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Anybody know what's happened to the Lock 13 website? - seems to be down. T

Hi, I am thinking of fitting a fuel filler lock like the one on Midland Chandlers. See photo. My filler is a 38mm flush screw cap and the outer containing body sits about 5 to 10mm high above the hull surface and has 4 screw holes to fix it in place. Can anyone tell me how this part is removed / replaced please? Taking the filler cap out it looks like it presses down on a rubber seal although this may be for the cap. If it does then surely fitting the lock under the cap assembly will hold it higher than before and it may not seal? The body is 'painted in place' and I am very wary of trying to remove things when I'm not sure what is holding them in place. In the engine bay the Deisel tank appears to fit flush with the underside of the hull so there is no internal access to the filler assembly. In fact I think it is part of the hull as I can see seam welds around it.

Hi, Can anyone recommend a good firewood supplier that delivers in Northampton? (Seasoned hardwoods) Thank you! George

Hi all, Disclaimer! mechanical noob, so apologies in advance for my missed terminology/diagnoses! I have noticed a small leak from my throttle on my Thornycroft BMC 1.8. I had the RCR out yesterday, the chap mentioned a seal would need to be replaced as this has degraded, hence the leak. As the engine is still nicely purring I was hoping to get to the marina I am on route to, to resolve the issue there. At present the leak is a drip every 10 seconds roughly. I have put a container underneath it, which is collecting the diesel. I have included a couple photos below. 1) I imagine I can buy a replacement seal from BMC and hopefully repair this myself? Is this advisable? is there any risk I can do further damage? I haven't even started to look into how I do this, but just wanted to know if it would be worth me researching the method or not. 2) The diesel has been dripping onto my rubber engine mounts Anything I can do to try and preserve the rubber, other than isolating the drip and keeping diesel away from the mounts? Thanks George

Hi there, I've got a problem with my BMC 2.2 diesel engine that is giving me no end of trouble - any knowledge or advice would be much appreciated. Basically, the engine starts fine with the normal amount of smoke which dies down after a short while. The boat runs nicely, doesn't hunt or miss and will run for over an hour whilst moored up either just on idle or revving the engine during the process. The problem occurs when I go up river. After about 10 minutes of cruising at a slow speed the revs drop . If I push the throttle forward then the revs pick up again but after a while they drop again. This happens repeatedly until the throttle is fully open but the engine is only doing perhaps 1000 rpm. The engine will then stall and not restart. After about 10 mins the engine starts and all seems fine but again it will do the same after another short run up the river. At no point is the engine overheating and is maintaining about 60 degrees when warmed up. So far I've done the following. Replaced fuel pump and all filters. Emptied and cleaned tank and put in fresh diesel. Cleaned air filter. Replaced fuel pipe on inlet side. Checked and cleaned tank vent (and tried with fuel filler open) Checked for diesel bug. Bled (several times) filters, injection pump and injectors. I'm really stuck on what it could be. Any suggestions? Philip

Hey guys, I'm stuck! I have a Liverpool Boat from 2005 with an Isuzu Marine 35. I am so confused, I've been looking for the agglomerator for months, every now and again I go and take another look. It doesn't seem to be on the primary or secondary fuel filter and I can't see a tap or bolt that would be for this either. The filters are solid, no catch on the bottom. Could someone possibly tell me what I am missing. I'm not great with engines and I'm scared to mess this up. Cheers, Jamie

Hi I've been living aboard for over a year now and each of my 13kg Propane bottles has lasted about 3 months. Pretty good! However, the most recent bottle has only lasted one month - pretty poor! I have a Rinnai instant water heater on board and the only thing I've done differently is to leave the pilot light for this heater on permanently. Prior to this, I would only turn the pilot light on when I had a shower or did some laundry or some washing up. Obviously, having the pilot light on permanently will use more gas up, but I can't believe that it would use 2 month's worth of gas over a period of one month - if you see what I mean! Of course, I could have been given a bottle that was only half full or something but I've been reassured that the stockist simply takes deliveries and has empty bottles collected. It's unlikely I've been deliberately short-changed. So, does anyone have some idea of how much gas having a pilot light on 24/7 might use? Photo of Rinnai with pilot light lit attached! Many thanks

