I have a Westerbeke 30 (formerly called Four-91) 4-cylinder diesel engine in my CS36. I bought the boat two years ago and maintenance records indicate that a top-end rebuild was done about 2 years before I bought it. The motor worked great the first season, other than a plugged heat exchanger full of algae and barnacles from sitting for 2+ years.
I replaced both the fuel filter / water separator AND the secondary fuel filter just upstream of the injector pump as well as changed all the fluid and belts, oil filter, etc. New starting battery.
The following spring (last year) the engine would not start first time out. It would crank and crank and crank and crank but no coughs, no nothing. I figured I must have air some place and systematically bled the whole system. Voila, started right up.
So the same thing happened this spring. And I used the same fix. Again, engine running. However, two weeks later I had the same symtoms, pretty much. When I first push the starter (after running glowplugs ~30s) it sounded like it was on its' way to starting, periodically coughing, catching, dying. After about 10s of cranking, the coughs and puffs of smoke abruptly ended... sounded like it was getting zero fuel. At this point I'm frustrated... we're loaded up to catch the tide, and my wife has "how long is this going to take?" on the tip of her tongue. So I cracked all four injectors, cranked for 10 or 15s, tightened them back up and it started right up.
Any guesses as to what could be causing this? Visibly, it's tough to tell if I have a fuel leak as the engine does drip a fair bit of oil. Even after prolonged running of 4 or 5 hours, there's no smell of diesel so I surmise I don't have a leak on the high-pressure side.
Any suggestions greatly appreciated.
Dave
CS36 - dolce fa niente
I replaced both the fuel filter / water separator AND the secondary fuel filter just upstream of the injector pump as well as changed all the fluid and belts, oil filter, etc. New starting battery.
The following spring (last year) the engine would not start first time out. It would crank and crank and crank and crank but no coughs, no nothing. I figured I must have air some place and systematically bled the whole system. Voila, started right up.
So the same thing happened this spring. And I used the same fix. Again, engine running. However, two weeks later I had the same symtoms, pretty much. When I first push the starter (after running glowplugs ~30s) it sounded like it was on its' way to starting, periodically coughing, catching, dying. After about 10s of cranking, the coughs and puffs of smoke abruptly ended... sounded like it was getting zero fuel. At this point I'm frustrated... we're loaded up to catch the tide, and my wife has "how long is this going to take?" on the tip of her tongue. So I cracked all four injectors, cranked for 10 or 15s, tightened them back up and it started right up.
Any guesses as to what could be causing this? Visibly, it's tough to tell if I have a fuel leak as the engine does drip a fair bit of oil. Even after prolonged running of 4 or 5 hours, there's no smell of diesel so I surmise I don't have a leak on the high-pressure side.
Any suggestions greatly appreciated.
Dave
CS36 - dolce fa niente