pete.i

Hookes law?? Told you it would be complicated. give me a torque wrench any day.

Yep those are the ones I bought as well. Brilliant bit of kit does the job. my BMC head has been on and off at least 3 times so far (my spare engine not the one in my boat. I just like doing it) and these work. That would probably work Alf Roberts but does sound a bit complicated to me.

Hello all. Possibly a daft question but I haven't found an answer yet. In my new boater's handbook it says that if I am going on to a river or tidal waters then I must have an anchor. It also says that the length of my anchor chain and rope should six times the depth of the river or tidal way that I will be on. I boat on the Selby Canal and at each end there is a river. At the western end there is the non tidal River Aire and at the eastern end there is the tidal River Ouse. I have looked and looked to try to find out the average depth of these rivers but so far I have failed. I do have an anchor on board but the chain and rope length that I have was what the supplier said I would need. Is there anywhere on the web that will give me average river depths?

that could cause it. When my BMC 1.5 did it I went round and tightened or replaced all the joints/olives in the fuel pipes and made sure I had no fuel weeps anywhere. If fuel can weep out then air can leak in. That cured my increasing rev problems.

test ETA nor here

Yep reading the OP again he doesn't actually say that he is replacing his old BMC with another BMC. He just says he is swapping his old BMC for another one (engine) so clarification or a photo is required.

I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about, at least not in relation to that quote. Peter Bullfinch was talking about replacing the lift pump on a Saab and because he was having difficulty sourcing the pump he replaced the faulty parts. I said that I didn't see the point because the BMC pump is readily available complete and quite cheaply but I thought that Peter Bullfinch had been talking about a BMC pump. Peter Bullfinch did make it clear earlier on in the thread that he had posted about a Saab pump and not a BMC pump..

My BMC 1.5 stop control is operated by a cable but a spring pulls it back into the start position when the cable pull is released. My stop lever, which is on the top of the diesel pump, is in the start position when it is nearest the engine block and the stop position is when it is pulled away from the engine block. As has already been said, jhodgski, a photo of your setup would help.

you are someone used to working on boats and if you read my post I said it COULD turn into a big job. For those of us less fortunate to had the ecperience that you have had something that to you is an easy job can, and I stress the word can, be a huge job. When I removed my calorifier it was a massive job and when I took the calorifier out of my friends boat I had to remove the rear stairs and part of the rear floor. I don't think it is a good idea to tell anyone that any job on a boat is easy. To some jobs on boats are easy to do to others jobs on boats are bloody hard especially if the access is poor. The faults the OP has described could be caused by a leak or back pressure leagage through the pump or they could be caused by the things that you and NMEA have pointed out. I did not say that you were wrong or that NMEA was wrong I just said try the easiest options first then go and try the, by far and away, more difficult possibilities that you and NMEA have suggested.

Well if it is that or what Tony has said then it could turn into a big job. I'm not saying it isn't what you suggest, it could well, be but it can also be caused by a leak in the water pipes or pressure leaking back through the pump. Those faults are, relatively, easy to find and sort so I think go with that first then if that doesn't cure it then start looking at the calorifier. As I said in my post earlier I took my calorifier out and pressured it with a garden hose after sealing off any outlets and nothing leaked but my calorifier was an absolute pig to get out and even harder to get back in. I have done a couple of other calorifier on other boats and neither of those were easy to get at and fault find on. If you do have to go checking your calorifier (and you may well have to) I hope it is easier to get at than the 3 that I have worked on.

Mine used to do this. I was told at the time that it was due to a leak and the the water pressure reduced to a point where the pump came on to equalise the pressure. If you think about it that is what happens when you open a tap. The water leaves the system which is pressurised by the pressure vessel or accumulator. This reduces the pressure in the system so the pump runs to pump the water. When the tap is turned off the water then cannot escape so the pressure builds up again and switches off the pump. Basic explanation I know but that is roughly how it works. Anyway I searched high and low for a leak in my water system. I only have a 30 foot boat so it was relatively easy to check the whole system. I even took the calorifier out and pressured it up from a hose pipe, no leaks anywhere. Eventually Leo, who used to own my boat, said that it must be leak back. Basically the pressure in the system leaks back through the pump to the water storage tank and so the pressure drops in the system and that activates the pump which only takes a second or so to build up pressure again and then the pump switches off. His suggestion was to fit a one way valve between the storage tank and the pump. That cured my problem and that was 2 years ago and my pump hasn't cycled since.

