Engine Diagnostic

[never monday]

Depending on the year it's what ever series and about 1100cc. The injector bodies are the same up to about 2.0L

[Charlie]

Thanks Pat:

I'll see if I can get the model number from the broker.

Charlie

[Alan Wheeler]

Charlie, closely follow Pats advise. Deisels to a point are a simple engine. Approach it in a simple way. Negate variouse simple points first. As Pat said, don't worry about all the complex stuff posted above, run it good and hard first with clean filters and clean fresh fuel. Then go on to the next simple step. Otherwise, it gets confusing with everybody throwing complex thoughts at you. They aren't wrong, just complex and it is easy to get confused. Keep it all simple and cover one point at a time.

[Alan Wheeler]

Actually just to add to that comment of mine above. I learn't this task very early on in my life. I was still a Kid at school. We had a tractor on the farm. I put it in gear to move it forward while my Dad had opened the gate. It stalled with an enormouse Bang. Sio hard and loud, it shot the dipstick high into the air. I tried to restart, but the engine seemed to be siezed solid. We towed it home with the suumption it had had a major and was siezed. No ever tried turning the engine over again. We totaly stripped it down and expecting to find a major problem. We found absolutely nothing. We reassembled it and to our shock, it started right up and ran for many years afterwards without a hickup.
I learn't a very big lesson way back then, and have never forgotten it.

[Charlie]

Thanks Wheels:

I've got this book by Nigel Calder that explains a DIY engine survey. I might also try to get the equipment made up for a leak down tester. If I can get some practice on my tractor. Thing is I'm not goihng to be sure If I did it right. Anyway I'll see how things go. If the maintenance has been logged that will make me alot more comfrotable. The Kubota engine is pretty bullet proof.

Charlie

Charlie, sorry you couldn't make it. Good event this year. To expand on my very condensed earlier post, all of the above info is right on the money. A leakdown test is the best way to go. An easy indicater of cylinder problems is excessive blow by. Heat variences between cylinders can be caused by a number of different problems. A bad injector can cause just as much difference as a bad set of rings. All this will really do is to tell you if there is a problem with the engine, but it will not necessarily isolate the problem. It is also not a sure fire way to determine if there is a problem. Worn rings in all cylinders will not cause one to run hotter than the others. Excessive blow by is a very effective, and non invasive method to determine cylinder wear. Any diesel mechanic should be able to measure the blow by if you can not get to the boat to inspect it yourself.

[Charlie]

Thnaks Kai:

I'll have a blow by test done on the boat as soon as I can. It feels odd not being there so I'll have to think about it. Grossman family has a very good reputation and they run the yard in San Carlos.

Sorry I missed the show but I have to get this house done in order to free up time to go sailing and this has beenthe first week w/o rain in a long time. Maybe we can hook up on SF Bay sometime. I'll take you out on our J105 out of Berkely.

Charlie

Works for me I agree on the dry weather. That is one of the reasons I am home early. Bottom paint tomorrow.