Troyboy

I'm afraid I cannot agree with this . I had to have my boat surveyed two years ago to satisfy my insurance company . I approached Mark Douglas Marine who offer three types of survey , a full survey, an insurers survey and a hull only survey . I had the insurers survey which is slightly cheaper than a full survey and Mark gave a valuation of my boat in his very comprehensive report .

Well done, you will now have all the part numbers and exploded diagrams for the 1500 and 1622cc petrol engines plus the1500 cc diesel .

I think actually it is 11/64 ,my memory isn't what it was .

I'm now having second thoughts about the drill size to reamer out the carbon I'll have to double check that.

From the replies on here you can see that your friend of a friend knows very little about BMC 1.5 diesel engines . The missing water pump was missing because the engine doesn't need one or rather another one , there will be one on the engine . There will be no mud in the cooling system because it does not use canal water in the cooling system . You are in the fortunate position of owning a simple engine where spares are readily available and cheap and easy to fix . I have owned my narrowboat for almost 35 years and it has a solid mounted BMC 1.5 engine . The plus side of solid mounting is the engine doesn't move so less likely to vibrate causing pipes to break or stern tube to need frequent repacking . The down side is it vibrates the boat causing windows to rattle at certain revs , I cannot tell you at what revs as I don't have a rev counter . The surveyors report on the engine is quite positive , I suspect if you fitted new heater / glow plugs to the engine and used a 11/32 drill to reamer out the carbon the engine would start almost instantly . A new set of glow plugs off Ebay costs £21. If you did need a new head, which I seriously doubt you do, a secondhand one again from Ebay would cost £175. with a head gasket set costing £22-50p. The injectors probably need servicing but might be OK for the time being once the leaking one is tightened up . You started off saying you woke up to the disappointing news that you may need a new engine ,I think you can go to bed tonight fairly certain that isn't the case but what you do need is a good mechanic who knows about BMC 1.5 diesels .

Just looked on Ebay and there is a BMC J2 parts list albeit with the publication number AAK 9873 with a starting price of £9-99p plus £3-99 postage, that currently has received no bids . The item number is 115323267909. .

The parts book you require is BMC Mechanical Parts List AKD 3452 for the Light Commercial Vehicles Type J2/152 or AKD 3492 which is the J4 type. These publications show both 1500cc and 1622cc petrol plus 1500cc diesel engine part numbers . They are usually available on Ebay. I have both publications and from the information contained therein I can confirm that the camshaft locking washer is part number 2A 759 which is the same for both petrol and diesel engines and also fits the MGB 1800cc engine . I've also got a MGB rubber bumper model parts book albeit a reprint the number of that is AKM 0037 The 1.5 diesel big end locking tabs / washer is part number 12H 339 it is a different number to the petrol engine and the 1800 MGB doesn't appear to have locking tabs/washers. The timing chain part number for the diesel is 12H 196 or 2H 735 the petrol engines have a different part number .

I moor on the River Nene and it is not unusual to see dead sheep floating in the river . I have been involved in two sheep rescues over the years . The first one I had to dig some steps into the river bank to be able to climb down and then dig a ramp to assist the sheep to climb out . They are heavy animals particularly when wet ,that one ran off once I had dragged it out. The second one I think had been in the river sometime but with others we managed to get it out using a rope but it was too weak to stand so we put it in a wheelbarrow and called the farmer .When the farmer arrived I recall him using a syringe type device and squirting something into the mouth of the sheep which he then took it away in his truck to dry out and hopefully recover . I never did find out if it survived . I remember seeing mink feeding on a dead sheep floating in the river at Wansford.

The days of visiting a scrap yard for BMC 1.5 diesel spares are long gone I'm afraid . The engine was fitted to J2 and J4 vans and the Morris Oxford and Austin A60 . It was also fitted in some Nuffield /Leyland tractors . From searching on Ebay it would appear that your solenoid was also fitted to some Land Rovers and Perkins engines . Sadly I think you are going to have to fork out £26 and get a Lucas copy made in China /India or somewhere other than the UK.

I know it is an emotive subject but I wonder if having been found guilty of murdering three people maybe it is time he was deprived of his own life .

If it is a male person selling the boat it is not uncommon for them to exaggerate length .

I bought a product called Extend when my dog started to get joint problems it was recommended by the vet . It was like a miracle cure for her and she went from limping to running around . She is now 14 1/2 and sadly riddled with cancer so I will soon have to make the decision we all dread. There is a website www.extendpets.co.uk

From an early 1960's Brown Brothers catalogue [ remember those ] the Quinton Hazell part number was QCP 178 and the water pump was fitted to the following vehicles :- Austin A55 Cambridge Austin A60 Austin J2 1959 onwards petrol and diesel Austin J4 1960 onwards '' MGA 1961-62 MG Magnette 1961-66 Morris Oxford 1959 -62 Morris J2 van petrol and diesel Riley 4/72 1961 onwards Wolseley 15/60 1959-62. There are probably others and I believe over the years the part number may have changed I

I had the same problem with my BMC 1.5 many years ago . I had read about glow plugs breaking off when trying to undo them which was why I kept putting the job off but by following the advice of spraying WD40 or similar on them and then easing them out a quarter of a turn at a time then working them backwards and forwards they all came out with no problem . The drill bit to clear the carbon is 11/64'' and I was amazed at the amount of carbon that came out . As Tony said don't use an electric drill ,I think I used Mole grips on the drill bit . You do need to make sure the drill bit goes right into the cylinder to get all the carbon out . I actually fitted new glow plugs and it transformed the starting .

I thought it was a condition of the licence for new boaters that they start a vlog on Youtube . The amount of money some are making is amazing.

In addition to the advantage of being easier to change a spin on oil filter you will find you can purchase oil filters much cheaper than the canister type . I understand many of the Volkswagen / Audi range of vehicles had oil filter that will fit your new oil filter head . Hengst H14/2W and Bosch P3033 are two filters I believe will fit . Currently there is a seller on Ebay offering 10 Bosch P3033 oil filters for £30-88 with free postage .

I've fitted a conversion kit to my BMC 1.5 but actually I think there are cheaper kits on Ebay to the one you have linked . The canister type are more difficult to change although it depends how easy access is to your engine .

I'm sure we didn't . I've never purchased a boat via a broker so cannot speak from any personal experience but the stories suggest some and by no means all are not 100% honest. They must be making a fortune in the current crazy boating boom . I feel sorry for any newbies joining this Forum and asking for buying advice as they will be given advice as varied as 'turn up with a carrier bag of bank notes and wave it in front of a seller ' to 'make sure you have a survey and then negotiate the price down using the survey report' . I think in the mystery thread there was a suggestion that maybe funds to complete the purchase weren't available , a fact disputed by the purchaser . The carrier bag of bank notes would certainly have eliminated that aspect.

And from another thread on this Forum one broker takes your deposit and then say you cannot have the boat .

Plus bags of shit from the boaters with 'composting' toilets.

This is the first time I have ever read that changing oil and filters too often increases wear and that old filters are more efficient than new ones. I'm no expert but in 1971 British Leyland were recommending oil changes for the 1.5 diesel engine in their vehicles every 3,000 miles - 5,000 km or 3 monthly intervals . Oil filters they recommended changing every 6,000 miles -10,000km or 6 monthly intervals.

It was in a 1971 British Leyland publication that I read the need for the cleaning at 6,000 mile intervals . A 6,000 mile service for the Morris Oxford / Austin A60 diesel cost £6.64p obviously that didn't include materials . Those were the days .