Can you get Pressure in Oil Tank?

[cheslr]

The sheen never really let up before or after the new injectors. I have had a mechanic working on this so not sure if he checked oil after replacing injectors. That is the first question I will ask tomorrow.

Fuel is probably a couple years old. After I found the water, we had that tank drained and cleaned. I brought brand new fuel to run from a Jerry can today when I found this oil mess and did not want to cause further damage so I didn't even start the engine today. Does it sound like a good next step would be to drain and replace oil then run with that clean fuel and see if it smokes an/or if fuel level goes up?

I am debating whether to keep the same mechanic on this. I found water and oil issues so I am wondering if this is all normal troubleshooting steps?

[scoobert]

i do not believe the lift pump can leak into the oil sump in this system.
the lift pump is electric, and simply bolted to the engine, not gear driven.

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by sailorchic34

One other off hand thought is to check your crankcase breather. Could be its clogged.

If your making oil, check your lift pump for a leak first. Its more common for the lift pump to get a tear in the diaphragm. Though a leaking seal in an injector pump would do the same.

Way to go SC34! My philosophy is: when there are two possible problem areas associated with a fault, check out the less expensive one first!

The lift pump is a far more common source of diesel in the oil than a faulty injector pump, and vastly less expensive to fix. Seems a no brainer to me, mate!

Good luck.

Jim

[scoobert]

Originally Posted by cheslr

The sheen never really let up before or after the new injectors.

this is troubling to me. either you have two sets of bad injectors, or the oil rings are worn out and allowing oil into the cylinders. HOWEVER if that was the case i would not expect to see high oil level. so i will assume this is fuel.

how many hours was the engine run after injector replacement?
typically if i do any major engine work, i change the oil. lets assume he does the same until we are told otherwise.
if not lets assume the engine oil level was good, because what competent mechanic start an engine without a mental checklist.....

oil level and condition, check, add as needed
transmission oil level and condition, check
fuel level, check
coolant level and condition, check
voltage, check
glow plug relay, check
crank.

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by scoobert

i do not believe the lift pump can leak into the oil sump in this system.
thre lift pump is electric, and simply bolted to the engine, not gear driven.

good point, mate. If the engine does not use the common cam driven diaphragm pump, then my earlier comment is invalid.

Jim

[DeepFrz]

If it already has an electric lift pump then I too stand corrected.

[scoobert]

i took that diagram from the manual. if you would like any of the three manuals for your engine, they are all here, and free.
westerbeke, marine generators, engines, Official Site

[cheslr]

That is the diagram from our engine so looks like lift pump is out as the culprit... I keep staring at that manual and the parts diagram one trying to imagine what the heck cold be going wrong.

We only ran the engine for maybe 4-5 hours with the injectors swapped out. The oil level was fine when we first started her a couple hours before that injector swap (after sitting for a year+). Don't know if oil was checked any time during that 6-7 hour period but will ask.

Could the oil rings be blown on an engine that only has 300 +/- hours on it? It seems weird that I would need to deal with one of these big money type problems when she hasn't been run all that much.

[scoobert]

Originally Posted by cheslr

That is the diagram from our engine so looks like lift pump is out as the culprit... I keep staring at that manual and the parts diagram one trying to imagine what the heck cold be going wrong.

We only ran the engine for maybe 4-5 hours with the injectors swapped out. The oil level was fine when we first started her a couple hours before that injector swap (after sitting for a year+). Don't know if oil was checked any time during that 6-7 hour period but will ask.

Could the oil rings be blown on an engine that only has 300 +/- hours on it? It seems weird that I would need to deal with one of these big money type problems when she hasn't been run all that much.

if an engine was run without oil, yes.


i would ask, why did they take the engine out and sell it?
does it really only have 300 hours on it?

my story, i have a westerbeke 63B, was told it was 10 years old with 950 hours. after a 4 hour log review, its 20 years old, with 950 hours.

i have not seen bad injectors on an engine with only 300 hours, ever in my life. nor have i seen a bad fuel pump at 300 hours. i am skeptical of the life of the engine prior to your purchase of it.

[cheslr]

Can you tell age of engine with a serial number or something like that?

[scoobert]

i personally cannot. maybe call westerbeke. that still will not give you the hours.

hours are the true issue. as well as any potential damage that may have occurred.

[pbiJim]

Originally Posted by scoobert

i have not seen bad injectors on an engine with only 300 hours, ever in my life. nor have i seen a bad fuel pump at 300 hours. i am skeptical of the life of the engine prior to your purchase of it.

I have. It was the result of bad fuel.

[scoobert]

Originally Posted by pbiJim

I have. It was the result of bad fuel.

indeed. damage may kill it fast. but it would need to be something very wrong, not just water, unless it had water in it, and it sat there for the year with water in all the parts. these old IDI diesels, are pretty forgiving. i have run one on 50/50 mixture of gasoline and diesel before on a road truck.

[cheslr]

So, the oil has been drained and changed by our mechanic and the engine ran a while (close to an hour) with no change in oil level. I need to get back down to the boat and run it even longer and keep checking, but we have have found this issue. I had a mechanic looking at it and they also talked to the Westerbeke folks at the boat show yesterday and it appears this could have been what happened:

We have 2 fuel tanks. I noticed after running the engine for a while that the valves were set such that fuel was being pulled from one tank and returned to another (we just got her a couple weeks ago when this all started and it must have come this way ). This is not correct - they should pull and return to the same tank. When I took the fuel fill cap off the full "return" tank, it was completely full (up to the deck fitting). Some fuel came out of the tank vent line when I was running it, but not a ton, so maybe the pressure at the full tank was not allowing return fuel to blow out the vent (vent may have been clogged, etc.?). The return line off of the injectors returns fuel to the injector pump along with the fuel supply line (and if it can't get into the injector pump in theory it returns to the tank). If the return fuel coming off of the injectors was having a hard time returning to the completely full fuel tank due to too much pressure in the system at the tank for whatever reason, the fuel would have nowhere to go. So, that diesel fuel could then get by the seals (not sure if that would be injector pump seals or what) and get into the oil.

The mechanic said the Westerbeke folks confirmed that this could happen with this setup.

So, I need to check that fuel tank vent line to make sure it is not clogged, make sure the tank valves are always set right to supply and return to the same tank, and then run the engine under load for a half hour to an hour and then check the oil level to make sure no diesel got in oil several times, and make sure this makes the smoke stop. If so, then all may be OK. Does that sound like a good next step?
Thank you all for your insight and help with this one!

[Cheechako]

Every vent in my boat was clogged in 3 months by little bees when I stored it in Florida once. So... maybe...