A seized engine alternator may be the cause of excavator not starting

This is that Volvo EC210B excavator that we were unable to get the engine running. The operator thought it was the fuel system at first, so he did a full housekeeping for the fuel system.

After the whole morning spent cleaning the fuel system it worked for a while but when he came back to start the engine again after lunch break, the same issue persists. The engine simply wouldn't start.

The operator thought it was fuel system at first, the storage battery was full and there were noises from the engine when the engine was trying to start. Later, he smelled an odor akin to burning rubber. 

Turns out it was the belt.

This could be a new issue for people who had more experience in direct injection engine

But newer auto injection engine is different. For direct injection engine, engine ignition has nothing to do with fan belt. Even without a fan belt, direct injection engine can still be turned on but for auto injection engine, the fan belt has to power the fuel pump for engine ignition to happen.

Hence, our second guess is the belt. It could be the belt that was the problem and thus, caused the fuel pump unable to function. 

Fortunately we had a spare fan belt. We took the new fan belt and put it on. The problem was resolved but after a while, we heard the same noise. We finally took a look at the engine alternator. The alternator wasn't rotating all the time. It was dead and it was the culprit all along.

We swapped the alternator in the end.

Original post: cehome.com