rgriffiths

Great - thanks Tony. Very helpful.

If a boat has a calorifier has only one coil which is linked to the engine would there be anything wrong with including the Webasto into that loop? Not ideal I agree as the Webasto would end up heating the engine if it was cold but it would save having to change the calorifier to one that has two coils.

One week on I have been doing some cleaning of the tank. Pipe to the bottom and syphoning out. No carp but quite a bit of crap, getting less each time. I will keep doing it for a while as it can't do any harm. Got a £300 quote for polishing so bought some water bottles instead. Engine running great now. Thanks all.

So a quick update ..... there was a bit of urgency to getting the engine going as it was going in for blacking and lifting was scheduled for today. With an 18 mile cruse two days ago to get it there the last thing that was needed was for the engine to conk out. Thanks to you guys for helping getting to the root of it and it arrived at the boatyard at 1am this morning for lifting at 8am. Phew!! However the engine stopped three more times on route, and as luck woudl have it, one final time as I made the final turn into the yard where it glided to its lifting position. There have been no problem with for years and now this. I will keep you posted as to what I have found in the diesel, What I have already drained off has settled in a bowl it is quite alarming to see what gunk is in there. Pics to follow. So is polishing that bad an idea? I had it done once a long time ago on another boat and it was amazing how much redder the stuff was after an hour or two. And there was quite a bit of the bug floating around too as I recall.

I can't be sure of how it got into the tank but most probably condensation over time. I try and keep the tank full, epsecially at this time of year. But draining any water from the diesel water separator on a more regular basis would have stopped this from happening. Lesson learned,

So checked the fuel system this morning and drained a lot of water. Bled the pipes and purring like she always has. Amazing! Thanks again for help and advice - invaluable.

Thanks all - certainly sounds like fuel. Funny as just filled up. Tested to see if there was any water sitting at the bottom of the tank today and it looked fine. Off to get a new filter.

Travelling along today and all is fine. Engine had been running for an hour so without a problem. Then it slowed. It sounded as if something was caught on the prop - which it wasn't. It continued to slow to until it just cut out, all in a matter of 10 seconds. Now nothing. It turns over but never even thinks about starting. Puffs of white smoke come out of the exhaust. Diesel is full. Cracked a feed to an injector and fuel is pumping out there OK. Oil and air filter fine ..... I am flumuxed. Any thoughts? (It is a Perkins and usually magnificant.)

Thanks. They aren’t open at the weekend sadly. Might have to wait till Monday.

I am working on an engine that I believe to be a Beta Marine 1505 - pic attached. It is leaking from one of the core plugs. I am need to find the size but can't seem to find any info and would like to get things ordered this weekend if possible. Also, thoughts on an expandable rubber type plug? Access is really difficult so any tips would be welcome.

I saw this one and looks very smart. It is shame the pipe is not coming out of the bottom. But I can only see a 2.5 litre one. The Webasto tanks are 5. On a 60' boat with pipes on both sides I was wondering what size is required? Is 2.5 litre enough? Scrap yards and car header tanks (thanks Sharpness/Ditchcrawler) all good but they seem to come in strange shapes and sizes. I suppose my original question was more to do with whether there is anything special about the Webasto one that I need to consider when finding an alternative. I guess not.

'glass as in 501' ? I don't understand

I am looking to get a header tank and I am amazed at the prices for example: https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/Eberspacher-or-Webasto-Expansion-Header-Tank-5l-2-X-Outlet-292100017742/646953344?iid=272861639454&chn=ps Am I missing something? Does anyone have a decent alternative?

All valves are fully open (apart from the bleed of course). I had an interesting chat with a Webasto engineer who said (as you did Sea Dog) that we want the system to 'overwork'. You do not want the unit to slow down at any time as they are designed to run and not idle. Therefore I have set the valves all fully open so water is not restricted. It may alter what gets hot first I suppose but wanted to keep the system work as hard as it can. Seems to be working.

So ... after a break from trying to resolve this I have got under the bed and fitted a couple of valves. I closed 1 and left 2 open and bled from the bleed valve. Then closed 2 and and opened 1 and bled again. I have no idea if this is good practice or not but it seemed to work and now get piping hot water. The strange thing is that I watched very carefully for any air to come out. I was bleeding into a container with the hose submerged below the surface so I would see any bubbles but none. Then again I might have missed it and maybe it doesn't need much to scupper the system. So all sorted and set for a warm winter. Thanks to all as ever - especially Mike - for all your help and advice.