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Left Heater Plugs on for 15 mins after starting. Doooh!!!!


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Hi I did a very dumb thing today .I Left the Glo Plugs [new last week] on for 15 mins after starting up my old BMC 2.5 50hp. I got a slight smell of burning, so I turned off glo plugs at toggle switch. Used the engine stop, turned off ignition, left it all alone 2 hours. When I re tried to start the Ignition switch was dead .Nothing ..,Batteries are all charged . I turned on the glo plug switch on to see it the toggle lit up, But it flashed on/off/on  [instead of solid red light] so quickly turned it all off at ignition and auxiliary switches and batteries as normal .Came home Muttering like the Numpty I am.

What is the worst scenario? Ignition Switch / plugs / wiring / will the starter should be ok ?

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56 minutes ago, Nigel Allum said:

Hi I did a very dumb thing today .I Left the Glo Plugs [new last week] on for 15 mins after starting up my old BMC 2.5 50hp. I got a slight smell of burning, so I turned off glo plugs at toggle switch. Used the engine stop, turned off ignition, left it all alone 2 hours. When I re tried to start the Ignition switch was dead .Nothing ..,Batteries are all charged . I turned on the glo plug switch on to see it the toggle lit up, But it flashed on/off/on  [instead of solid red light] so quickly turned it all off at ignition and auxiliary switches and batteries as normal .Came home Muttering like the Numpty I am.

What is the worst scenario? Ignition Switch / plugs / wiring / will the starter should be ok ?

 

Hm.not a very sensible glowplug operating system.probably the "wrong" or faulty ignition switch that does not jump back from heat to run. (maybe mis-wired).

 

There may be a fuse in the glowplug  circuit, possible an inline fuse where the holder has melted so look for that first. Next a terminal on the ignition switch to glowplugs may have overheated ans loosened. Finally you may have burned the ignition switch out

 

The starter should be OK, as they are not 2V glowplugs so I expect they will probably be OK, Of your list I suspect the ignition switch but check the other things first.

 

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Once you've got the horse back and bolted the stable door, if you can't fit an ignition switch with a proper heater position, replace that toggle switch with a spring loaded switch or button.

 

Someone was a silly Billy fitting an on/off switch on a circuit needing a few seconds max.

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Haven't seen/heard of

a spring loaded one ,But sound just the ticket thanks

 

56 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

 

Hm.not a very sensible glowplug operating system. probably the "wrong" or faulty ignition switch that does not jump back from heat to run. (maybe mis-wired).

 

There may be a fuse in the glowplug  circuit, possible an inline fuse where the holder has melted so look for that first. Next a terminal on the ignition switch to glowplugs may have overheated ans loosened. Finally you may have burned the ignition switch out

 

The starter should be OK, as they are not 2V glowplugs so I expect they will probably be OK, Of your list I suspect the ignition switch but check the other things first.

 

Hi Tony thanks for your info [once again] you are a mine of information, Some just said a spring loaded switch ,That would be a good idea. I Will follow your tips and work fro, the key backwards. thanks again

 

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17 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

Once you've got the horse back and bolted the stable door, if you can't fit an ignition switch with a proper heater position, replace that toggle switch with a spring loaded switch or button.

 

Someone was a silly Billy fitting an on/off switch on a circuit needing a few seconds max.

That silly Billy was me. Those Illuminated Rocket launcher toggle switches looked so good!!!!! But the heater one has to go!!!! CHEERS

 

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1 hour ago, Nigel Allum said:

That silly Billy was me. Those Illuminated Rocket launcher toggle switches looked so good!!!!! But the heater one has to go!!!! CHEERS

 

 

As those plugs probably draw in excess 100 amps dropping to about 50 amps I assume you ensured your rocker switch could handle the current. Not many readily available rocker switches would be reliable for that sort of current for long. Use the ignition switch Brian linked to.

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13 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

Once you've got the horse back and bolted the stable door, if you can't fit an ignition switch with a proper heater position, replace that toggle switch with a spring loaded switch or button.

 

Someone was a silly Billy fitting an on/off switch on a circuit needing a few seconds max.

 

I assume that you have never had an old BMC 1.5 engine. In very cold weather our plugs could need up to a minute (sometimes more) before the engine would fire up.

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We were boating up the River Bure at wroxham and getting ready to'shoot' the bridge when we spotted a hire boat adrift in the river with a puzzled crew aboard.  SWMBO put us alongside and I jumped aboard.  A quick Q&A determined they had cast off,  then done10/15 seconds glow-plug on the BMC, then no start followed by extra gunning the starter.  I tried 30 seconds heat and still no start.  Second attempt was a good minute of heat and hey presto.  Smug me, then motored them back ashore and told them to use the heat I had and not what the boatyard matey and the handbook said.

 

Happy Broads days, now long gone.

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In the 60s / 70s BMC / British Leyland included remove heater plugs and clean orifices in the 12,000 mile service for 1.5 diesel engine vehicles. . I wonder how many boat owners with BMC engines actually carry out that task today . A 11/64 drill bit is a must have for 1.5 diesel owners that want a clean orifice for their heater plugs.

