Engine won't run - fuel problem

[chal]

I've had a few problems lately with my fairly new Beta 25 (it's about 18 months old and has done 45 hours). A few weeks ago the engine died when I reduced the speed to idle. There turned out to be air in the fuel line, don't know how, but I bled it all and got it running again, though it still tended to die at idle.

I have just fitted a new fuel tank and lines. I have completely bled the system several times but cannot get the engine to run at all. There is plenty of bubble-free fuel coming out of the bleed point on the pump but very little at the injectors if I disconnect the pipes there: a little at the middle cylinder but not a drop at the forward one with the engine cranking. Is there any trick I have missed or is it time to fear the worst and call a professional?

 

[NUTMEG]

Very hard to offer helpful advise but I would bleed the system again, then crack the HP pipes to the injectors and crank the engine until fuel drips out, do them up one at a time whilst cranking. Just a thought. If the low pressure side has no air then my first thought is a bubble in a pipe on the HP side.

Good luck.

 

[Daydream believer]

Best bet is air plus if you cannot get enough revs the pump may be a bit week & not push enough fuel through
Normally if you get one cylinder firing you get enough rotation to get the pump pushing fuel through to the other cylinders
but another problem -Are the glow plugs getting warm?
if engine runs but dies at idle it will not be this, but if engine just will not fire then possible cause could be a glow relay & bearing in mind the newness it could be a faulty part

 

[cryan]

Have you had any bug contamination? I have seen once before on a rarely used engine where whilst sitting for extended periods (45 hours in 18 months would qualify) that MBC caused some furring up of the injector pipe bores. Now I have only ever seen this happen once so it is certainly not common but you describe similar symptoms (fuel getting through one pipe but not others). Remove the injector pipes and blow through them. You will know instantly if they are fouled. If not then bleed each pipe one at a time. If you get fuel at all points and still no joy then you might need to start looking at governers and pumps. I am of course presuming that all filters are clean etc.

 

[Slipperman]

When my boat (and tank) was about 2 years old I had a similar problem. After checking for air etc several times, I eventually removed the pipe leading from the tank and found that there was a small gauze filter fitted there which was full of black plastic swarf, presumably from when the tank was drilled to take the fittings. I reckon that each time the engine stopped, and the suction in the hose dropped, some of the bits dropped out so the engine would always re-start. In the end, after cleaning the swarf out I removed the small gauze filter - several mechanics told me it was not necessary as the boat has normal primary and fine filters anyway. Several years on the problem has not recurred.

 

[Graham_Wright]

then crack the HP pipes to the injectors and crank the engine until fuel drips out, do them up one at a time whilst cranking.

Good luck.

Maybe remove the raw water pump drive belt to avoid back filling from the exhaust?

 

[Grampus]

Just wondering if you have had some really cold weather and some fuel has waxed in the lines. Had this same problem once on a tractor. If so, remove all lines push out waxed fuel with soft wire and blow clear with airline.

 

[rhumlady]

I was told to remove the small filter in the lift pump on my DV20 as it isn't required as there is a paper filter on the engine. This advise came after the small filter got blocked as did the one in the post above. My reasoning is that had this filter not been there then the carp would have got through to the injectors causing me more problems than this little filter which I now keep clean.

 

[Topcat47]

Modern installations take fuel from the top of the tank. This means that there is a potential air lock there, which is difficult to eliminate. I have a similar problem bleeding the brakes of my twin disc system on the motorbike (no centre stand or paddock stand); air collects at the highest point. If you fit a suction hose to the fuel line, just before the lift pump, you can draw fuel from the tank; a Pela pump is what I have in mind, but there are other manufacturers. The lift pump probably isn't high enough capacity to do this.

 

[pappaecho]

My Beta 35 would not start unless all four injectors were bled, and then it would run faultlessly thereon.

I wonder if you have an air leak, say a misplaced injector filer which is sucking air? In the past faced with such situation I have done a jury rig, which was a small container containing diesel, which gravity fed the injector pump, eliminating the lift pump, in line filters and line to the tank. If the engine runs with the jury rig, then you know that it is the lift pump, in line filter or the tank installation