whistle throughout, and oil hole showed no signs of previous use (other than perhaps brief testing).

Looks as though they took a used (returned?) bottom end and put new painted parts on it (orange fuel tank and engine cover). I'm still debating how to process this return, Amazon just spits out a generic label and wants me to pay for return shipping. Not sure I can contact seller directly. Ordinarily I'd start a chargeback, but I paid for it with an Amazon card (that gives 5% cash back), so who knows what would come of that...

If anyone has ideas on how I can contact the seller, I'm all ears.

I think your best bet is to reach out to Amazon. Go to Amazon -- customer service -- it will list your items, think if your patient enough and keep hitting "other issue" you end up with being able to contact a customer service rep via email.

You can also use Chat, or you used to be able to?

However, isn't damaged, not as described, or whatever an option for return - then just put in the description they sent a used one?

I have had similar issues - on smaller items albeit - and Amazon has generally been reasonable, although I hear there not as good as they used to be.

 

[wings&wheels]

Still wondering when the EPA is going to wander into all of this...

Yup, didn't Listers and others get prohibited from import years ago? Maybe daybreak raids like what happened a few years ago to those hapless folks who had non-US compliant Defenders

 

[oil pan 4]

20mm is 0.787. So 0.037 has to go - half it for each side, so your at 0.019. Taking 20 thousands off a hardened shaft with sandpaper sounds like a really, really long haul.

I would be looking at rigging up a mount for a bastard file at least to get closer, but again using the engine itself to do the work. And a shop vac to pull the debris away immediately.

Just use 20mm taper lock bushings if you want to put a pulley on the engine.

 

[SC Maintenance]

Just use 20mm taper lock bushings if you want to put a pulley on the engine.

Most stuff set up for small engines in the US is 3/4 - meaning you want to go smaller, not larger.

I went looking and the smallest I could find was 20mm to 1.25 inches. 1.25 is sort of oddball for a small engine pully. At that point, you could probably order a 20mm bore pulley from China.

 

[92saturnsl2]

Question: have you tried to start it? Or are you waiting until you find out that it's just not returnable? I'd want to return it too, if I bought new, I'd expect new. I'd be waiting until I couldn't do a decent return before moving forward with starting--to be fair, maybe someone did a return on something with a bad injector, some flunky did a pick and match from other returns, and sent what might be a perfectly fine running engine.

I've long assumed that a lot of the cheap junk that I could buy, should be bought on the premise of "buyer beware--no returns" sort of thinking. If I can't afford to toss it out right after opening, then either spend more to get more, or just don't.

Still wondering when the EPA is going to wander into all of this...

I didn't even start it, in fact it sat in a corner for a week till I could pull the old oil burning B&S off the tiller and test fit the new engine. That's when I noticed it looked nothing like my "new" Chinese diesel. Fins are dirty, oil dipstick hole had jet black oil around it before I even removed the dipstick.

You're not wrong: These are Chinese imports after all and you're at the mercy of Amazon if things go awry. I completely agree with you on the second paragraph. I didn't spend my lunch money on it, though I hope they take it back somehow on the premise it's a used engine disguised as new. If that doesn't work I'm certain it'll be a fine running engine and a testbed to run my used oil in.

To adapt it to my tiller I need to fabricate and weld a new mounting plate-- the engine is bigger than the old B&S, so it needs to be placed a bit further back and to the front. At the end of the day it's a pulley/belt driven tiller, so nothing insurmountable. I haven't had any luck finding a 2-1/2" OD pulley for a 20mm shaft, so I think I'm stuck in the rudimentary mill-the-shaft-down boat like I did with that last one.