Blazeaway

Now slept on it ...aka dreamt about it all night long.....my current belief is its one of two issues 1 timing 2 valve seats not sealing Timing because that fits with blow back on induction side and the lack of suction on cranking. Valve seàts same really but it would probably try to run but badly. Timing I think is not gonna be easy as the generator attached to it needs to come off.... Btw its never run in my ownership so cant comment on how failure has occurred previous owner says it did run in past but he is not a tinkerer so doesnt really know failure mode.

It is actually a single cylinder engine. Good idea to test valve seating with diesel, I'll do that tomorrow and will gove the valves a grind and full head decoke. Copper gasket looked ok and didnt see any obvios leaks but will carsfully check that too. Thanks all for great suvgestons so far.

Today I got the gen set out of the engine bay to start tye process of finding out why the eng8ne will not fire up. I rigged up a fuel supply and a battery and the engine turns over fine and fuel is getting through all ok. The injector is working fine. Next we took the rocker cover off to establish correct valve gear o0eration. All ok there too. So head off and all looks ok no damage to valves and piston all intact and moving freely. All back together and cranked over still does not start. There was signs of carbon buildup at top of cylinder and maybe it is not developing full compression. We did notice blow back out of the intake side whilst cranking. So now i need the engine repaired, might well need a rebore new piston and rings plus head overhaul. Anyone know where I might get this done ? I am in Warwick.

Go on ebay and search for generator fly lead. Or go to local caravan shop they often stock them.

Nice reading this topic, very relevant for me too, just bought 4 x T105's and about to fit them, but first need to understand why the original batteries were cooked by previous owner. Looks like I need to get myself one of those clamp meters. Also As far as 'fiddling with engines' goes...........I prefer my thumping great 5 litre V8 TVR, something you can really get some serious performance from. 0-60 in 4.2 and I've done that on the clock too....although at 135 mph I must admit to backing off.....on a track in Oxfordshire I might add.

I have just ordered from these people, prompt service and able to supply oil, fuel and air filters for my Isuzu 35 www.filtermania.co.uk Filtermania Limited Unit 8 Rose Business Centre Wolverhampton Road Acton Gate Stafford Staffordshire. ST17 9HQ Tel: (01785) 226969

Its also a great place to take off muddy boots before entering the cabin

Nice one Dave, thanks, have spoken with David and we are meeting him on board this Saturday.

Thanks for that Neil, that's good option and could be workable as a potential option for the galley. The main issue is with making new cupboards etc for the saloon as we want to try and match up with the solid oak custom fit-out that is already there. Boat was previously owned by a master carpenter and the fit-out is beautiful so its probably going to be a bit of a challenge to find the right person and materials too.

I am looking for a carpenter/joiner to do a partial refit of my boat. Looking to modify the galley with a new kitchen and add to some storage cupboards/tv cabinet etc to the saloon area. Boat is located at Napton. Anyone have any recommendations please for people they have used and been satisfied with the quality and service.

How can i change by user name ?

Perfect, thank you both of you.

I've tried searching for details about the location of waste (ie general domestic rubbish bags) facilities on the canal network but have drawn a blank. I know they are listed in Nicholson's guides but I don't have all of them covering the whole network so is there anywhere on the internet that shows where they are ?

I and my wife spent the last 2 nights trying to get a good nights sleep on the boat and now realise we need to make the bed wider. Its currently 4'6" and we can easily get another 1' or more with the space available. My idea is to have the mattress in two sections, 4 foot section and a further slot in section of 1'6" This will then need a new articulated base of similar size and section split. With some engineering the base could then be pushed back so that the 1'6" part rides up vertically and then the 4' section would allow us to walk past easily during the day. So does anyone know of any company/individual capable of making something like that ?

