engine problem

[macks]

Hi all,
I have a motor boat with a Ford Mermaid 300bhp diesel engine & its "poorley"
It is smoaking dadly the colour is gyay/bluish & very heavy. I have had the injectors & fuel pump overhalled & a turbo presure test done, all are working fine.
the company who carried out this work felt it was an over fuiling problem but the above work done now shows it was not.

Has anyone got any ideas as to what could be the next area I should be looking at, at this company have done all they can, as I have been told.

Im at a dead end Please help

With regards Mack

 

[burgundyben]

Which type of block is it? how old is it? see my post on the sooty backside thread. Same applies for mermaid as Sabre as I think they both used Dorset and Dover base engine.

For sale, 1970 Triumph Spitfire-sold, 1947 Lambretta, 1922 Great grandmother, PM for details.

 

[kimhollamby]

Have you spoken direct with Mermaid. The company has a good reputation for customer service and I'm sure would be interested in assisting you to get the engine sorted.

For contact details <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.ybw-directory.com/directory/drh.jsp?radio=name&quickfind=Mermaid&Submit=Go&tem=ybw> click here</A>

kim_hollamby@ipcmedia.com

 

[hlb]

Start with the simple things. Change all the filters and breathers. Is it useing any oil?? Dont forget the little filter in the fuel pump. if it has one.

<font color=red> No one can force me to come here-----------
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Haydn

 

[aztec]

have the turbo checked again for wear in the spindle, this allows oil to leak by. it normally happens at idle, more than when under load. you can do a rough check by taking off the inlet pipe and "feeling" for wear... there shoyuld be a little but if you think theres a lot there have it checked by a 'chanic.

failing that, you may be looking at mechanical clearances, rings sticking etc, but these engines are usually bullet proof. did this problem develop quickly or has it got worse over a period of time. also did it follow an oil change using different oil/flush etc.

 

[Hughie]

We once suffered erratic fuelling (over & under) which despite injector and pump services plagued us for best part of a season. On advice from our engineer we went for all the hi-tech servicing first - all to no avail. Eventually it was traced to a very low-tech problem - no lubricating oil in the injection pump.

If the pump is the same as the Sabre 250hp Ford, which I think is quite likely, there is a small oil resevoir which needs to be topped up with oil for lubrication. Like you, we went through the lot and spent a fortune, only to find the pump was dry. Our supposedly experienced engineer didn't even know it needed lubrication, despite having removed the pump to send it off for overhaul etc etc... Apparently some pumps may need occasional topups and the oil almost always leaks out when the pump is removed/transported, so is often dry after it has been re-installed after a service. I believe it only needs a thimbleful so is easily missed. In our case we were getting blue to black smoke and variable power (sometimes regardless of throttle setting). On bad days idle revs varied between 500 & 1000rpm, which made berthing an entertaining spectacle!!

It is unlikely your engineer has serviced these items himself, so worth finding out where he took the pump and injectors and giving them a call, they will certainly know if your pump needs oil and could save you further expense. This resolved our problems, for a few pence worth of engine oil! When they serviced our injection pump they put oil in for testing purposes and therefore reported no fault found. Unfortunately, by the time the pump was back on our engine it was dry again!

Also worth getting hold of the Ford workshop manual if you can, as these provide more detailed info, of basically the same engine. This particular detail was certainly not listed in our Sabre manual, but a friend of mine had a manual for a truck of some sort which had the same basic non-marinised Ford engine and this was listed as part of the re-install process for the pump. Regret I can't help you with sourcing one as his manual went with our boat when we sold it.

Hope this helps.