cant get engine to run.. HELP !!

[crosser]

air filter is clean and clear....   must be the compression,   which is strange as it spins much faster if i use the decompression lever..    just dont understand how it was running great when last switched off and now nothing...   all valves etc are opening and shutting...     think it might have to go into the workshops to be fixed as im totally lost.. just hope it isnt a new engine job....

[Alan de Enfield]

29 minutes ago, crosser said:

just hope it isnt a new engine job....

Hopefully just a new cam belt / chain.

[WotEver]

44 minutes ago, crosser said:

must be the compression,   which is strange as it spins much faster if i use the decompression lever.

Yes, that’s strange but so is nowt from the exhaust. I think we’ve gone as far as remote diagnosis can go. 

[springy]

deleted - misread post

 

springy

 

Edited January 6, 2020 by springy
misread post

[WotEver]

3 minutes ago, springy said:

If it runs on easy start the inlet must be clear, it must also have "some" compression 

there's "fuel" at the injectors but no smoke - "fuel" quality ?

 

 

springy

 

You’re mixing up two engines. OP’s engine does nothing on EZ start

[bizzard]

20 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Hopefully just a new cam belt / chain.

I doubt its either. These engine normally  have gear wheel driven camahaft and injector pump, much tougher.

[springy]

Just now, WotEver said:

You’re mixing up two engines. OP’s engine does nothing on EZ start

realised just after hitting submit 

 

springy

[Ianws]

Is the connection to any glow plugs sound?

[dmr]

If the valves are moving then you almost certainly have compression....but can you rotate the engine by hand (with a big spanner perhaps) and confirm that you can feel compression?.

 

Can you crack open the feed to an injector and confirm that fuel is squirting out?

 

I suspect the injection pump is not injecting and the easy start is some sort of red herring....but not a clue what how.

 

...............Dave

[crosser]

i have opened an injector..  just a small drip , not squirting out...

[Mad Harold]

Just now, crosser said:

i have opened an injector..  just a small drip , not squirting out...

Suggest you "crack "all the injector pipes,full throttle and keep cranking untill fuel squirts out.

Then if you can bear it,heater plugs for 20 seconds,full throttle ,air filter off an assistant to keep a constant stream of ezi start into the air inlet and crank away untill it starts.

It may take up to 15 seconds,and be a rather brutal way to start an engine,but with a bit of luck it will roar into life.

[dmr]

5 minutes ago, crosser said:

i have opened an injector..  just a small drip , not squirting out...

That's probably ok, the fuel injected each cycle is quite small and without the injector its not a major squirt. Does the fuel pop out at good regular intervals?

 

Turning the engine to assess the compression is crucial.  Has anything happened between stopping the engine a while ago and its failure to start now???  Stuff like boat sinking, engine bay getting flooded, engine getting serviced?????

 

...................Dave

[crosser]

there is a regular drip with each cycle, not huge but noticable...   nothing has changed at all...   was shut down about 8 weeks ago with the pull stop as usual and then went back yesterday to start it and just turning over and over...  thought it could be duff battery so brought a new one but just the same...  so baffling ...    something has just sprung to mind though...  the easy start is not the genuine brand its just a cheaper version, i wonder if that would make a difference...  i just get this nagging feeling its something to do with the stop pull...

[Tony Brooks]

Seems to be  some cross information. Early on it was a stop solenoid, now its a stop pull - which is it. If its a cable pull the disconnect the cable and manually push the stop lever into the fully run position.

[bizzard]

As per my post 25. That's quite a small capacity engine so even a small overdose of Easystart=Ether would make it baulk up and stop dead, in fact try to make ir run backwards. and can cause damage. Just a tiny wee squirt now and then while its cranking over is all that;s needed.

 

Bradex used to be the usual make. Don't inhale it too much or you'll conk out too.

Edited January 6, 2020 by bizzard

[MtB]

14 minutes ago, bizzard said:

As per my post 25. That's quite a small capacity engine so even a small overdose of Easystart=Ether would make it baulk up and stop dead, in fact try to make ir run backwards. and can cause damage. Just a tiny wee squirt now and then while its cranking over is all that;s needed.

 

Bradex used to be the usual make. Don't inhale it too much or you'll conk out too.

 

Or, you might just find yourself running backwards....

