Engine still not running / need advice

[Omatako]

A puff of white smoke is usually an indication that there is water in the fuel. When you bleed, undo each injector pipe at the injector and clear the contents of the line. If you did suck up some water it is possible that the pipes are still full of it and then you clearly won't start.

If it starts on water, please post the result here - we could all use a break on our fuel costs

Andre

[Idiens]

Originally Posted by mauidan15

A couple of weeks ago I was out and the engine started to rev down, ramped back up for a while and then down again and just shut off. A little bit of white smoke came out and that's about it. Since then I've removed and cleaned out the fuel tank. Polished the fuel and have bleed the fuel system out, changed the fuel filter a couple of times. I've pretty well determined it's not a fuel issue. When I go to start the boat it turns over strong but never catches a spark like it's actually going to start. Guessing its possibly a compression problem? The engine is a 3GM Yanmar. Any suggestions apprieciated.

If you have got all the air out of the fuel system (no bubbles, just diesel, coming out when you loosen the pipe junction to the injectors and turn the engine over) I would start checking elsewhere before pulling injectors.

One thing to check is that the exhaust system is not blocked. If you have been turning the engine over without it firing, for more than a few seconds, and have not closed the raw water inlet stop ****, then you may be close to serious trouble. The raw water ends up in the exhaust and if it back-fills to enter a cylinder, that is really bad news. Depending on the exhaust system, it depends how best to empty the residual water out and check for a clear blow through.

In any case, close the raw water inlet before turning the engine any more - until it runs again.

[BarryL]

Hello,

Some comments / suggestions:

I'm not familiar with your engine, does it have glow plugs? Is the temperature cold (below 70)? Diesels can be very tough to start when cold. If you have glow plugs, are you energizing them for long enough and do they work? You should see a large current drain when the glow plugs are energized.

If you don't have glow plugs, forget what I wrote.

You wrote that you have bled the fuel system, are you getting fuel to the injectors? If not, you may have more bleeding to do.

I recently had the electric fuel pump fail. I changed it and bled the fuel to the fuel filter mounted on the engine. The engine did not start. I had to bleed the fuel to the injectors. After I did that, the engine started after about a minute of trying.

Good luck,
Barry

[JimsCAL]

I'm with Omatako that it could be water in the fuel. If you can, try pumping a little from the bottom of the tank with a portable pump to see what you get.