Hi David Yep its that one, and yes planning on staying at Napton and I'd love to pop in and say hello, so hope to hook up with you soon. Cheers Frank

My boat has a Victron BMV501 battery monitoring system, probably fitted around 2005 when the boat was new. I have been researching the 'smartgauge' system and have finalised a design that will allow the twin alternators to be split charged to supply start battery, bow thruster battery and the domestic batteries. Considering that smartgauge will cost around £320 plus fitting is it worth doing, ie does it offer significant benefits over and above the BMV501 monitoring I already have. I know it offers a more sophisticated split charge arrangement but does it offer better monitoring and control to ensure the batteries are cared for more sympathetically ?

I have a 38hp Isuzu engine which is fitted with twin 70 amp alternators. One does the starter battery and the bow thruster battery (fitted with split charger). The other alternator does the domestic bank (currently 4x110 amp leisures, soon to be 4 Trojan T105's) So, to charge the T105's faster, is it feasible to replace the Domestic Alternator with a more powerful version eg 110 amp or 140 amp or what ?

Spent sometime today on our new boat, Pooh Sticks, and I am very happy to report that everything is up and running and the whole of the boat works perfectly, apart from some really minor things, a bulb in the engine rev counter is blown, the fuel level gauge doesn't seem to work (but the calibrated stick back up does !). Every 240v socket and appliance works, the inverter runs perfectly. All the 12v electrics work. All the isolator switches do what they should. Water tank inspected and found to be Ok, filled with water and then..... The calorifier tank filled up as planned. We have cold water at all the points we should have. We have hot water everywhere we should have The Mikuni, The engine and the Immersion all heat the water. The shower works. The toilet flushes The TV works and we have Sky. The Morso kicks out a powerful heat on logs or Superheat coal. Even the phone has full signal and I could surf the internet. Now looking forward to our first cruise and then a new life aboard and peace, tranquillity and adventure together. Thanks to all those who helped us to get to where we are, I hope to buy you all a beer or two one day. Cheers Frank & Susan.

RESULT !!! With the help of you guys, especially NMEA as I got into the fine detail the Mikuni lives another day. Ran the unit for 2 hours today, all smoke gone and all rads on full blast got the boat to a toast 28 centrigrade, bit too hot really. Looks like the main cause was 2 blown fuses, not sure what they were protecting though. Probably caused by really badly crimped cables at the connection to the top mounted module. What didn't help was that the main diesel tank was almost empty and I didn't know that, so also fuel starvation. THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR YOUR INVALUABLE HELP AND SUPPORT.

Thats fanastic hands on experience, I will give it a good hard run for a few hours.

The parts arrived today, so went and fitted the new glow-plug and tried again. Same problem as before, so checked diesel flow which was poor, appeared to be a lot of air bubbles. Bought 30 litres of diesel and dropped that in the tank and then we had good diesel flow at the pump. Tried another start-up still no good. Removed the wires from the new glow plug and connected them to the old one and earthed it so we could see if the glow plug was heating, result was it was stone cold. Onto the control panel.......RESULT Found the control box hidden under a pile of wires, and found 2 blown fuses. Replaced them both and tried again RESULT Mukuni fired up and we had hot water in the supply pipe. However: still got a small problem, there was a phenominal amount of smoke which I thought would burn of, but even after 20 minutes its still really smokey, it wasn't on the survey last week. So something has changed and not sure what.

As I said I am new to all this but can't believe the variations in price. I have just called 3 Marina's within a couple of miles of me and have been quoted 89p/l (all domestic) 57p/l (Domestic) and 117p/l (Propulsion) 117p/l (Flat rate no split) I need about 150 litres so it could be either £85 or £175 How does one sensibly buy diesel I ask, the boat will be on its mooring for next 3 months and that fill up will be used exclusively for domestic heating whilst we do renovations and modifications. Clearly I would like to fill up with the 57p/l Domestic, will I have any problems with stating that and getting it at that price ?

New to all this but I thought diesel in a boatyard/marina was still up around 90 p/ltre isn't it ? Am I right ? I need to fill my new boat up so quite relevant at the moment.

OK cheers, I'll go back to simple diagnostics, check fuel and ignition first see if that throws up anything.