 

 

 

[WotEver]

1 minute ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Or, you might just find yourself running backwards....

Is it ether?  My old dad told me a story of when he was sat in his lorry cab cleaning a watch with ether. Then he woke up several hours later with a stonking headache. 

[Bee]

There should be a proper slug of diesel coming out of the open union, a drip is probably not enough to make the injector work. I think its quite likely that the problem is fuel. I would empty the filters into a jar, give the contents a good sniff to see if it really is diesel and not some horrible watery emulsion, check the injector pump to make sure that the engine stop is actually doing what it should, check that the throttle control is actually doing what it should as well.  To make really sure that the fuel is ok then get some plastic tubing and a litre or so of garage diesel and connect it as close to the pump as possible. The diesel return  can lead to a jar or tin or back to the fuel tank then bleed it again and again until you are certain that the thing is really getting good fuel. Messy but certain.

[dmr]

43 minutes ago, crosser said:

there is a regular drip with each cycle, not huge but noticable...   nothing has changed at all...   was shut down about 8 weeks ago with the pull stop as usual and then went back yesterday to start it and just turning over and over...  thought it could be duff battery so brought a new one but just the same...  so baffling ...    something has just sprung to mind though...  the easy start is not the genuine brand its just a cheaper version, i wonder if that would make a difference...  i just get this nagging feeling its something to do with the stop pull...

 

Its quite hard to judge/visualise injected fuel but if my calculations are correct I reckon about ten cubic millimetres per injection. If its much less than that then it could well be the stop lever mechanism. Was there any sign of water in the diesel that might have caused trouble inside the pump??????

I have very limited experience of Easystart, I stay well clear of it, but I have seen it used lots of times and it does not always result in instant success even though it says, or used to say, "starts all engines first time" ?

On my engine the stop mechanism (solenoid) massively reduces the injected fuel quantity but does not necessarily reduce it to zero.

 

.................Dave

[bizzard]

I spent many dizzy, hazy, hours mixing up my own model aircraft diesel engine fuel in the shed, some say its affecting still to this day!  We got the ether from the chemist and mixed it with caster oil. can't remember the ratio but we always overdid the ether a bit to booost the engines power, daren't flick the prop by finger to start as they would kick back on an overdose of ether and have your finger off, sharp edged racing propellers, we did it with a stick instead. Too much ether and an engine would just blow up into fragments, which happened to me once with an 2cc ED Racer.  This control line combat racing.

[The Welsh Cruiser]

I had a similar problem with my Vetus 2 pot. Turned out to be gummed rings resulting in low compression. Fortunately it was a top end rebuild rather than new engine time.

[chevron]

Follow the stop cable to where it is secured on the engine or diesel pump bet the cable or linkage is jammed in the open position disconnect the cable and work manually 

[bizzard]

If crosser thinks its sticky gummed up piston rings remove injectors and pour an egg cup full of the original Redex UCL for petrol engines into each cylinder through the injector holes. rotate the engine a few times and leave for 12 hours. The Redex will disolve away the carbon and goo and free off the rings beautifully. When starting after this treatment its important to use the de-compressors to blast away excess Redex from the combustion chambers for a a few revs first before trying to start.

[Boater Sam]

Disconnected injector pipes should not drip fuel, they should spurt forcefully.

 

My bet is stop cable stuck short of the run position.

[Slim]

12 hours ago, bizzard said:

I spent many dizzy, hazy, hours mixing up my own model aircraft diesel engine fuel in the shed, some say its affecting still to this day!  We got the ether from the chemist and mixed it with caster oil. can't remember the ratio but we always overdid the ether a bit to booost the engines power, daren't flick the prop by finger to start as they would kick back on an overdose of ether and have your finger off, sharp edged racing propellers, we did it with a stick instead. Too much ether and an engine would just blow up into fragments, which happened to me once with an 2cc ED Racer.  This control line combat racing.

Model diesel engines  I had a water cooled ED Racer in a 34.5" RAF crash tender. I too mixed my own fuel. I remember the mix as being equal proportions of ether, paraffin and oil. To pep it up you added a dash of amyl nitrate. Imagine a 13 year old schoolboy going into a chemist today and buying ether and amyl nitrate.

 

To the OP. Keep going, you'll get there in the end.

 

Frank

an experienced non starting diesel engine owner