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Coventry Victor HDA2 flat twin diesel flooded


Cheekychappy

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My boat took on more water than expected when it last went in which resulted in water getting into the engine.  She was still running and I realised I had a problem when the oil oozed out of the dip stick hole when I removed the cap.  I have drained the oil and refilled with new oil, the intention being to run it for a while to clean out the engine and repeat the process with a new oil filter.  I did inadvertently mess with the fuel pump linkages and Unfortunately I cannot now get it started even with easy start, it fires on easy start but will not continue, the injectors are spraying equally,  compression feels good and it has a tarter motor which turns it over a a good rate, anybody have any advice before I give up on her

 

 

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Sadly if water went into the air intake while the engine was actually running, 'hydraulic lock' probably occurred causing bent con-rods and  a much reduced compression ratio. This is probably why it runs on Ezy-Start but not diesel. 

 

 

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Is not a big job to remove heads and barrels to have a look inside. If HDA rods are the same as the HDW and one or both are bent i will have a pair on a spares engine for reasonable money. you could press / fit your small end bushes into these i would think if yours are ok. Not sure about the viability of transferring big end shells from one con rod to another i've never had to try. Someone else with engine building experience may be able to advise.  

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3 hours ago, Cheekychappy said:

My boat took on more water than expected when it last went in which resulted in water getting into the engine.  She was still running

 

This is ambiguous. 

 

Can you confirm if you mean the engine was running when it sucked in water, making it stop, or if you mean after sucking in water it was still running? The difference is important!

 

Many thanks...

 

 

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Sorry to hear of problems, Mtb's question is very relevent.

Inlet manifolds are very low on these horizontal twins, and other openings for water to get into crankcase are not available except through oil filler, which ,if same as mine has a tight  cap.. So suspect water drawn into inlet and maybe some internal damage, hope not though as these are interesting British made engines that get more rare in running order. Good luck. Mick.

P.S. Kieron is the "hands on" man with these!

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I'll try and explain a bit better. I started the engine again after the boat had dried out, she started and ran without much effort but didn't sound too smooth so like a fool I thought I would adjust the linkage, I gave it the smallest of twists and the revs died.  I could not restart her on the battery and while it was stopped I thought I would check the oil which was when it all started to ooze out of the oil stick hole under pressure.  It took me a while to suck out the oil as it was so thick and week's later after many attempts she is not even trying when I turn her over on the battery. 

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Thanks for vote of confidence Surginess but in all honesty i only have experience with head gaskets and setting bump clearance on my engine, it has been really reliable over the last five years and a good starter. There are i think two members on this forum who have the full workshop manual ( for the HDW ), without that i could not advise on pump timing. Personally if the engine was running when submerged i would at least make a compression test and compare the figures. Like i said before a top end strip down and rebuild to check for damage is not a big job. I think the head gaskets on HDA are copper and can be annealed and reused, I will have bump, valve clearances and head nut torque figures written down somewhere ( again for the HDW ). Merry Xmas btw. 

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If you altered the linkage to the pumps that would affect the fuel rack setting / balance and not pump timing. If you take injectors out reconnect them externally, keep well clear and they are delivering fuel when engine spun over i would think Mike is right about bent rod / rods and low compression. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

THank you all for your advice, I visited the boat today and took the injectors out and did a compression test, I got 200 ibs foot and 220 ibs foot so happy with them.  I set up to do a fuel flow test and found the throttle linkage solid, by disconnting one at a time the problem was that the fuel pumps were solid, I feed them off with WD 40 and worked the springs up and down till loose, all good so far.  I balanced the fuel quantity but found the diesel that came out the injectors was as white as milk, the spray pattern was not that good either. I checked all lines from the fuel filter to the pumps and the fuel looked clear. When I undid the fuel line from pump to the injector fuel was white, this was the same both with both pumps. I am putting 2 and 2 together and linking water contamination plus initially sized pumps equals contaminated fuel. My manual recommends sending the fuel pumps to a specialist, can anyone point me in the right direction

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14 hours ago, Cheekychappy said:

When I undid the fuel line from pump to the injector fuel was white, this was the same both with both pumps. I am putting 2 and 2 together and linking water contamination plus initially sized pumps equals contaminated fuel.

 

I think you're right its water contamination of the fuel, but the sequence is more likely to be the other way around, i.e. engine stopped or shut down with water contaminated fuel in the pumps, leading to the pumps corroding and jamming up and the engine refusing to start next time. 

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Whilst I agree with Fitter Kieron that you need to get the injectors looked at too, I have heard  that Peter Slater has now retired.  A look  at the tractor/old machinery magazines in WH Smith may turn up a more local specialist.

 

N

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  • 8 months later...
On 02/01/2020 at 19:11, Cheekychappy said:

THank you all for your advice, I visited the boat today and took the injectors out and did a compression test, I got 200 ibs foot and 220 ibs foot so happy with them.  I set up to do a fuel flow test and found the throttle linkage solid, by disconnting one at a time the problem was that the fuel pumps were solid, I feed them off with WD 40 and worked the springs up and down till loose, all good so far.  I balanced the fuel quantity but found the diesel that came out the injectors was as white as milk, the spray pattern was not that good either. I checked all lines from the fuel filter to the pumps and the fuel looked clear. When I undid the fuel line from pump to the injector fuel was white, this was the same both with both pumps. I am putting 2 and 2 together and linking water contamination plus initially sized pumps equals contaminated fuel. My manual recommends sending the fuel pumps to a specialist, can anyone point me in the right direction

Hi I noticed you stated " my manual recommends sending" I have been searching for a manual for my hdw and cant find one the hdw and had are the same except  for the cooling so I'm asking where did you get your manual from please derek

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Hi Derick. I've been looking out for a HDW manual for 8-9 years now whilst running / owning my engine with no luck. I do have figures for head nut torque, bump clearance and valve clearances if you need these. I would like to know a bit more about setting up / balancing the injection system myself as I think one of my cylinders is working slightly harder ( exhaust is slightly hotter to touch on one side ). 

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35 minutes ago, Fitter kieron said:

Hi Derick. I've been looking out for a HDW manual for 8-9 years now whilst running / owning my engine with no luck. I do have figures for head nut torque, bump clearance and valve clearances if you need these. I would like to know a bit more about setting up / balancing the injection system myself as I think one of my cylinders is working slightly harder ( exhaust is slightly hotter to touch on one side ). 

i have this send your email adress and ill send you a scanned copy

Scan 0 - Copy.jpeg

  • Greenie 2
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On 03/01/2020 at 10:55, BEngo said:

I have heard  that Peter Slater has now retired.

Due to personal circumstances, Peter did stop working for a while, but he was then able to restart his work.

I’m not sure of his situation now, but I have his contact details if you PM me.

 

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