Eberspacher fuel problem ?

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LeonF

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My Eber, D1LC compact, kept failing to ignite a couple of days ago. The fan would blow, the meter click like mad, but it would refuse to ignite. The battery is well charged. I can see a few bubbles in the fuel line above the meter. Is it tricky to dismantle the meter and clean the filter screen ? I have the manuals but it doesn't show how to dismantle the meter. The fuel feed is taken off the spare out from the Cav filter cover. The manual says that the meter could be frozen (there is ice in the cockpit from rainwater that has frozen) but surely it wouldn't click if it was frozen ? The boat is on the hard, but interestingly, just a couple of days before I lifted her out, when starting the engine it would start, fade a little then kick in again, and I am wondering if these two incidents are linked in anyway to dirt in the fuel line/filter ?? Grateful for any advice.
 
I've noticed over the last couple of years my Eberspacher was reluctant to start when it was cold. It fires up, runs for a few minutes (with all the proper clicking), then turns itself off. It then tries again before giving up for good. I used to try to get it going a few times before making a joke about the heating only working when it was warm.

Then on Friday I came up with a brainwave. I crawled into the steering compartment with a fan heater and pointed it at the Eberspacher for five minutes.

Amazingly it worked. The secret of getting it to start is to warm it up first.

Might work for yours.
 
I spent a day trying to make a Mikuni heater work, with advice from the guys at Mikuni, very helpful.

This heater did just this, and it was freezing too. The pump wasnt priming up, so was going through the motions and ending with ignition failure, signalled by the flashing light sequence on the heater.

We resorted to pumping fuel manually up to the heater, detatching the fuel pipe from the pump first, manually pumping it up tihe lines. The filter had to be cleaned first, this was blocked and eventually it sucked dry and the pump diapragmh had gotten dry and lost suction....
Anyway, try to clean the filter, inline?, and pump the fuel up using a primer bulb from an outboard and then it may start. I was told to run it every two weeks, start up, get hot, then shut down properly to maintain the cycle.

Diesel pumps shouldnt freeze in england,my diesel car started late last night at -4c and its the same principle of a fuel pump to ignite....I guess.

Good luck.
 
I had a similar fuel related problem a few weeks ago.... turned out to be the Small PCB on top of the heater itself needed replacing.... this controls fan speed and amount of fuel required. don't you just love these ebers :D
 
remove the brass fuel spigot and the filter is behind this, use long nose pliers to remove it.

use an old toothbrush to clean it and hold it upto a bright light to make sure the gauze is clean.

Steve
 
Hi a common problem,when you see air bubbles,it is most likely the little black rubber fuel joint hose has a crack or perished allowing more air in the fuel.
 
JCP said:
I've noticed over the last couple of years my Eberspacher was reluctant to start when it was cold. It fires up, runs for a few minutes (with all the proper clicking), then turns itself off. It then tries again before giving up for good. I used to try to get it going a few times before making a joke about the heating only working when it was warm.

Then on Friday I came up with a brainwave. I crawled into the steering compartment with a fan heater and pointed it at the Eberspacher for five minutes.

Amazingly it worked. The secret of getting it to start is to warm it up first.

Might work for yours.
Click to expand...

If at first it you don't succeed, give up after a couple of attempts and let it cool down.
I trashed an Eberspacher by trying 3-4 times in quick succession a couple of years ago - I ended up with a horrible smell and a fried controller.

There's some mention of it buried in one of their manuals

Alisdair
 
Thanks everyone. I shall dismantle it and check it after Christmas. It doesn't get hot or smell, doesn't ignite at all. Tried with a small hair dryer on it this afternoon, but no luck. The fan blows long and hard, but only cold air despite the pump clicking. I may have some muck in the Cav filter from which the fuel supply is taken, so will clean that first, then try Steve's suggestion. If the hose was perished or cracked wouldn't it leak fuel ? Steve, is the filter mesh in the body of the pump ? And I presume the brass spigot you mention is below the pump ? It's all a bit awkward (canoe stern) but not impossible.
 
Before you go un-doing the ends of the fuel pump (to find the filter), make sure you have the correct end.
One end (the lower) contains the filter behind a screwed on fitting, the other end looks similar but is how the fuel pump is calibrated at the factory. Don't whatever you do touch that calibrated end.

Once the correct end is off you might wonder where the filter is... yes it is in there, in the bottom end of the pump.. it's probably stuck in there and is very very small.

