Engine failure in breaking waves

[LittleSister]

Heart stopping and fuel starvation does sound plausible/likely. However the successful restart might make me think of other possibilities.

I've had fuel starvation in very lumpy conditions, and had no problem restarting. The problem was keeping the engine going. It would restart each time no problem, and then soon slow and stop again shortly afterwards. I eventually twigged that if I ran the engine at low revs it would keep going.

Having got myself, rather slowly, out of the disturbed conditions and to somewhere not far away that I could tie up and investigate the problem more thoroughly, it was apparent that the CAV filter had a lot of horrid gunge in it. I concluded this was reducing the flow through the filter to a very low level. If I ran the engine fast it would soon use up the available fuel, create a partial vacuum in the fuel line, then the engine would stop. In the short time before I tried to restart the engine enough fuel had been pulled through to run the engine briefly, then the same would happen again. If I ran the engine at low revs the choked supply was just enough to keep the engine going.

I can imagine a similar scenario where a rough approach to a harbour, would stir up the crud, partially block a fuel filter, start again then stop, but once inside the entrance less power would be called for and the engine able to continue. whether this was the case for the OP I wouldn't know.

While a lot of crud suddenly appearing in the filter can be a sign of a serious bug or other contamination problem, it is not necessarily the case. In my case I drained the tank (fortunately I had a drain plug in the bottom of the tank), and could see part of the bottom of the inside of the stainless diesel tank down the filler hose, and both the remaining fuel and the tank bottom (as far as I could see it) were as clean as a whistle. I had no further problems.

I'd definitely recommend, though, carrying more than one spare fuel filter aboard. If you have to change a blocked filter, there's a good chance that you'll get another blockage soon.

 

[KevinT1]

First of all thank you so much for replying. It is a re-engined Trident Warrior by the way.

The tank was pretty low - about 30% / 50L. The sucking air idea feels plausible given the sudden sideways motion as the breaking wave picked us up.

Sailing a Warrior cross channel in the 1980’s when we ran out of fuel - despite having dipped the tank and finding it it half full before leaving Cherbourg. Problem was the fuel pick up pipe enters the tank from the top and was coiled inside the tank - over time the coil had unwound and the open end was at about 1/3 level.
Removing 24 screws from the diesel tank top in a Seaway wasn’t pleasant !

 

[Baggywrinkle]

After re-powering my boat, for some reason my normally 100% reliable fuel gauge started reading high causing me to run dry twice with the gauge indicating 1/3 to 1/2 full. On both occasions, the engine started again very easily before cutting out again. The first time I was 300m from the fuel berth in KrK and had to tack out of the channel, anchor, and take the tender in to get a few litres of diesel. The second time I was able to sail (ghost) up to the fuel berth in Mali Losinj, start the engine and use a burst of reverse to stop before it cut out.

I now have a new calibrated gauge and monitor engine hours / fuel used ... I won't go more than 50 hours since last fill-up, regardless.

.. but the point is that my engine (a VP D1-30) re-starts relatively easily after fuel starvation, I don't need to vent the fuel system (although I guess I should) - it splutters a bit before full power is restored but then runs fine.

 

[gordmac]

First of all thank you so much for replying. It is a re-engined Trident Warrior by the way.

The tank was pretty low - about 30% / 50L. The sucking air idea feels plausible given the sudden sideways motion as the breaking wave picked us up.

On the basis of the advice I have checked the primary fuel filter... and it had a lot of black gunge and some water. I’d checked it fairly recently and it was clear then, so it looks likely that either the motion stirred up parts not normally reached or there is a new problem to sort out. The tank looked pretty good last winter when I opened it up, but there is a baffle I couldn’t see behind. So the temporary gunge blockage feels pretty plausible too.

I have cleaned the filter out and feel pretty sure it is was a fuel issue not an exhaust issue, so many thanks all for helping to clarify.

It’s on the list for this winter to think about the tank and engine set up properly and an extra primary filter will definitely be in the running.
Tom

Black gunge sounds like bug. May I suggest when you clean and refill give it a shock dose of Marine 16 or similar and continue to use something to keep it at bay.

 

[TomSummerbird]

Again thanks for the replies.

When I bought the boat last year I had the tank cleaned out and apparently it looked in reasonable condition inside. Since then I have been using a biocide called FuelPlus Multi Biocide. The “gunk” doesn’t have the soft and slimy look of the many diesel bug images I looked at online. It looks more like solid rust or dirt particles. The filter itself was basically clean with the particles dropping into the bowl. So I’m hopefully it isn’t the bug!

However the tank must be 24 years old, it’s rust coloured around the external seams though not flaky, and I’m guessing it’s due for replacement soon. It looks like a simple matter of disconnecting everything from the engine, lifting the engine into the saloon, taking out the sail drive, dismantling the bulkhead behind the engine, replacing the tank, and then rebuilding everything!

Thank you lustyd for the Sailing Cadoha tip. As an aside and somewhat rubbing my eyes I passed a junk schooner rigged trident warrior as I sailed in to Portsmouth harbour yesterday.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Again thanks for the replies.

When I bought the boat last year I had the tank cleaned out and apparently it looked in reasonable condition inside. Since then I have been using a biocide called FuelPlus Multi Biocide. The “gunk” doesn’t have the soft and slimy look of the many diesel bug images I looked at online. It looks more like solid rust or dirt particles. The filter itself was basically clean with the particles dropping into the bowl. So I’m hopefully it isn’t the bug!

However the tank must be 24 years old, it’s rust coloured around the external seams though not flaky, and I’m guessing it’s due for replacement soon. It looks like a simple matter of disconnecting everything from the engine, lifting the engine into the saloon, taking out the sail drive, dismantling the bulkhead behind the engine, replacing the tank, and then rebuilding everything!

Thank you lustyd for the Sailing Cadoha tip. As an aside and somewhat rubbing my eyes I passed a junk schooner rigged trident warrior as I sailed in to Portsmouth harbour yesterday.

As you say, it does sound very much like rust. In a similar situation, aggressive cleaning of the tank resulted in pin-holing that allowed the contents of the tank to leak out into the bilges - cleaning the bilges was a monumental task! I think your tank is end-of-life. My mild steel tank lasted about 25 years, so hopefully, I've got around 20 years with its replacement.

 

[billskip]

It looks like a simple matter of disconnecting everything from the engine, lifting the engine into the saloon, taking out the sail drive, dismantling the bulkhead behind the engine, replacing the tank, and then rebuilding everything!

Let's hope you dont get anything difficult ?