Overcoming the dread and mystery of engines

[Wansworth]

I should have paid more attention to my father he knew all about engines and marine electrics but somehow he didn’t pass on his knowledge.Having had severalboats with engines starting with a Stuart Turner which seemed to run even after a winter completely abandoned Looking back I have no recall of my relationship to it.The next boat I took the engine out and used a sculling oar.Then there was the 40footer with 4 cly Ford engine which became water locked off the Galician coast in thick fog.That wouldn’t have happened if Ihad known more about engines.As long as it was running it was ok but if it stopped that’s when I was flumoxed.I am more of an artistic bent and logical thinking regarding engines seems something I cannot retain.One of the reasons I would like to buy one more boat is to come to terms with an engine and not fear it

 

[ProDave]

Do you have a similar fear of car engines?

 

[38mess]

Pity you didn't listen. But diesel engines are simple things. As long as they have clean fuel and air, and good oil and they will purr away all day. They tell you when something is going wrong, it's just knowing what to look and listen out for
Get that boat

 

[Wansworth]

Do you have a similar fear of car engines?

No,there againitget professional serviced and a tow truck is just call away

 

[Wansworth]

Pity you didn't listen. But diesel engines are simple things. As long as they have clean fuel and air, and good oil and they will purr away all day. They tell you when something is going wrong, it's just knowing what to look and listen out for
Get that boat

Yes it’s turning that into reality

 

[LittleSister]

There are some decent basic books*, but one needs ideally, a general understanding which you can get from those (or a course), and then someone who knows what they are doing to show you the relevant things on your particular engine.

Marine diesel engines are generally impressively reliable and long lasting (provided they're serviced, which is dead simple), but it's the peripherals - alternator, water pump, etc. - that tend to give trouble as they get older. As is often said on here, in a leisure boat diesel engines tend to die from neglect, rather than getting worn out.

The RYA do a hands-on (one day?) Diesel Engine course. I don't know whether there are any RYA schools near you doing it, but something like that would help overcome the fear factor.

(*The book I have is 'Marine Diesel Engines' by Peter Caplan. It's so long since I've looked at it I can't remember how good it is. My vague recollection is OK but thought it could be better. others may have recommendations.)

 

[AntarcticPilot]

There are some decent basic books*, but one needs ideally, a general understanding which you can get from those (or a course), and then someone who knows what they are doing to show you the relevant things on your particular engine.

Marine diesel engines are generally impressively reliable and long lasting (provided they're serviced, which is dead simple), but it's the peripherals - alternator, water pump, etc. - that tend to give trouble as they get older. As is often said on here, in a leisure boat diesel engines tend to die from neglect, rather than getting worn out.

The RYA do a hands-on (one day?) Diesel Engine course. I don't know whether there are any RYA schools near you doing it, but something like that would help overcome the fear factor.

(*The book I have is 'Marine Diesel Engines' by Peter Caplan. It's so long since I've looked at it I can't remember how good it is. My vague recollection is OK but thought it could be better. others may have recommendations.)

My late wife and I did the RYA diesel course, and it gave us the confidence to tackle quite major maintenance tasks; we dismantled and reassembled the cylinder head of our Volvo Penta 2003 engine (with a little advice and assistance from my mechanically minded brother). However, there does seem to be some variability in the quality of the course. Ours was taught be a real hands-on engineer, who was able to demonstrate most of the things he was teaching on a beat-up old engine in the classroom. His demonstration of compression-ignition using a glass cylinder, a plunger and a scrap of cotton wool certainly got the principle home! Others seem to have encountered courses where the tutor did not really have much practical engineering knowledge, and who just taught the RYA syllabus. So I'd choose your course carefully, if possible getting comments from people who have been on the course you are considering.

 

[ChromeDome]

Pity you didn't listen. But diesel engines are simple things. As long as they have clean fuel and air, and good oil and they will purr away all day. They tell you when something is going wrong, it's just knowing what to look and listen out for
Get that boat

Ahem..

Some diesels are simple.
Recent lumps wrapped in electronics can be a true challenge, even to specialists.

Not thinking about threads about green lumps in particular, but they do attract some sad attention.

