Do i need to bleed my diesel ?

[tgalea]

Hi All,

I had to unplug all my fuel lines from the tank, return etc due to maintenance works in the bilge and painting and whatever.

Now everything else is in place and filled the Racor filter glass with diesel too as recommended in the Racor manual.

The engine manual actually says that is you have a return line back to the tank the system is self-bleeding ?

Would appreciate any advise. Battery is charging right now so once it's ready i'd like to run the engine for a while after all the maintenance to check all is well.

Second Quest.

Engine is sea-water cooled. What should i do to supply it with fresh water from the garden hose. Do i need to actually attach the hose to the engine system or just holding it under the hull fitting should be enough ?

Thanks once again & regards
Tyrone.

 

[Roberto]

Better not to attach the hose directly to the engine... best way is to untie the engine water intake hose from the -closed- seacock and put it into a bucket kept full of fresh water supplied from the garden hose, gentle flow and no over pressure then

 

[David2452]

Should self bleed but if she fails to run after a fer cranks then it may help, just make sure all the lines and filters are full.

A better way to get the coolant in is to run a hose that will make a good seal in the intake hose (you may need to remove it from the skin fitting) from a bucket and keep the bucket full with a hose. This may seem a bit unnecessary, but it will make sure you don't accidentally get water in the cylinders.

David

 

[Twister_Ken]

No bleeding help at all

Bleeding - no idea.

Running in fresh water - don't plug the hose into the cooling water outlet - you risk pressuring the system and sending so much water through it that the engine won't reach operating temperature. Just possible that this might also force water into places it's not meant to go.

Rather, use a short piece of hose to extend the cooling water outlet into a bucket (or some such) which is about at waterline level. Run the freshwater hose into the bucket to keep it full, and let the engine suck in the amount of cooling water it needs.

If you are winterising, you can add some anti-corrosion fluid to the bucket just before you shut everything down. BTW, make sure the boat is extremely well chocked off if you run the engine ashore. The vibration can rattle props loose, with expensive results.

 

[stubate]

hi
as it happens ive just done mine this weekend and had a few probs which are now sorted.
1:my line system is that long that the puny little lift pump took so long to fill the system that my thumb wore out !! also found a bit of kaka under one of the lift pump valves which didnt help matters.
to answer the question if you have a long system to suck the fuel thru it doesnt matter if it is self bleeding, you will either flatten the battery or fill the silencer with water and then the engine if you are not careful. moral fill all the filters by hand and if you have a lift pump, use it.
2: running the engine, dont connect the hose direct to the pump or you will again fill the silencer and then the engine, fill a 5 gallon container, put a tube on the suction side of the water pump and let it suck it from the container, dribble the water into the container from the hose into the container to keep up, this is also good for getting antifreeze into the system for winterizing. the 5 galls doesnt last long by the way !!
just done that this weekend as well
best of luck
s

 

[david_bagshaw]

you say

What should i do to supply it with fresh water from the garden hose. Do i need to actually attach the hose to the engine system or just holding it under the hull fitting should be enough

As others have said dont attach hosedirectly to engine.

Personally I poke the hose upinto the filter housing & turn on .(if it is of the bowl type where the outlet to the engine is at the bottom of the bowl) this has the advantage the engine system is not pressured, as the excess just falls out back through the skin fitting


David
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.euroboating.net>http://www.euroboating.net</A>

 

[oldharry]

Cooling water: Much better to let the engine pump lift the water from a bucket kept topped up with a garden hose, there is then no danger of either flooding the engine, or overheating it because not enough water is getting through.

Bleeding: manufacturers generally recommend the starter should not be operated for more than 10 secdonds at a time, allowing time for it to cool down. In my experience you can safely crank the engine for considerably longer - 20 seconds or more. Bleeding long lines can take considerably longer to clear the lines and fill the filters etc, so manual bleeding is better - if a lot slower and more tedious!

If the lift pump seems not to be doing very much when hand operated, it may be the engine cam is holding the operating lever down. Turn the crank half a revolution or so, and the pump will work much better. If not the pump may be suspect. It should deliver a good healthy dollop of fuel on each stroke.

 

[davtt]

I also did mine last weekend (seems to have been the weekend for it ). I detached the intake hose from the saildrive seacock (making sure it is closed if still afloat) and then put it into a bucket with water + antifreeze. This will flush it out and as the antifreeze contains a rust inhibitor, will also stop the water system from rusting. The other obvious side effect is that if (when) the weather freezes, you don't have to worry about the cooling system cracking the engine.

As for the diesel, after reconnecting everything, fill the filters manually and then use the lift pump to finish the job. Once completed give the engine a quick run to make sure the system is working OK.

I am thinking about running my engine every month or so throughout the Winter just to make sure it will start when we go back afloat. Has anyone got any thoughts on this?

Regards,

Dave Tunmore

 

[vyv_cox]

Monthly running

Don't. I assume from the rest of the post that the boat is out of the water. Running the engine will do far more harm than good, as you will only be able to run it on tickover. Acids will be formed on the top rings and will not be removed as the engine temperature cannot become hot enough. Running at tickover encourages bore glazing, again because the correct operating temperature cannot be reached. If your engine starts next week it will start in April, assuming the battery is OK.