Engine Problems

[Smith21]

Hey everyone I have run into an engine problem and hoping someone could help me out. When I start my engine it runs fine in neutral for about 5 minutes then starts smoking white smoke. So then I tried to take it out of my slip and when I put it in drive and it loses the power I had and I even had the throttle the whole way open it even some times shuts off. Any one have any ideas

[jeff gillette]

Do you have a temp. gauge, Sounds like steam coming out of exhaust.

[ixtlan22]

Type of engine would help...gas or diesel? Also, make, model, brand etc. How did it run before?...and my favorite question for all engines...what changed and when? might help you get better answers.

[JusDreaming]

my first thought would be a fuel system problem,filter, pump or injector. Just went through this and had similar problems.I am assuming it is a diesel

[Smith21]

It's a universal diesel 24 horse power. How it was running before was that the guy that I bought the boat off of had taken and got a new engine which is the one that I am dealing with right now. When he ran the new fuel lines he had just ran one line straight from the tank to the injectors. So I had bought all new fuel lines and ran it how it should be because he never completely removed the old fuel lines. Then once I ran it since then it has given me the problem I have now

[btrayfors]

Sounds to me like some water in the fuel. Check the filters...presumably you have good filtering between the tank and the engine. Also, check the fuel in the tank for water content.

Bill

[Smith21]

Would the water in the fuel cause the engine to also smoke (white smoke)?

[mrm]

Is the white smoke disappearing fast (steam) or does it linger on (likely unburnt fuel)?
Does it have any smell?

[btrayfors]

Originally Posted by Smith21

Would the water in the fuel cause the engine to also smoke (white smoke)?

Yes. It's one of the symptoms.

But, white smoke can also be caused by lots of other things, some relatively minor (like condensation in crankcase, fuel starvation, fuel contamination, etc.), and some rather major (like blown head gasket, cracked block, etc.).

Hope you're is one of the simple ones.

Bill

[Irish rambler]

White smoke(not steam) is air getting into the fuel the system. Steam is excessive heat/lack of seawater cooling, Light blue smoke it's burning oil. Black smoke is excessive fuel or choked air intake.
Hope this helps.

[Smith21]

So if air is getting into the fuel system would that cause a lack of power when I would the engine in drive?

[AnchorageGuy]

Don't limit yourself to looking for water issues. Most often white smoke from the exhaust is caused by unburnt fuel. Especially since you are having poss of power issues. It may be an injector pump or injector causing this. I'm a bit confused. How did you get the engine to start with the fuel lines connected from the tank to the injectors? With no lift pump to move fuel it can't get to the injectors. It needs to feed from the tank to a filter to a lift pump to the injector pump to the injectors. So something doesn't make sense. Chuck

[Smith21]

Here's what happen when I got the boat a good friend of mine and I started to clean it up and when we went and looked at the engine we saw that the electric was like a rats nest and so we started to get all that straightened out which most of them were dead ended wires that were not being used any more. So then looked at the fuel lines and saw that when the guy put a new engine in that he didn't take the time to run the fuel lines correctly he just ran a fuel line straight from the tank to the injectors. So I had asked a guy in the marina that knows how the fuel lines should be and do he had help me run them correctly. But ever since they had been ran the right way the engine runs but smokes when put in gear and also looses power.

[casual]

If it's an M4 30 Universal they had electric pumps.If so there is a screen filter at the bottom of the electric pump,remove and clean.You should had a filter in line before the pump,then the engin spin on filter after the pump.I,would start there also depending on how the pump is wired you should hear the pump run when you turn the key on.Perhaps you have a bad pump,or connection.

[Smith21]

It does have electric pump which I did find out about after the first time I tried to start the engine back up after also having to reprise the engine. It does turn on but I didn't really give the filters a thought about cleaning them. I'm guessing that could also be another reason for having a loss of power when it's put in drive.