My beta engine keeps cutting out

J

Jomo2601

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Hi guys and gals, I'm a novice with boats and engines, I've got a beta marine 17 Hp 3 cylinder which needed a service so I've replaced worn fuel lines and old filters, it was always cutting out after about 5 mins running hence the service, anyway I'd re-connected everything and cranked it over and it seemed fine for about 5 mins again and then cut out, but this time I'd forgotten to open the return fuel line tap, and now it won't start, have I flooded it or are my injectors in need of attention or maybe the lift pump is blocked? ps. The guy I bought the boat off didn't go in for maintenance it seems so I don't know what condition the injectors or pump are in and bear in mind I'm a bit green when it comes to engines but I'm not daft and would be willing to have a go at fixing it myself if possible. All suggestions would be very much appreciated
Thanks John
 
Air in fuel system ?
Blockage in fuel system?
Try replacing washers in the fuel line they may have hardened and thus not sealing
You don't say how old the unit is and whether it starts again or is seizing up
Any smoke when it is running?
 
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+1 for air in the fuel system.

Other possibilities:
- Breather pipe to the fuel tank blocked: that would create a vacuum in the tank that would reduce / stop the flow of fuel. Best way to test this is to open the fuel filler cap, try to start the engine and then leave it to run with the cap off - see if same 5 minute problem recurs

- Blocked / very dirty air filter: no air, no combustion. To test - remove the air filter and run without it for a while.
 
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Try pumping fuel through from the tank to see if the pipes or filter are clogged. I used an oil extraction pump drawing it into an old (dry) water bottle. Very obvious if it takes a lot of effort. Longer term, a vacuum gauge is easy to fit and really invaluable.

If it isn't the fuel lines, maybe the lift pump. Very easy to see if it is working well by opening a bleed nut on the secondary filter to see how much fuel comes out.

Not a good idea to block the return pipe as the excess fuel would have nowhere to go. There isn't a carburettor to flood in a diesel engine. There's a good chance the fuel would squirt through a joint or back though the lift pump. If there no diesel sprayed around and the lift pump is still working you probably got away with it.
 
Almost certainly air gettin through a union or joint. I had this problem on my Beta 25 hp soon after installation, new tank, fuel lines and filter, I went round tightening up all joints and problem solved - I never did find the culprit joint!
 
For 0ver 20 years my Beta 17 gave no problems. I have taken my Eventide 'Fiddler's Green' to the continent many times and 3/4 round the UK without it missing a beat.

When I moved the fuel tank to a lower position, it started cutting out, always when you slowed to enter a crowded marina or mooring, at just the wrong moment.

I thought air leak.. my new fuel tank installation, BUT NO.

CURED it by fitting an in line electric 'Facet' Pump close to the tank.

After speaking with Beta and checking and tripple checking all hoses, it was simply the lift pump on the Beta, like so many on small diesels, it cannot lift from the bottom of a tank.

Up till a year back my Beta was gravity fed, now the double the size tank is under the cockpit floor and the fuel is drawn from the top. An 11 inch lift.

I bought a small 4psi Facet pump for £15.00 (and a spare for storage onboard the boat too).

It clicks like the one under the bonnet of my Morris Minor but unlike the one on my van, it keeps on clicking and pumps continually at 25 gallons per hour, the unused fuel simply returning the the tank via the bleed back.

It works.

Wired to the ignition switch it is on when I switch to preheat and stays on when the motor is running.

thought i would share this with you as it cured the problem on the Beta and if anuyone has any diesel that is doing this, it will cure it.

Fair winds,
John
 
Eventider said:
For 0ver 20 years my Beta 17 gave no problems. I have taken my Eventide 'Fiddler's Green' to the continent many times and 3/4 round the UK without it missing a beat.

When I moved the fuel tank to a lower position, it started cutting out, always when you slowed to enter a crowded marina or mooring, at just the wrong moment.

I thought air leak.. my new fuel tank installation, BUT NO.

CURED it by fitting an in line electric 'Facet' Pump close to the tank.

After speaking with Beta and checking and tripple checking all hoses, it was simply the lift pump on the Beta, like so many on small diesels, it cannot lift from the bottom of a tank.

Up till a year back my Beta was gravity fed, now the double the size tank is under the cockpit floor and the fuel is drawn from the top. An 11 inch lift.

I bought a small 4psi Facet pump for £15.00 (and a spare for storage onboard the boat too).

It clicks like the one under the bonnet of my Morris Minor but unlike the one on my van, it keeps on clicking and pumps continually at 25 gallons per hour, the unused fuel simply returning the the tank via the bleed back.

It works.

Wired to the ignition switch it is on when I switch to preheat and stays on when the motor is running.

thought i would share this with you as it cured the problem on the Beta and if anuyone has any diesel that is doing this, it will cure it.

Fair winds,
John
Click to expand...

+1. I have a genny run by one of these (kubota). It came out of a trailer genset and did lift from the bottom of the tank. Now it's gravity fed. Good tip about facet pump thx.
 
I agree with air diesel will go through a microscopic hole, air is sucked in and diesel comes out. Get some kitchen roll or loo paper and put it around the bleed screw, all joints, the filter joints and where the bowl screws on. Also check the filter attached to the engine if you have one. Run the engine until it stops and you should find the leak/s if not keep going until you do. We had copper piping and lots leaks due to vibration and used that method to find them, I got fed up and changed to flexible diesel pipes.
 
When we had our Halmatic 30 re-engined to a Beta 20 the engineer advised that an electric pump be added in the fuel supply. He knew this because he had had to sort out fuel problems in another Halmatic where the installation had been done by a different yard without the boost pump.

In the Halmatic the Fuel Tank is in the bilge under the saloon floor and the bottom of the tank where the pick up would be is much greater than the maximum lift height advised in the engine installation manual.
 
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