Farm Equipment - ACC 20 Propane Forklift Spit and Sputtering

ACC 20 Propane Forklift Spit and Sputtering

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Topic: ACC 20 Propane Forklift Spit and Sputtering

Posted By: Randy_Larson
Subject: ACC 20 Propane Forklift Spit and Sputtering
Date Posted: 09 Oct 2011 at 9:09pm

I was using my forklift yesterday unloading and stacking wood pellets for about forthy-five (45) minutes. All of a sudden it would barely run and eventually died. As I cranked and cranked on the starter it would almost run....sounded like it was a flooded gasoline engine.

The L-P fuel cylinder is over 3/4 full...radiator /anti-freeze is full...coolant temp never got over 160 degrees. engine oil level ok. Three (3) hours on new condenser, points, rotor and distributor cap.

I shut off the fuel. Let it cool down for about ten (10) miinutes. Started engine, it almost ran.

I let it sit for about a half (1/2) hour. It barely started again....spit and sputtered , had to run engine at over half (1/2) throttle. As operating the forks....I would have to rev engine over half (1/2) throttle.

Eventually, I completed the job and put it away...never has acted this way...about the first time i have ever ran it this long since I have had it...usually I run it for 15 minutes or so and I am done....

Any ideas???? Could it be a coil???

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G,D10,D12,D14,D15,D17gas,D17 diesel,D19 Diesel, D21 Series II,160,190, B1,Bumble Bee 10,B1,HB 212,ACC 30 forklift and snap-coupler equipment

Replies:

Posted By: Brian Jasper co. Ia
Date Posted: 09 Oct 2011 at 10:31pm

Not all tune up parts are created equal. The inexpensive stuff like what TSC has can be hit and miss quality. Standard Blue Streak is usually pretty good. I'd look at the points and try another condenser.

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"Any man who thinks he can be happy and prosperous by letting the government take care of him better take a closer look at the American Indian." Henry Ford

Posted By: DaveKamp
Date Posted: 10 Oct 2011 at 12:34pm

Dang, Brian... you gotta problem with Hit-And-Miss?? ;-}

(sorry, couldn't help it...)

Okay, basic rule of gaseous propane fuel'd spark-ignition engines- when they SOUND AND ACT RICH (i.e. ... if it was a gasoline engine), the propane engine is usually running LEAN. When it SOUNDS AND ACTS LEAN, the propane mix is usually RICH.

Brian's got an excellent point, Very first thing I'd look for is a vacuum leak... just in case something happened and a manifold developed a crack or something.

But the OTHER thing... I just put a Pertronix kit on my D17... and it ran fine for about three months... then started dying-out on my at random incidences... sometimes it'd restart, sometimes not.

Turns out that the coil bracket wasn't making good-enough contact into the COIL... it'd go intermittant, and engine would stall. Found it by grabbing a socket out of the toolbox, and crankin' engine, tapping the bracket with socket, and it popped on... sputtered and fussed, so I tapped it a bit more, and it recovered, been running fine ever since.

Now, if you haven't changed or disturbed the coil, I wouldn't spend much time workin' on that, but the condenser and bracket- definitely. Bad contact at the condenser will make it REALLY mad. You may have contamination on the brand-new ignition points. May also have a fair amount of wear on the point cam lobe (poor lift) or worn distributor bushing. Bouncing points due to dry point cam will cause points to 'bounce' a bit, that could cause funky problems.

Fortunately, it sounds like you can MAKE it run bad... if so, that means you can do some sleuthing while it sputters and sneezes, in hopes of finding the one thing that has a very immediate effect. Sleuth away!

Posted By: Dave Richards (WV)
Date Posted: 10 Oct 2011 at 1:35pm

Randy, "them LP engines gots some crazy wiring." Turns out there is a vacuum switch on the manifold that activates a propane flow solenoid. If the contacts on that vacuum switch or the switch itself is bad, the lift truck will not run right or at all. I was lucky (I think) mine only had water in it. Had to tarp it and wait for better weather. You can jump the contacts at the vacuum switch for a test but don't run it that way for long. Dave