Primer on Jeepney engines and platform power plants- Fuel Systems

Expansively, we want to know more about engines and  power plants powering jeepneys such RJG designs, so we need a review and a primer  on components of the engines of jeepneys and their systems

First up are the popular engines around town, as of 2010 the following are the Top diesel engines used in almost all installations and fabrications of jeepneys

Isuzu 4F series of engines

4FB1

4FG1

4FE1

4FC1

Hyundai D4B series of Engines and Mitsubishi 4D55 and 56 series of engines

Hyundai D4B series of engines

Mitsubishi 4D series of engines

 Toyota L and C series of engines

Toyota 2L, 2LT and 3L series of engines

Toyota 2C

These engines have one thing and common they use the same fuel system called the distributor type of fuel injection system which generally is very popular in the automotive field the that is used is the type called VE type system which is originally designed by Bosch automotive, its design merit is simplicity, ruggedness and efficiency of the design..

The heart of the system is the VE type pump, abbreviated as "Verteleir" Pump

The VE in the name of the Bosch pump used in the many other small diesel engines stands for "Verteiler", which is German for distributor or divider. The other common kind of injection pump is the inline pump. The difference between them is that the "Verteiler" VE pump has one fuel metering plunger, and a mechanism (the "Verteiler"/distributor) to send the fuel to the right cylider. The inline pump has one plunger for each cylinder.

Basic Functions of a VE type Fuel Pump and its system..

The VE has comparatively few moving parts, but what does move does so in a complex way. Most diesel engine manufacturers in Japan and Korea, uses this design and is produced by numerous auto accessory companies such as Denso, Zexel, and Korea Diesel and Dowoon which works and looks the same as the Bosch original .


if you want to study more about the working parts of the VE Pump you can refer this link here:http://www.cs.rochester.edu/~jag/vw/engine/fi/injpump.html


the heart of each East asian diesel engine design relies on the VE pump, the VE Pump comparatively becomes either powerful or economical thru its Distributor head or commonly known as rotor head..

an external view of a VE Pump rotor head

 The rotor head is responsible for metring and controlling the pressure and flow of diesel inside the system, its composed of the following parts: the control ring, stopper, springs, barrel head and plunger and dowels..

there are many sizes of rotor heads which is responsible for either making the engine efficient or powerful..

here are a number of samples of rotor heads which differ in size:

an 8mm head

A 10mm head

A 12mm rotor head

Basis on selecting the kind of rotor head to be installed in an injection pump in bacolod jeeps depends upon the preference of the owner of the vehicle by installing a rotor head above or below the size of the original rotor head has the following effects:

Installing a smaller rotor head- Installing a smaller rotor head will decrease the power output of the engine but at the same time maximizes the engine's fuel economy thereby benefiting on more efficient fuel consumption meaning jeeps with engines having pumps with small rotor heads are fuel efficient although it will decrease power ratings, it will let the operator and the owner save on fuel.

Installing a bigger rotor heads- Installing a bigger rotor head will increase power output of the engine by 50 to 90 percent (in my experience) but the cost of installing larger rotor heads, the fuel consumption of the jeep will also increase 2 or 3 folds, some owners are advised by mechanics to think deeply before replacing their actual rotor head size with more larger ones, what's more rotor head sizes are dependent on the engine displacement, for example you cannot install an 11mm rotor head on 1.5 to 2.0 L engines as per my experience, if you will not follow this you may either end up with higher fuel consumption as expected, a damaged injection pump or burned nozzles or even worst a damaged engine, 1.5 to 2.0L engines will accept 8, 9 and 10mm rotor heads as the maximum,  while 10, 11 and 12mm rotor heads are good for 2.4 to 3.0L engines,

In Bacolod most jeepneys using the 4F Isuzu engines use a maximum size of rotor heads in their pumps of 10mm mostly the 10mm rotor head is sufficient enough to give Isuzu 4F engines a power boost of 50 to 70% of the nominal power output..  Most of the fastest short-run jeeps using Isuzu 4F series of engines such as Gustillo, Uytiepo and Touchmove use 10mm heads and larger Hyundai engines usually installs 11mm rotor heads..

Larger engines such as the Toyota L, Hyundai D4, and Mitsubishi 4D series of engines start with  9mm rotor heads and usually a size change may range from 10mm to 11mm rotor heads respectively, the ones that can use 12mm rotor heads are large Isuzu 4F series and Toyota 3L engines,

one thing for sure, jeeps here in Bacolod frequently change rotor head sizes due to the fluctuation of prices in petroleum products especially diesel, some owners are forced to change rotor head sizes regularly in order to save in the costs of fuel for their units..

now I hope you have and idea how is it like to maintain bacolod jeepneys till my next post..