Dead in the water

[Tusitala]

[QUOTE=zstine;3568623]Cap Morgan.. You can run your engine temporarily off a jerry can which eliminates any issue with dirty tanks. Just pull the fuel line off the tank, or a racor and run it into the jerry can. you can add a connector and extend the line if needed. Keep in mind the fuel return is still going to the tank, so this won't work to motor all the way to Miami unless you route the return line to the jerry can as well. Not a big deal to do and a possible work around to get you going. You should of course fill everything with diesel to minimize air in the system and bleed it.

You should get a new battery, charge it and connect it to the solar so it doesn't die. yes, a honda 2000 would work too and they are carry-on suit case size, so any dinghy that gets you to the boat will move the generator too. though I'd prioritize getting the solar charging working as it is a long term solution.[QUOTE=zstine;3568623]


Capt Morgan, if your mechanic can get it running this is the way to go - been there, done that, have the t-shirt. quick and easy, just need the proper length and diameter fuel line.

Once home you can make your own fuel polishing system. get a 12volt electric fuel pump, a fuel water separator that will take generic spin on cartridges and enough fuel line to run from the fuel tank to your polisher ( set it up in a bucket) and take the line coming out of the fuel pump either to your return line or your fuel fill cap. you'll need a bunch of filters, and a hot marine battery or two. no telling what you'll find in the bottom of the fuel tank.

If you're a current towboatus member with an unlimited or unlimited gold membership having a captain come out to jump you should be free, as would a tow depending on destination. if you're not forget it - would be very costly.

[Captain Bill]

I had the same problem SVfinlandia described with one of my Racors. You also did not mention making sure the fuel line from the tank to the Racor was clear. When my Racor was clogged so was my tank fuel line. I had to blow it out before I could get fuel flowing.

[TrentePieds]

Quote: "-Dont flood the engine by cranking too long with the seawater intake open."

There is really no reason to open the seawater intake UNTIL the engine has started and run for a few seconds. Just so long as you DO do it one then engine is running.

TP

[Mithril Bham]

Check all fuel line connections for leaks

[ColinIOM]

Hi, you should disconnect the house batteries from the engine start battery (hopefully using your 1,2 both switch) and connect the solar to only to charge the engine battery only. That should give you enough to try a start after one day hopefully. Once you get the fuel filters changed and the whole thing bled through by hand, also as previously suggested, it may be better to run a small temporary day tank of clean fuel to get you to somewhere with more resources.
Good luck
Colin

[Captain Bill]

You can also bypass the charge controller to get the voltage in the batteries high enough for the controller to start. It won't be as efficient as having the MPPT controller running so as soon as the battery voltage gets above the critical voltage for the controller to cut in you should remove the bypass.

[Richard Kollmann]

Originally Posted by Chotu

The waves caused you to stir up the crud in the tank. Definitely. And it WILL happen again.

So what you need to do to move this boat (aside from properly having the diesel polished and cleaning the tank) is to buy a ton of the primary filter elements. Like 10? 12? You’ll stir up the gunk for sure again but you’ll get good at changing the filter elements. You just change them each time they plug up. They last a fairly long time even with the worst crud in them. What micron is the primary and what micron is the secondary?

Also, be a little extra when bleeding the injector pump. Put a bucket under it and don’t stop until you have lots and lots of completely red fuel pouring out with no air WHATSOEVER. Then squirt a little more out. Pour the bucket back in the tank.

If you have to bleed at the injectors (not usually necessary, but might be), do the same. Really let it pour out. Not a single bubble.

It will then start right up.

Get a fresh starting battery and charge it all the way somehow. Your engine should start after maybe 5-10 tries if you’ve properly bled things out to the injector pump. Is the alternator working? It should charge the starting batter all the way up by the time you are at the inlet again.

I had this engine before. Speaking from experience with it.