 

[scottie]

I was on the very ist instructors class and right from the start it was obvious split between teachers collecting brownie badges and those wanting to help owner’s understand engines and maintaining them but there is no indication of who you’re getting
some read the syllabus and recited others got their hands dirty

 

[Wansworth]

There are some decent basic books*, but one needs ideally, a general understanding which you can get from those (or a course), and then someone who knows what they are doing to show you the relevant things on your particular engine.

Marine diesel engines are generally impressively reliable and long lasting (provided they're serviced, which is dead simple), but it's the peripherals - alternator, water pump, etc. - that tend to give trouble as they get older. As is often said on here, in a leisure boat diesel engines tend to die from neglect, rather than getting worn out.

The RYA do a hands-on (one day?) Diesel Engine course. I don't know whether there are any RYA schools near you doing it, but something like that would help overcome the fear factor.

(*The book I have is 'Marine Diesel Engines' by Peter Caplan. It's so long since I've looked at it I can't remember how good it is. My vague recollection is OK but thought it could be better. others may have recommendations.)

Thanks,will look on line

 

[Tranona]

Ahem..

Some diesels are simple.
Recent lumps wrapped in electronics can be a true challenge, even to specialists.

Not thinking about threads about green lumps in particular, but they do attract some sad attention.

Yes, but most of the engines used in small yachts, say under 60hp are still simple and non electronic except that electric fuel pumps are creeping in and Volvos which are still mechanical have an electronic interface between the mechanical and the electronic control panels. The sort of electronics you are talking about are on engines where they are squeezing huge specific outputs out of diesels (100 hp/litre+) not the 35/litre of small auxiliaries.

 

[38mess]

Ahem..

Some diesels are simple.
Recent lumps wrapped in electronics can be a true challenge, even to specialists.

Not thinking about threads about green lumps in particular, but they do attract some sad attention.

I was thinking simple yacht engines up to around 55hp

 

[ChromeDome]

Point taken.

Yanmar's 3 cyl 40 hp diesel is a commonrail - hence electrnically managed.

 

[Tomaret]

No,there againitget professional serviced and a tow truck is just call away

The last time I had to resort to the services of the RAC it took them 8 hrs to respond. The call is the quick bit.

 

[Wansworth]

The last time I had to resort to the services of the RAC it took them 8 hrs to respond. The call is the quick bit.

No here in Spainthe max we have waited for a tow truck was 30 mins including taxi to our home

 

[john_morris_uk]

Ahem..

Some diesels are simple.
Recent lumps wrapped in electronics can be a true challenge, even to specialists.

Not thinking about threads about green lumps in particular, but they do attract some sad attention.

Perhaps the green engines grab a lot of attention because there are so many of them?

 

[laika]

Others seem to have encountered courses where the tutor did not really have much practical engineering knowledge, and who just taught the RYA syllabus.

I experienced the opposite. I did the 5 day MCA course at an engineering place in Poole. They had an engineer close to retirement “teaching” it. Maybe he was a good engineer. He was a bad communicator, couldn’t explain what he was doing and other students had to answer any more theoretical questions asked of him. It was a huge waste of money.

I found the best counter to anxiety about lack of ability with engines is to increase your sailing skills. Having confidence to sail onto a mooring or anchor under sail gives you a few more options when thinking “what would I do if the engine failed now?”

 

[capnsensible]

Suck, squeeze, bang, blow.

 

[LittleSister]

Suck, squeeze, bang, blow.

Careful! You'll have the Mods after you with language like that.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

I experienced the opposite. I did the 5 day MCA course at an engineering place in Poole. They had an engineer close to retirement “teaching” it. Maybe he was a good engineer. He was a bad communicator, couldn’t explain what he was doing and other students had to answer any more theoretical questions asked of him. It was a huge waste of money.

I found the best counter to anxiety about lack of ability with engines is to increase your sailing skills. Having confidence to sail onto a mooring or anchor under sail gives you a few more options when thinking “what would I do if the engine failed now?”

Of course, the tutor needs both teaching ability AND practical engineering skills. I was lucky; my instructor had both. But I think many older engineers do have teaching skills, as a result of training apprentices, but few who simply 'teach the syllabus" have engineering skills. It's probably easier to teach an engineer to teach than to teach a teacher engineering!