Bukh DV20 starter motor not working. Any suggestions?

[James_Calvert]

Can you fix up a temporary fuel supply to the lift pump, either extending its hose or replacing it?

Use a clear pipe so you can see the fuel is moving or not.

 

[joyfull]

It's been more than 10 years since I last worked on my old BUKH DV20 with a CAV filter. However, that looks like the bleed screw and you should be able to squirt fuel in using a large syringe. I think some CAV housings didn't have a bleed screw, just blanking plugs. Easy to tell by unscrewing the setscrew and putting a fine wire into the hole.

It's also easy to fill the engine mounted filter with clean fuel when changing the element. That should allow you to prime the lift pump very quickly and let you know it is working without dismantling it. I would still advise a quick check on the pump diaphragm and valves if this doesn't help.

Thank you for the wise words, wish you lived in Plymouth.

I will try and fill the bowl via the bleed screw as you suggest. The pump lever is very loose and shows no pressure at all, even when progressively turning the flywheel.

Sadly (typically) the main engine filter bowl is very inaccessible from the side, so leaning upside down through the cockpit floor hatch from the rear or removing the water strainer and air intake box from the front. Then when I get their I have no idea what I will find! The lack of access has clearly affected the level of annual maintenance on a 45 year old engine!

Is there a filter that goes in the engine filter bowl? Any idea of part numbers? Looks like Bosch

 

[joyfull]

I guess it will need a good clean up in addition to a new filter.
Is there anything to take care of / be careful with like gaskets etc?

 

[Boater Sam]

Is there an Engineer who has tools near you? Suggest you ask and find someone who knows what he is doing and turns up with the tackle to do work.
No one who turns up without tools can be called an engineer.

 

[joyfull]

Is there an Engineer who has tools near you? Suggest you ask and find someone who knows what he is doing and turns up with the tackle to do work.
No one who turns up without tools can be called an engineer.

That would be brilliant. I did have an engineer come and look. He suggested I installed a new engine. It is 45 years old and has had minimal maintenance. Access is atrocious. All the wiring looks terrible, with bits of old wires hanging around going nowhere. The rev counter, oil pressure gauge and temperature gauge don't work. It worked no problem first time every time for the last two years, two trips to the Scilies etc. Just decided not to start this year. Turns over but doesn't fire. So I thought about fuel supply.... and started with one filter, the easiest to get to and found it rusty. That's about as far as I have reached. Now going through the fuel supply system as best as I can with terrible access to the engine lift pump, injectors (very rusty and I doubt disturbed for many years), pipes all knarled and doubtful......

 

[joyfull]

Can you fix up a temporary fuel supply to the lift pump, either extending its hose or replacing it?

Use a clear pipe so you can see the fuel is moving or not.

That sounds brilliant idea. I could just bypass all the dodgy pipe work and old rust filters.

Thank you.

 

[penfold]

Thank you for the wise words, wish you lived in Plymouth.

I will try and fill the bowl via the bleed screw as you suggest. The pump lever is very loose and shows no pressure at all, even when progressively turning the flywheel.

Sadly (typically) the main engine filter bowl is very inaccessible from the side, so leaning upside down through the cockpit floor hatch from the rear or removing the water strainer and air intake box from the front. Then when I get their I have no idea what I will find! The lack of access has clearly affected the level of annual maintenance on a 45 year old engine!

Is there a filter that goes in the engine filter bowl? Any idea of part numbers? Looks like Bosch View attachment 114250View attachment 114251

This filter is a disposable canister; it unscrews, you throw it away and fit a new one. They normally come with the seals needed and most variants have a thumbscrew arrangement on the bottom to allow you to drain off a small amount of fuel to check for accumulated water

More generally I'm not sure why access is so bad; Centaurs a pretty roomy for what they are and usually come with VP MD11 or similar which are bulkier than Bukhs. Notwithstanding the need for engine compartments to be reasonably fireproof consider cutting some new access hatches, otherwise even a new engine will be neglected.