If this engine has a water lift exhaust each time you attempt a start adds water, you don't want water to flow back into engine. I assume you have verified injector pump kill valve is fully open. Remove air cleaner and find a two inch wide piece of cloth about 24 inches long. Assuming battery has a charge in it place several drops of gasoline on tip of cloth and stick end in air intake opening and quickly in gauge starter, make sure cloth is retracted when engine starts running. Do not use starting fluid.

[Scaramanga F25]

A hairline crack in a fuel line if all has been cleaned.

[Cpt Mark]

Dirty fuel. Clean it and use BIOCIDE with every fill and you will not have this issue again. Biobor etc.

Perkins are easy to bleed. Just crack the last injector and squirt WD 40 into the air filter. Engine runs fine on WD40. Or you could use either.

If you decide to go out before polishing your tanks, toss a lot of biocide in there to kill everything and the waves will help knock it off the tank. Then when you polish the tank it will be far cleaner. I used to deliver boats up and down CA coast and in either direction was Morro Bay which is where the water temp changes dramatically and the wave action causing fuel issues in either direction. A case if filters on board. On a boat with really bad issues, you need to clean it. Just connect your electric fuel pump for priming and run it through the efilter and back into the tank. You'll get a lot out. Start off with a large filter, 20-30 microns and when those aren't plugging up, switch to a 10. I don't bother with the manual primary filter as my fuel is cleaned to a level better than those are.

[seandepagnier]

The obvious question: why not raise the sails instead of calling for a tow? It would be possible to simply tack out if the wind is the wrong way.

[clakiep]

If the engine reved up by itself while prop engaged, or your injector pump malfunctioned or it was burning lube oil which somehow got into the cylinders - piston rings ? valve guides ? Check the injector pump, the compression, or maybe a cylinderhead overhaul is due.

Capt. Claus - ocean tramp of the eighties

[Davidhoy]

Cap Morgan, I live on my boat in the mooring field just south of the inlet. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help…

Regards,
David

[NSboatman]

Much of the previous advice is good. It is definitely a fuel issue, probably starvation from clogging; but possibly also air in the system.

Follow the bleeding advice above.

A trick I have used many times on many different recalcitrant 4-108’s is this: you can partially decompress the engine when cranking it by holding your hand over the air intake. Just pop off the little hat thing and make a seal with your palm over the air intake, then crank. You’ll feel the vacuum and hear the revs shoot up significantly as compared to a regular crank. Do this for 2-3 secs of cranking and pull your hand away. The inrush of air and sudden compression stroke (combined with the already injected diesel in the cylinders) should get you a very quick fire in at least 2 cylinders. It will kick things over faster and faster; and she should pick right up.

Dodgy? Feels wrong? Yup- but works a treat!!

Another trick (also used in combination with the previous one) is to get your handy bottle of wd40, and spray that in the intake as you crank. Use the spray pattern not the stream. That engine will run on wd no problem- in fact you can control the revs by modulating the spray with your finger. It has helped me fast-track a bleeding and restart a few times.

And -used in combination with the manual decompression- it’s a very effective trick on a cold engine that has no flame start or glow plugs instead of using ether- which is generally not recommended and a tool of (very) last resort.

Best of luck!

[cottonsail]

Had a 4-107 Perkins. I had to crack loose all the injector lines at the injector and crank the engine at full throttle to bleed all the air out. When I had fuel flowing I would tighten the fitting and have a running engine. Had to do this if the engine sat for a long time. Then I added a small electric booster pump and fuel pressure/vacuum gage to the fuel supply line. Now it's just flip on the booster pump and watch the pressure gage and start it up. once running I shut off the booster pump. I watch the gage go to vacuum. -2 to -4 PSIG is fine. Anything much higher tells me it's time to change the filter.

[Searles]

Dirty fuel possibly dirty injector pump ,verry fine gauze filter in the injector pump inlet ,one also in the lift pump ,cleanliness is next to godliness when dealing with diesel fuel injection ,bleedthe injector pump verry throughly only need to crack one injector connection ,there was a clock work starter motor for these engines ,good for emergencies in strange places .⛵️⚓️