Dunno who said that 25psi was normal/ What Androo said was that his engine sat at around 3 oobbly flinks doobryferkins when hot which if you translate the gauge he shows in the picture is roughly 45 PSI in British money. I said that was roughly where my engine oil pressure sits when the engine has warmed up. It is higher when the engine is cold. Peter Bullfinch. I see what you mean now I thought you were talking about a BMC engine. The bits for BMCs are fairly readily available but if they became scarce then, yes, it would be prudent to replace bits that are available rather than the whole thing.

Not entirely sure why you want to replace the lift pump that way Peter Bullfinch. The pump comes complete and is only held on by 2 nuts so it is very easy to replace as a whole new unit. The oil pressure sensor is on the other side of the engine to the fuel lift pump Richard. Or at least it is on my BMC.

I cannot see why fitting a diesel lift pump would affect your oil pressure. You could get an oil leak if the pump wasn't fitted correctly or the gasket was shot. But that shouldn't affect your oil pressure adversly. I think something else might be going on with the oil pressure. Looking at that guage I don't think that those readings are too far off normal for a BMC. I think mine are around those figures although I tend to use the PSI figures, which is what Tony has quoted I think, rather than the Kg/cm (squared cubed ????) that's all foriegn stuff to me. Mine is higher when cold and when the engine has got hot and everything has loosened up the pressure drops.

I use the upside down method to light my fire. I don't think it makes a blind bit of difference to how well (note I said well not easy, before the pendants jump on this) the fire is lit or burns. I think it is one of the many "old wives tales" told on this forum and generally (try the spider and conker one. The spiders on my boat just love the smell of conkers and call all their mates in.) BUT if you build the fire upside down then it is much much easier to get at the easily combustible bits that actually start the fire. So from that point of view upside fire lighting does make life a little easier for me.

As Bizzard says and check the connections on the isolator switch. That was where my loose connection was that caused exactly the same problem. And it wasn't the nut that secures that cables either it was the lock nut that secures the terminals to the inner bits of the switch. You ask why "if it's coped for 20 years." Because it has taken that long for the engine vibrations to work it loose. Mine had been okay for 30 odd years and it had worked loose.

Here is my contribution. Not quite as grand as John V's but a pretty little thing none the less. Chap was launching it one day from the Selby Boatyard so I went and had a chat with him and sked him if I could take some pictures. Turns out he built his from scratch as well right down to all the nuts bolts and screws. This was the first time it had been in the water so it was the little launch's maiden voyage. http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u492/pete-i1/2012-07-26122733.jpg http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u492/pete-i1/2012-07-26114748.jpg http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u492/pete-i1/2012-07-26114730.jpg ERRM dunno why they haven't come out as pictures that seems to sometimes happen for me. Maybe someone can sort it out for me please.

Hi Clare. It depends on what size you want and what you want to do with it i.e. liveaboard or just for pleasure. Also it depends on how much work you would want to do to the boat when you finally get one. Obviously there are some who would want a superbly laid out and painted boat with all the bells and whistles for not a lot and I am afraid that isn't going to happen. Basically if the hull is sound and the engine/gearbox is good then a "decent" boat can be picked up relatively cheaply although a bit of work (or maybe a lot) on cosmetics will be needed. You must be prepared to go and look at them though yourself and do not rely on pictures on the internet. Pictures do not, in any way shape or form, give you any idea of the true state of anything as I have recently found out. If you don't know what you are looking for then take someone who does. If you decide to buy, again unless you know what you are doing, get a survey done. Surveys are expensive and not always well done, so choose your surveyor carefully and if you decide to walk away because of what the survey says then you will have lost the survey money but a survey can save you a lot of wasted money in the long run.There is a lot about boat buying (or house buying) that is, ultimately, down to you. So find stuff out by reading up. Read this forum, which is a gold mine of extremely useful information between the many arguments and ask the questions. No question is a stupid question. No doubt you might get an "idiot" answer but mostly the advice on here is sound and well worth taking heed of. Pete

On mine the cable end goes through a hole in the stop lever and it is secured by a screw on nipple that prevents it pulling out. I have a spring that is also hooked into the same hole and that attaches to the engine block, actually to a small bracket secured one of the diesel pump securing bolts. The spring keeps the stop lever in the run position and when I pull the cable it pulls against the spring and cuts off the diesel and stops the engine.. Looks like this has already been answered.