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What's up with the boat today


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Well, it never rains but it pours,

 

Hot on the heels of the batteries being knackered, and the stern gland leak, the alternator has suddenly packed in, going through Harecastle. I am NOT a fan of red lights and buzzers in a tunnel!

 

So, RCR despatched an engineer. Very nice young chap who applied his meter all over the shop, and confirmed that the alternator is kaput. They don't carry 100A alternators on the van, so it will be a few days. That isn't going to fit in with a need to be back at work, so we formulated a plan. I would shut down to bare minimum on board power (food into the fridge on the families boat, no use of lights, just pumps and tunnel light to get back through Harecastle, and that we would spend 2 hours each day with my charger plugged into their inverter to top up the batteries. (that bit of the plan worked like a dream).

 

So, the next morning, engine started, and wandered over to next door, when Andy says "your engine is smoking a bit" I turn round, and clouds of white smoke, as the engine sounds like its is shaking every nut off before stalling.

 

It does not wish to restart, and there is lots of white smoke.

 

Now, this is a curious occurrence. Alternator issues do not tend to result in this kind of thing.  Is this just sheer bad luck that another fault has arrived within moments of the previous one, because I would struggle to see a link.

 

Anyway, Here is the engine (yes I know it is dirty, and I should take more pride in it, but it is awaiting circular tuits).

 

 

1778223741_IMG_24171.JPG.d8e777fa3c77507820593cf321e85c00.JPG

Anybody like to hazard a guess what the problem is?

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4 minutes ago, Murflynn said:

maybe your boat is Jinksed ??

That much is true!

 

Just now, ditchcrawler said:

Has the alternator seized

No, the alternator spins uselessly.

 

The issue was fixable easily, and without tools. It was unrelated to the alternator issue, but related to the engineer's inadvertent actions

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White smoke? Dirty  watery fuel or no fuel

white steam ? Water leak into combustion chamber . Often accompanied by blue .

 

My attack would be 

first check is there fuel, if so is it diesel or watery diesel

second check is there coolant, is there water in oil or oil in water.

My hope for you would be the first, and it is the most likely. Engine running on poor diesel will keep going for a bit , but as injectors fail will run lumpy till engine will die as water is incombustable, hence no restart.

check your engine stop lever too.... a part up stop can cause mayhem.

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When my Vetus threw out white smoke a few years ago, there was water in the bottom of the fuel tank. It also shook to a halt.  We pumped the water out and bled her through and off again like a goodun. This was a result of one of those silly brass level filler caps on which the gasket had failed. 50p gasket fixed it, I change this regularly. Some people on here say this is silly. I don't give one.
 

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20 minutes ago, blackrose said:

I think everyone's just guessing until there's a bit more info. By which time you'll probably have worked out what it is yourself.

 

51 minutes ago, mayalld said:

The issue was fixable easily, and without tools. It was unrelated to the alternator issue, but related to the engineer's inadvertent actions

I think he has fixed it and is asking us now to guess what it was.

 

I still suggest 'an oily rag on the exhaust'.

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2 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

I think he has fixed it and is asking us now to guess what it was.

 

I still suggest 'an oily rag on the exhaust'.

Never seen an oily rag burn white, but anything is possible I suppose.

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48 minutes ago, catweasel said:

When my Vetus threw out white smoke a few years ago, there was water in the bottom of the fuel tank. It also shook to a halt.  We pumped the water out and bled her through and off again like a goodun. This was a result of one of those silly brass level filler caps on which the gasket had failed. 50p gasket fixed it, I change this regularly. Some people on here say this is silly. I don't give one.
 

Hi Stan

 

I, no doubt along with many others, have had the same problem. The usual seal absorbs diesel and goes soft. Last time I was in Nantwich Canal Centre buying a couple for stock, they showed me an ‘O’-ring as an alternative.  Brilliant! It’s been on a year or more now and is as good as new. 

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8 hours ago, TheBiscuits said:

Did he kick the fuel shutoff tap while crawling in the engine 'ole?

Best guess so far. 

 

He has kicked something in the engine 'ole. 

 

It isnt the fuel cock (that's well out of the way). 

 

Here's a close up

 

IMG_2418.JPG.11ba1b3aedcf627f316b2ad0cc4f01e9.JPG

 

He's caught the engine lifting eye which has rotated towards the stern and is pressing on the fuel return line. 

 

Too much fuel at the injectors

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37 minutes ago, Bod said:

Well well, that was a different one.

Could have spent hours guessing and never come close!

 

Bod

Took me nearly an hour of staring at the engine, cursing my luck, and rationalising "what could cause a fuel issue following an electrical issue?"

 

My first thought was that I was short of volts, and that the electric lift pump wasn't working, but I still had 12.3 volts, so seemed unlikely.

 

I did then get round to "must have kicked something".

 

The giveaway was that it was possible to start the engine, albeit very smoky and rough, but any attempt to accelerate caused loads of smoke. This is dribbling injectors thought I! Why would injectors be dribbling? Too much fuel... back pressure in the line.

 

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2 hours ago, mayalld said:

He's caught the engine lifting eye which has rotated towards the stern and is pressing on the fuel return line. 

Certainly wouldn't have guessed that from the first picture.

 

It had to be something kicked and the "no tools" hint meant he hadn't kinked/damaged the spill rail which would have been my first guess.

 

Good find, and at least you were through Harecastle when it happened!

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Well done for figuring it out. He must have kicked it pretty hard to bend it over. That's the problem of letting people step into the engine hole who are being a bit rough or don't care as much as you. I've had BSS inspectors who are less than careful stepping on and off of my engine. I never put any weight on the injector pipes for example but I've noticed one or two with big boots who didn't care.

 

I think you should give RCR some constructive feedback and let them know he left you with another problem to solve.

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