Regarding the issue of why it's not firing up after pumping and blowing.. check the atomiser screen - they're less than a tenner to replace. As that carbons up - if it has.. you might notice more smoke on startup.. black soot around the exhaust.. and less heat produced than usual... Worth a check if you have any of those symptoms...
 
Hello,
Before you strip anything out make sure that the supply voltage is above 10.50v (21v for the 24v unit) Stick a meter at the unit end and read the voltage during the 90 second fire up. Fan will still run and pump click. Batteries work very hard when cold ! and feel the pressure of having to deliver nearly 21a for 90 seconds.
Be carefull if stripping out the pump. One end which has two brass heads on it regulates the quantity of fuel delivered. I played with mine ! It mucked the setting up but I was fortunate that someone on here pointed me how to reset it but it was a pain. I thank that guy every time I fire up !!!
If you can see any air in the supply it has to be bled/fed out before the unit will play ball. To do it manually you can take the pump leads off at the Eber end and with a bit of extra wire strike it across a 12v battery. Each time you make a contact it clicks/pumps and this is how I bleed mine if I have dismantled etc. It does not matter which you connect to plus or minus.
All the best Colin.
 
Thanks again for all your comments and advice. I had a problem with it about two years ago and the unit was removed and cleaned and re-installed, with all the electrical contacts remade. Cost a bomb which is why I want to sort it myself this time. It was cutting out after running for a while, and a vent in the cockpit into the starboard locker where it's installed stopped it from overheating. It gets very little use. I'm sure it's a fuel problem, and will go through it all after Christmas.
 
Just a point

I had this on mine... Found that somehow I have about six inches of water in the diesel feed pipe. Drained the water out and off she went again. How the water got there I will never know. Hope this helps.
 
Fire up Ampage

Hello, The Eber D1LC draws 250w on fire up. 250w/12v equals 20.88Amps
Mine draws on my Mega 20.50 Amps and the Mega knows about it !!!!
 
Well I tried it when the battery was still on charge and reading fully charged so I don't think it's a voltage problem. Pretty sure it's a fuel problem, so will investigate that first.
 
Dan the man said:
Diesel pumps shouldnt freeze in england,my diesel car started late last night at -4c and its the same principle of a fuel pump to ignite....I guess.

.
Click to expand...

Road fuel has anti waxing agents added as winter approaches in order to prevent freezing - I dont know whether the same thing applies to marine diesel but given that in most cases its a far slower turnover I doubt it.

The old trick on the roads was to add some paraffin to the diesel in the tank or (in desperation) to add a bit of petrol. Not that I'm recommending either approach but having lived in the Pennines where winter starts in November and finishes in Aporil, I've often seen people doing just that. Or truck drivers lighting fires under their diesel tanks to get going first thing. But then -10 was not unknown
 
Bosun Higgs said:
Road fuel has anti waxing agents added as winter approaches in order to prevent freezing - I dont know whether the same thing applies to marine diesel but given that in most cases its a far slower turnover I doubt it.

The old trick on the roads was to add some paraffin to the diesel in the tank or (in desperation) to add a bit of petrol. Not that I'm recommending either approach but having lived in the Pennines where winter starts in November and finishes in Aporil, I've often seen people doing just that. Or truck drivers lighting fires under their diesel tanks to get going first thing. But then -10 was not unknown
Click to expand...
Might be something in it as I usually just buy diesel from a garage, it's negligible for the amount I use. However I did buy red diesel when I was up at an East Coast marina in the summer, and also had a spare of red that I have just tipped in to top up the tank. I will post the outcome after the New Year.
 
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Lets hope you got it fixed, or the inevitable Christmas jumper that one consigns to the back of the closet will have to come out, no pun intended!
Interesting about the road fuel, didnt know that....I hope you get it fixed
 
I had a simliar problem with our newly fitted Mikuni. Although the pump is supposed to be able draw if it is upto 1/3 m above the fuel level ours was very intemittent at about 10 cm above. When I repositioned below the fuel tank level it was fine and we are very pleased with it. I proved this by using a small test supply and the pump I/L dipped directly into the fuel. Good luck.
 
If you can disconnect the fuel line at the heater or the pump ( heater side!) then do so and switch the heater on, it should pump for half a minute. If the fuel is spurting out as the pump clicks then the pump is working fine( you can measure the amount and compare this to the figure in the manual) Check that what has spurted out is really diesel !! and not water as in one post. If all is well you may need to look elsewhere.
 
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