Saturday with me and Perky!

[Butler]

We haven't been on the best of terms lately I have to admit... let that innocent blue exterior fool me. There has been ample cursing , bloody knuckles and tears but today we finally reached an understanding in the re-installation of a rebuilt fuel injection pump.
I put things back together properly and he comes to life once more.
First I messed up the torque on two banjo bolts... no fuel delivery to the first two injectors. Next I bleed no fewer than three times. Next I adjust by a hair the alignment of the pump flange to the block. Finally, I sense life and keep turning it over until...
Anyway, after a rough start the blue devil is now running very nicely. It is pretty clear that the runaway I experienced was due to my overfilling the crankcase ($450.00 tuition rebuilding an injection pump that did not have a faulty governor!!)At first the exhaust was pretty dark and the exhaust run-off was spitting out some dark solids but after awhile the exhaust semed to be comming cleaner. Time will tell, but I'm hoping I did no lasting damage (read- rebuild!) We'll see if I dodged a bullet.

What I learned:
DO NOT OVERFILL THE CRANKCASE!
How to bleed a Perkins 4107
Diesel engine basics
I can actually manage something mechanical unrelated to actual sailing which means I just might be able to manage this boat.
Once again, the joy of not having had to pay somebody to work on my boat.

Much thanks to the folks here and to my mates dockside.
A fine Saturday and I made a new friend... uh or fiend, I dunno...

[Chief Engineer]

A Hearty well done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Strait Shooter]

Congrats on the work. Now have a cold one and bask in the glory.

You know it's short lived, right?

[Alaska JD]

It is so cool to successfully complete projects that have a large learning component. Congratulatons!!!!

[Irish rambler]

Good on ya pal, it's all a learning curve. If you want a really handy mod to bleed your Perkins 4108. A company in the UK called A.S.A.P supplies can sell you a new filter head that uses a canister 'spin on' filter instead of the old CAV sandwich type, they also sell a 'button type' pump that is fitted to the intake pipe banjo union of your filter head. To change a filter, remove the old one, fill the new canister filter with fuel and screw on, open the bottom bleed screw on the injector pump, give a couple of pumps on your button pump with the heel of your hand, when diesel runs clear, repeat the process for the top bleed screw, then start your engine. With practice you can do the job without any bleeding being necessary at all. The same mod works on the 4236 Perkins. Happy cruising.