Alanij
Well-Known Member
Eventually managed to take the boat out for the first time this season at the weekend, hardly a cloud in the sky for a change, and only ~10 knot wind, so glorious weather. We headed out past the north of the Garvellachs and over to Mull, cruised along below the cliffs then into Loch Buie for a bite to eat, then further W along the cliffs looking at waterfalls from all the rain a few days previously. Turned towards Jura to head up past more cliffs and eventually back to Craobh, boat running well, only a slight swell coming in from the Atlantic, so we were thoroughly enjoying the 1st day out, until.........
A mile or so off Jura, the starboard engine suddenly loses all power, and revs drop right back to ~600, no alarms from panel. I stopped the engine, and slowed the other down a bit while I thought about what could be the problem - it was obviously a fuel issue, but where I was (just to the west of Corryvreckan) was not the place to start trying to fix the problem. As the other engine was OK, headed up past Scarba and Lunga, then into the sound of Luing. When I eventually reached still water, took a look in the engine bay, no sign of diesel in bilges, so tried to restart port engine - it did start after a bit of churning, but sounded rough, and didn't reach normal idle speed, so I shut it down again, and headed back to Craobh still on one engine. As it was getting near office closing time when I tied up in my berth, I nipped up to see if someone from the yard could assist if I couldn't find the problem myself, fortunately someone could come down 1st thing next morning.
I still couldn't see what was wrong, and the yard manager couldn't either when he had a look, but as the Volvo engine guy was due to be on site in a couple of days he would get him to have a look. I had visions of a failed lift or injector pump, and hoped if so it was the former - I would be emailed as soon as the problem was found.
A bit later I was getting on with other jobs on board, and lifted the hatch above the port engine fuel tank to get to a bottle of cleaner I'd stored there. I immediately noticed the fuel shut-off valve on the top of the tank was at 45 degrees shut for no reason (there was nothing anywhere near it to have knocked it). Opened the valve fully, tried the engine, which immediately roared into life, and revved freely when the throttle lever moved. Problem solved, Volvo guy's expertise no longer required! Quick trial run confirmed all is well. For info, the fuel tanks on my boat are on the other side of a bulkhead from the engine compartment, so cannot be seen when carrying out the routine checks, and there is no reason for anyone to be in where they are unless they're getting something stored in the compartment.
I can only assume it was vibration which was closing the valve, until it reached a position where there was not enough fuel flow through it (it's a full flow ball valve, 90 degrees operation) - there was very little resistance to operating it, much less than on the valve for the other tank. Both tank valves are now cable-tied in the open position, however I can close them easily if required to do so in an emergency.
TL;DR apparent fuel system problems are sometimes an easy fix if you look in the right place.
A mile or so off Jura, the starboard engine suddenly loses all power, and revs drop right back to ~600, no alarms from panel. I stopped the engine, and slowed the other down a bit while I thought about what could be the problem - it was obviously a fuel issue, but where I was (just to the west of Corryvreckan) was not the place to start trying to fix the problem. As the other engine was OK, headed up past Scarba and Lunga, then into the sound of Luing. When I eventually reached still water, took a look in the engine bay, no sign of diesel in bilges, so tried to restart port engine - it did start after a bit of churning, but sounded rough, and didn't reach normal idle speed, so I shut it down again, and headed back to Craobh still on one engine. As it was getting near office closing time when I tied up in my berth, I nipped up to see if someone from the yard could assist if I couldn't find the problem myself, fortunately someone could come down 1st thing next morning.
I still couldn't see what was wrong, and the yard manager couldn't either when he had a look, but as the Volvo engine guy was due to be on site in a couple of days he would get him to have a look. I had visions of a failed lift or injector pump, and hoped if so it was the former - I would be emailed as soon as the problem was found.
A bit later I was getting on with other jobs on board, and lifted the hatch above the port engine fuel tank to get to a bottle of cleaner I'd stored there. I immediately noticed the fuel shut-off valve on the top of the tank was at 45 degrees shut for no reason (there was nothing anywhere near it to have knocked it). Opened the valve fully, tried the engine, which immediately roared into life, and revved freely when the throttle lever moved. Problem solved, Volvo guy's expertise no longer required! Quick trial run confirmed all is well. For info, the fuel tanks on my boat are on the other side of a bulkhead from the engine compartment, so cannot be seen when carrying out the routine checks, and there is no reason for anyone to be in where they are unless they're getting something stored in the compartment.
I can only assume it was vibration which was closing the valve, until it reached a position where there was not enough fuel flow through it (it's a full flow ball valve, 90 degrees operation) - there was very little resistance to operating it, much less than on the valve for the other tank. Both tank valves are now cable-tied in the open position, however I can close them easily if required to do so in an emergency.
TL;DR apparent fuel system problems are sometimes an easy fix if you look in the right place.