There is a consultation on the use of MGO which has no 'press' - as is usual for governmental consultations to which they don't really want a response (Cynic Moi??). Here:- https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/red-diesel-call-for-evidence/red-diesel-call-for-evidence There's no discussion and no format for the reply, but it might be worth folks writing in either to retain the status quo or a return to the regime we had before Brussels interfered. Entries close on 30th. June (Thanks to Waterways World for noting the consultation)

I wonder if anyone could kindly tell me a good procedure for changing my fuel filters? I've had a good old google, watched a few vids but didn't find anything specific to my engine and the manual is not too detailed. As I understand it so far - there is a primary and secondary? I've only been supplied with one filter from when I asked for "everything" at a chandlers. I'm concerned about getting air in the system and not being able to restart - as I have no other means for hot water/electric it would be pretty inconvenient. Sorry if its a dumb question - I've mastered the oils/air and so on

Hi. Just back from looking at a boat and thinking of making an offer. However, this particular boat has its' fuel tank in a thick plastic container on the stern deck. Haven't seen that before and wondered if anyone else had? Should I be concerned about this? Is it hazardous in any way? Also, is fuel theft a problem on our waterways? Any advice much appreciated.

Hi all, Long story short, I had my pump reconditioned some months back. It's always ran like crap at idle but luckily on Saturday a mechanic came out and sorted the timing out and it sounds great now, not perfect but good enough without getting the pump off and using a timing tool. Anyway, the pipes that come out of the back of the pump seem to be leaking around the nut, hard to tell as I've ran out of TP and Kitchen Roll but it would make sense as these were slackened to turn the pump. Is it just a case of removing the throttle plate and making sure they're all tightened up or are there any washers in there that may have likely perished?

Hi again, another question, I have a new boat, never had a log burner before, my observations so far, are that ,they are dirty,in so far as all surfaces seem to have a coal hue throughout the boat,, and need constant, twice at least, cleaning daily. Everything seems okay, its not smokey inside, I have no issues, I think this is normal from what I am told. However , I have questions, if anyone can shed light. Is it unhealthy? As coal is £11 A BAG, and that lasts us say five days, how much would it cost to use diesel central heating instead for12 hours a day as diesel is so cheap currently, I have no idea how much the webasto systems use? Thanks..

We are planning a cruise starting next week which will include going from Stratford down the Avon to the Severn and then up to Stourport. I would welcome advice on moorings, fuel availability and any good pubs etc as we are not familiar with this route, having last done it on a hire boat circa 1984 Thanks in advance

Hi everyone, hope you had a nice Christmas! Stupid question, but I just wanna make sure: I can use normal diesel from a petrol station for my narrowboat, right? I know red diesel is cheaper, but I might not have time to wait for a coal boat and not enough fuel to travel elsewhere. Just wanted to make sure using normal diesel won't harm the engine (Lister SR2). Sorry if this is a dumb question. Cheers and happy new year

Hi! Are there any fuel boats planning a trip to the Camden area before the weekend perchance? Tasha

Hi. I am having an on-going issue with my Vetus M414 engine losing power and being unable to rev above about 1500rpm. It will idle fine and run at tickover in gear for a couple of hours quite happily, but within 10-15 minutes of running at 4mph cruising speed, around 2400rpm it will start to coughs bit and then lose power. dropping to neutral it will then run very roughly for a few minutes before picking up again. It is behaving as if it has run out of fuel, but my tanks are full (I have checked).. I have found that bleeding the filter whilst still running the engine, both in gear and at idle, will restore the power, but obviosuly this isn't right or indeed safe especially as it always does it in locks and at swing bridges. I initially suspected an air leak into the fuel system, but having replaced a number of suspect pipes and copper washers it still does it. I have also wrapped every possible joint in grease and I am now sure there is no air ingress. So I have turned my thoughts towards either the electric fuel pump, which is only 2 months old, but isn't as quiet as I would have expected it to be, it makes quite a loud clicking noise, or I have also wondered if the pressure release valve between the bottom of the filter and the return line maybe at fault and not retaining the correct pressure within the system and therefore not allowing enough fuel up into the high pressure pump and instead returning much of the fuel straight back to the tank. Any thoughts would be most gratefully appreciated as this is really winding me up now and spoiling many weekend cruises. Generally the engine sounds as sweet as anything, no smoke to speak of and indeed it managed to tow a broken down vessel 12 miles back to our marina, all be it fairly slowly, so I know there is nothing mechanically major wrong. Thanks