Redstone and Combustion engines constantly stopping and starting

I have set up an oil refinery plenty of times in this world of mine, but this time, the redstone and combustion engines I'm using don't operate correctly. Instead of pumping a steady stream of energy, they pump energy then stop, then start again then stop. They never run continuously and I can't figure out why. I've tried breaking and replacing them, but that doesn't help, nor does flipping them off and on again.

Solution 1:

Typicially, combustion engines BY DESIGN will not constantly produce power. when the engine is going down (towards the base) energy will come out. As such, it is advised to have a bunch of engines, shunted so they all begin at different times, to keep a steady stream of power.

it could also be that there is insufficient resources. combustion engines need their energy constantly.

It also could be that whatever you are powering is out of range. use a chunkloader for that.