Cat 3116 Tune Up Tools and Procedures

CAT 3116 Diesel Engine Tune Up from John Whelan on Vimeo.

Cat 3116 Injector Adjustment

The video shows how the Cat Tuneup Tool Kit works on a 3116 diesel engine. When the injector is installed I find it's easier to place the dial contact on the injector by feel and then having a look to make sure it's seated properly. In the Cat tune up kit you need the dial indicator, contact point, timing gauge block and magnetic base.

On top of the valve cover is a data plate that has the factory timing spec. This is the reading that you need to stick to when the timing tool is all set up. First of all you need to preset the dial indicator on the timing gauge block and set it exactly to 62.00 mm.

Rotate the engine so cylinder #1 is on the compression stroke. Both valves will be closed and cylinder #6 will be on the exhaust stroke. Injectors 3 5 6 can be set in this position along with 1 2 4 intake and 1 3 5 exhaust valves. (Intake .015 in exhaust .025 in) The injector spec on the valve cover can vary plus or minus .020 mm.

Rotate the engine 360 degrees and adjust the remaining valves and injectors. The Cat tool kit comes with a manual and gives you a detailed step by step procedure for these adjustments. It's a fussy operation but once everything is set these engines run very nicely. Keep the valve adjustment on a regular schedule because of a weakness in the exhaust valve stems that blow apart if there running at high temperature and rpms.

I hope the video gives you a better idea what's involved with injector set up on the 3116. The entire tune up kit is pricey and the last time I checked it was up around $4000.00 Canadian. We had to purchase it however that was in the mid 1990s and we paid much less than that. You can not get away with setting up these engines (except valve adjustment) without the kit.

Cat 3116 Tune Up Steps

The 3116 Cat diesel engine tune up is quite involved because of the rack that controls the fuel injection system. The synchronization of the rack is the first step once the injectors are installed. The rack is mounted and torqued down on top of the head linked up to each injector rack.

The injectors must have hold downs installed on top of the return springs so the injector rack moves freely. The hold downs are included in the tune up kit. The #1 injector rack is non adjustable because it's calibrated at the factory. The tune up tools include a calibration fixture that has to be set up on #1 injector to enable the remaining 5 injectors to be synchronized.

After synchronization the full fuel setting is checked followed by injector timing and finally the valve setting. This is an extremely abbreviated explanation on setting up a Cat 3116 and without tools and some training it makes this job a tough one. The engine valve clearances can be checked but the rest definitely needs the tune up kit to complete the job properly.

Once going through the steps a couple of times setting these engines up it gets easier. Following the manual works it just takes time to get the calibration settings correct.