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1 hour ago, Troyboy said:

In the 60s / 70s BMC / British Leyland included remove heater plugs and clean orifices in the 12,000 mile service for 1.5 diesel engine vehicles. . I wonder how many boat owners with BMC engines actually carry out that task today . A 11/64 drill bit is a must have for 1.5 diesel owners that want a clean orifice for their heater plugs.

Thats why the things have a reputation for snapping off.

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2 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

 

Maybe the boatyard and handbook should have quoted the correct proceedure.

 

1) Start engine

2) Cast off

 

17 minutes ago, rustynewbery said:

I am amazed by the number of boat owners who do this in reverse order.

 

I have been known to do that, cast off, start the engine , put her in gear then realise the tiller extension is still in the cabin.

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23 minutes ago, rustynewbery said:

I am amazed by the number of boat owners who do this in reverse order.

I must confess that many years ago on our boat with an engine that ALWAYS ALWAYS started first touch of the key on a sunny summers day admittedly on a ditch not river one morning I just untied the ropes lazily and touched the key and..........................nothing lol. Id Never done it before weirdly and never done it again since on any boat, the one time I did it the engine ignition was dead as a dodo. Just goes to show even a superstar can cock up sometimes :D

  • Haha 2
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Funny isnt it, on the boat  fit exhaust check oil, check gearbox oil check prop is clear if not done night before, turn engine over to get oil up. Drop compressors and start. Mop down boat , fit tiller cast off.

In car get in start drive off. They check the oil when it gets washed and serviced annually ( ish)

 

 

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I think my 'procedures'  come from flying, where each morning you are required to do a DI (Daily inspection) and sign off the log book as showing the check has been done.

Before you can be 'signed off' to conduct a DI you have to do them under observation of a senior inspector.

Mnemonics were a simple way of remembering it.

 

The mnemonic phrase I was taught when doing my PPL and to be used as final checks whilst at hold was : "Tommy Tickled Mary's Pussy For Fun, Golly Gosh He Had Fun"

 

TOMMY = TRIMMER
TICKLED = TROTTLE (Friction)
MARY'S = MIXTURE
PUSSY = PROP
FOR FUN = FULL AND FREE
GOLLY = GAUGES
GOSH = GYRO'S
HE = HATCHES
HAD = HARNESSES
FUN = FUEL (pump on, correct tank etc)

 

When doing the RAF inspections (I was a Civilian Instructor) it was even more 'formal', where you actual had the 'manual' in your hand and had to tick off each item on the checklist before signing off the full DI in the aircraft logbook.

The engine start & pre-flight was also done from a checklist.

Mnemonics were frowned upon "use the checklist" was the only way

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19 hours ago, Nigel Allum said:

That silly Billy was me. Those Illuminated Rocket launcher toggle switches looked so good!!!!! But the heater one has to go!!!! CHEERS

 

You could still use a pretty (spring loaded) switch but have it operate a high current relay which switches the glow plugs

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7 hours ago, David Schweizer said:

 

I assume that you have never had an old BMC 1.5 engine. In very cold weather our plugs could need up to a minute (sometimes more) before the engine would fire up.

That can happen if the glow plug is heating up carbon and doing little in the cylinder. If 15-20 seconds (iirc I think Beta say ≤10 seconds) isn't doing the trick, a small drill bit down the glow plug hole to clear the carbon might sort it. However, you're right David, I wouldn't claim to be a BMC 1.5 guru, so YMMV as they say! :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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51 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

That can happen if the glow plug is heating up carbon and doing little in the cylinder. If 15-20 seconds (iirc I think Beta say ≤10 seconds) isn't doing the trick, a small drill bit down the glow plug hole to clear the carbon might sort it. However, you're right David, I wouldn't claim to be a BMC 1.5 guru, so YMMV as they say! :)


I am sure that would be the case, but not in my instance. The glowplugs in our engine were regularly removed, and the orifice cleaned out with an extra long 4.2mm drill. I still have two of them in my workshop drills case. I was once advised by someone who worked on tractors that the best solution was to ditch the glowplugs (well, leave them in but with the power disconnected) and install an inlet manifold heater, which is what they did on old Leyland tractors, I did check them out once and they were readily available at larger Agricultural Merchants , but were quite expenxive, and the job involved quite a lot of dismantling and re-assembly.

 

 

Edited by David Schweizer
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2 minutes ago, David Schweizer said:


I am sure that would be the case, but not in my instance. The glowplugs in our engine were regularly removed, and the orifice cleaned out with an extra long 4.2mm drill. I still have two of them in my workshop drills case. I was once advised by someone who worked on tractors that the best solution was to ditch the glowplugs (well, leave them in but with the power disconnected) and install an inlet manifold heater, which is what they did on old Leyland tractors.

Sounds like you're all over it David. General advice is always trumped by specific experience, isn't it, and some engines do seem to have own characteristics, don't they. That drill bit technique is worth knowing and may help others reading this thread, eh?

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