12th March 2014 - One Step Forward, Two Steps Back
Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2014 7:39 pm
Spoiler: this post is boring unless you're really into diesel engine maintenance.
I went to the boat brandishing the shiny refurbished injector pump (see previous thread from December for pictures, and previous threads for the full story).
Engine bay duly taken apart (soundproofing box lives under the wheelhouse floor normally) I moved to insert pump, with the small mark I'd made on it lined up as it was before I sent it off to Lancing Marine, and the cog rotated when I hardly touched it. As many of you will know, the injector pump has to go in _exactly_ correctly. One cog tooth out and the engine won't work very well, if at all.
So I phoned the local engineers who arrived 10 minutes later and together we properly 'timed' it using the timing marks on the flywheel and inside the injector pump itself. It then fired up no problem! After being sat for the best part of 5 months over winter. Fabulous!
Here's a video of it just after the above moment:
http://youtu.be/tdTQJkO227c
I decided I'd give it a good long run to warm up to make sure it was really working. I'm a massive pessimist when it comes to engines. And then I found it ran very very rough _just_ above idle - then it got a bit worse, then it ran rough at idle too. Fine at higher revs though. But something obviously not right.
Lancing Marine suggested a clogged injector seemed likely - bound to be I think.
30 minutes later, all injectors out and sent off with the engineer. Fuel off.
36 hours later - 5 in the morning - bilge alarm sounds.
10 minutes later, half asleep, torch on head, bilge alarm cause diagnosed. Diesel in the bilges. Lots of it.
Engine block FULL of diesel.
All told there was 50 litres of diesel in the bilge and engine plus a completely saturated, large, BRAND NEW bilge sock I'd just installed. Took a while to pump out and clean the bilge.
Add to this the price of the new oil sat in the engine waiting for the season.
I believe the fuel must have dripped into the block via the fuel return line which was now open as the injectors were taken out. The level in the tank was high (I always try to leave it full over winter to avoid condensation). I disconnected it at the engine end and elevated it. No more diesel into the engine.
Bit annoyed. Wallet unhappy. But it looks like we'll get there in the end.
Who said we should get the injectors done at the same time as the pump? Rob? Good call!
I went to the boat brandishing the shiny refurbished injector pump (see previous thread from December for pictures, and previous threads for the full story).
Engine bay duly taken apart (soundproofing box lives under the wheelhouse floor normally) I moved to insert pump, with the small mark I'd made on it lined up as it was before I sent it off to Lancing Marine, and the cog rotated when I hardly touched it. As many of you will know, the injector pump has to go in _exactly_ correctly. One cog tooth out and the engine won't work very well, if at all.
So I phoned the local engineers who arrived 10 minutes later and together we properly 'timed' it using the timing marks on the flywheel and inside the injector pump itself. It then fired up no problem! After being sat for the best part of 5 months over winter. Fabulous!
Here's a video of it just after the above moment:
http://youtu.be/tdTQJkO227c
I decided I'd give it a good long run to warm up to make sure it was really working. I'm a massive pessimist when it comes to engines. And then I found it ran very very rough _just_ above idle - then it got a bit worse, then it ran rough at idle too. Fine at higher revs though. But something obviously not right.
Lancing Marine suggested a clogged injector seemed likely - bound to be I think.
30 minutes later, all injectors out and sent off with the engineer. Fuel off.
36 hours later - 5 in the morning - bilge alarm sounds.
10 minutes later, half asleep, torch on head, bilge alarm cause diagnosed. Diesel in the bilges. Lots of it.
Engine block FULL of diesel.
All told there was 50 litres of diesel in the bilge and engine plus a completely saturated, large, BRAND NEW bilge sock I'd just installed. Took a while to pump out and clean the bilge.
Add to this the price of the new oil sat in the engine waiting for the season.
I believe the fuel must have dripped into the block via the fuel return line which was now open as the injectors were taken out. The level in the tank was high (I always try to leave it full over winter to avoid condensation). I disconnected it at the engine end and elevated it. No more diesel into the engine.
Bit annoyed. Wallet unhappy. But it looks like we'll get there in the end.
Who said we should get the injectors done at the same time as the pump? Rob? Good call!