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Jason Gallop starting the Bolinder on Spey:

Hi All, We have a TC BMC 1500 in our NB. Over the past few months it has taken longer and longer to start, up to around 1 min of turning over and nearly catching before finally catching, with a 40 sec pre-heat. Between November and today we have had a mechanic visit 4 or 5 times (who we trust), and he has gone through all of the obvious issues (glowplugs, compression, valve clearances, diesel injectors (we had them serviced)) and each time the problem has persisted. Now it's got to the point that our mechanic has tinkered enough to try and get it to start that it now smokes like a ba***rd. Basically now I'm not sure if the problem has been made worse or that the engine just isn't happy. A week or so ago (before refurbished injectors were fitted and some tinkering took place) it would take a long time to start but when started it would run very well, pretty quiet, and with very little smoke. Now this isn't the case (although we'll see tomorrow if it starts quicker). Two things: anyone got any ideas?? Also, does anyone know of a BMC specialist in the Oxfordshire area that could come and give us a second opinion? I trust our usual mechanic, but maybe he's missed something obvious on this occasion?? I can't remember all of the things that our mechanic has done offhand, but I probably would do if reminded. He basically worked through the starting problem bit by bit, starting with obvious things like glow plugs and moving right through to injectors...

For pretty much the first time, I've hit a problem where mining the forum for info from past threads hasn't provided the answer (or rather, it's provided several possible answers, and I've no idea where to start!) So, here goes: My boat's engine (Thornycroft 80 = Mitsubishi K4D, keel cooled) has always started pretty well, either in a couple of seconds in warm weather, or after 10-15 seconds cranking in the cold, but a few weeks ago it suddenly became much harder to start, usually need two or three attempts of ~ 30 seconds cranking. But it was still starting, so I (stupidly...) put off solving the problem until I could get to a spot where I could moor up for a couple of weeks (I'm currently on the Thames, but was planning to move on to the canal in Oxford in a few days). And then this morning it didn't. So I'm currently a bit stuck, and in desperate need of the forum's collective wisdom (and hoping that Abingdon council are going to be understanding about me breaking their brand-new 3 day mooring limit!) Some more info: The engine turns over, but not fast enough. Fuel is getting through (lots of vapour when I crank). I changed the fuel filters just in case when the starting became more difficult, but it made no difference. I don't have a clamp-meter, but I think the starter is drawing more current than it used to: I've had a 150A fuse on the starter battery for the last year, and it's always worked fine, but the first sign of the starting problem was the fuse blowing (and the replacement went straight away too, so I've removed the fuse block for now). The starter battery is fairly elderly, and the alternator doesn't produce a great charging voltage (~12.7V, from memory). My domestics charge from solar, but the starter charges only from the alternator. The voltage on the battery after four attempts at starting this morning is 12.2V. I've just hooked the starter up to the solar to give it a good charge. The engine has been running fine once it started, and would restart pretty easily when warm (though still only after a couple of seconds cranking). From reading everything I can find here and elsewhere, the possibilities seem to be (a) a starter motor problem, (b) a battery problem - but I don't see why this would have come on suddenly, (c) poor compression, (d) the injectors need servicing. Is there anything I'm missing - and how should I go about working out where the problem lies? Thanks everyone!