Fuel problem

[Charlie]

My guess would be an air leak somewhere. I started checking fuel lines from the tank to the engine. I have found that the hose clamps can actually tear a hole in the fuel lines so check to make sure that this hasn't happened. In the Caulder Bible he states that you can tell if there is an air leak by putting the fuel line that leaves the lift pump into a glass bottle partially filled with fuel and if any bubbles show up there is a leak. I didn't try this but I should have.

Good luck. Let us know how it turns out.

[hellosailor]

Charlie-


Leaks: I can almost--almost but not quite--understand deck stepped masts and some of the odd ways the Brits have built some of their boats 9for the North Sea) with leak avoidance in mind. Little things like double plates clamped to the deck from each side, so the chainplates don't actually penetrate the hull, but ROUND bolts do. Round seals better, but then again, now the load probably is unequally split unless all the bolts are torqued up the same way. The Brits are good with brewing things, but when I hear "British Engineering" I tend to think of Lucas electrical systems and forget about Rolls Royce jet engines.[g]

I'm also superstitious about not having sails ready to use all the time, comes from having had to scurry once too often to raise them I supposed. I'll flake and even tie the main on the way in--but never cover it until the boat is secured to something. I just DON'T TRUST DIESELS, I know the damned things will run forever in order to get you relaxed about them and then, WHAM, stab you in the back.

Getting to your mystery air leak, do the fuel line fittings on that engine use crush washers? Little thin copper foil washers where the lines hook up to things? I found out the hard way, on some engines you can bleed the whole damn system forever and it will never run for more than a day--if you don't replace the crush washers. It seems like no one ever has them in stock when you need them, so if you need them buy a whole box full. They are designed to be USED ONCE AND THEN REPLACED, they simply are not supposed to work if you open the joint and then close it again--even if you just loosened it up to bleed. Go figure, little nickel and dime parts killing the whole works.

I hope you bought that marina launch driver a beer![g]

[Charlie]

HS:

I bought them a six pack each. Iasked them what kind of beer they drank but they wouldn't say and told me it was uneccessary(sp?) so I went out and bought them one of my favorites. It was especially nice since it took me most of a day to get the engine running.

[easterly]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

Charlie-


Leaks: I can almost--almost but not quite--understand deck stepped masts and some of the odd ways the Brits have built some of their boats 9for the North Sea) with leak avoidance in mind. Little things like double plates clamped to the deck from each side, so the chainplates don't actually penetrate the hull, but ROUND bolts do. Round seals better, but then again, now the load probably is unequally split unless all the bolts are torqued up the same way. The Brits are good with brewing things, but when I hear "British Engineering" I tend to think of Lucas electrical systems and forget about Rolls Royce jet engines.[g]

I'm also superstitious about not having sails ready to use all the time, comes from having had to scurry once too often to raise them I supposed. I'll flake and even tie the main on the way in--but never cover it until the boat is secured to something. I just DON'T TRUST DIESELS, I know the damned things will run forever in order to get you relaxed about them and then, WHAM, stab you in the back.

Getting to your mystery air leak, do the fuel line fittings on that engine use crush washers? Little thin copper foil washers where the lines hook up to things? I found out the hard way, on some engines you can bleed the whole damn system forever and it will never run for more than a day--if you don't replace the crush washers. It seems like no one ever has them in stock when you need them, so if you need them buy a whole box full. They are designed to be USED ONCE AND THEN REPLACED, they simply are not supposed to work if you open the joint and then close it again--even if you just loosened it up to bleed. Go figure, little nickel and dime parts killing the whole works.

I hope you bought that marina launch driver a beer![g]

The best thing to do with crush washers to make sure they seal is to take the temper out of them, you will make them dead soft copper. Take a propane torch and heat them up until they are glowing red, remove torch and let cool. They will seal every time.

[hellosailor]

Hmmm...re-annealing thin foil washers. VERY interesting concept, but I think I'd get a roll of heavy weight aluminum foil and a manicure scissor out at that point.<G>

Reminds me of what Landrover used to say in their "field" manuals. If you blew a head gasket in the middle of the veldt and couldn't get a new one flown in, you could make do with a freshly dressed gazelle hide. Supposedly.

I mean, do I dare ask how much even Volvo could charge for crush washers these days?[g]