 

[joyfull]

This filter is a disposable canister; it unscrews, you throw it away and fit a new one. They normally come with the seals needed and most variants have a thumbscrew arrangement on the bottom to allow you to drain off a small amount of fuel to check for accumulated water

More generally I'm not sure why access is so bad; Centaurs a pretty roomy for what they are and usually come with VP MD11 or similar which are bulkier than Bukhs. Notwithstanding the need for engine compartments to be reasonably fireproof consider cutting some new access hatches, otherwise even a new engine will be neglected.

Yes, I am seriously thinking of cutting an access hatch in the port bunk. Not structural and easy to cover afterwards

 

[Mistroma]

Yes, I am seriously thinking of cutting an access hatch in the port bunk. Not structural and easy to cover afterwards

I was lucky with the Southerly in that respect, the port side of the berth slid out. In fact, it was a sort of L-shaped piece of wood and the narrow part slid back into a groove at top and bottom. The front part went from floor to top step. Undo three small screws on the side, lift top step, slide front section with step upwards and pull the side clear. A couple of minutes and I had easy access to front, port side and rear.

I'm pretty certain that the Centaur is solid GRP on both sides of the engine, not a removable panel. Most things require use of both hands and I guess you will need to have side access fairly far forward. It would let you to reach in with one hand and use the other through the existing gap. Of course that only works if the things you work on are fairly far forward.

 

[PetiteFleur]

Well worth making access panels for engine maintenance. I did this for a BMC 1.5 several years ago when I bought my current boat. Access only through cockpit hatch and small rear hatch. Poorly maintained as when I changed the oil, it was very thick sludgy oil. I immediately cut a new hatch at the front of the engine behind the companion way steps. Excellent access now, and you can get at all the bits, especially after fitting a new engine the following year.

 

[DownWest]

Had the same problem with the Trapper, so just cut out a panel in the quarter berth side. Big difference to access and was about ten minutes work.
It does sound a bit like your pump is bust, if you can't feel any spring resistance to the lever.
Try a small container of fuel with a plastic pipe direct to the injector pump, maybe via the output tube from the last filter. If that works, then pull the pump and the filters off for a clean and change.
As above, I would be looking at how clean the fuel in the tank is.

 

[Bilgediver]

Don't forget that some of the Bukh lift pumps have a wee basket filter hidden inside them. If your lift pump housing has a screw in the centre of the top then take of the cover and see if there is a small plastic filter basket inside. It is easily washed in fresh diesel and replaced. This has caused a anxious moments on boats till discovered.

 

[Mistroma]

Don't forget that some of the Bukh lift pumps have a wee basket filter hidden inside them. If your lift pump housing has a screw in the centre of the top then take of the cover and see if there is a small plastic filter basket inside. It is easily washed in fresh diesel and replaced. This has caused a anxious moments on boats till discovered.

Yes, that's the filter I mentioned in #58, item 3. I remember it as a flat, circular plastic mesh but it has been many years. Certainly easy to wash and mine did once have a few small particles before I fitted extra filtration. Large water trap, CAV combined filter with trap all before the pump. The OP should certainly be opening the pump to check it as it only involves a single screw as you stated.

 

[joyfull]

Still working out how to get clean fuel to the pump. The first inline filter looks untouched for ages and very rusty. There is a metal pipe from the tank, then continues with a small flexible hose. Should I replace it or just bypass it (the filter is reluctant to unscrew) .

 

[179580]

Where in Plymouth?

 

[joyfull]

Where in Plymouth?

Saltash. Jubilee Green mooring just off

 

[DownWest]

You are going to have to strip the filter anyway, so might as well be now. If it breaks, then move on and fit a new one. Doesn't have to be from Bukh, that is a standard AC one. Parts4Engines prob have something that fits.

Face with a puzzle on an Espace car. I fitted an electric pump. Cheap off the web, it could help you sort this.

 

[DownWest]

Here's a thought, our local B&Q has little garden sprayers at €6 a pop. How about using one as a temp fuel tank? Stuff the plastic pipe onto a connection/tube after the lift pump and give a few puffs to lightly pressurise the fuel and help bleeding the air out. Then you could concentrate on the injector pump and starting.
Even fit it after the filters as it would be clean fuel.