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56 minutes ago, dmr said:

 

This is such a difficult decision to make. The current (previous?) owners believe it needs a rebore....but have they been well advised????

If its sticky rings then a good blast might fix it. I am not convinced that bore glazing can be cured in this way (on an old engine). As Tony says it might even be a blocked breather. If the engine really starts well from cold then the bores are maybe not so bad. I wish we knew what the oil consumption is.

The Thames is on reds at present so maybe Jen could do some cruising in London and answer some of these questions to allow a better decision to be made???....it depends on if she has time to do this.

Is there anybody near London who could just take the filler cap off and assess the degree of blowby????

She needs a reliable engine to do this boat move but a recently installed second hand engine is just as unknown as the current engine.

 

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

Thanks Dave essentially all of the above!! I'm definitely feeling confused and definitely life would be much easier if I was in London or the boat was here! 

 

I've asked my friend if she can take a video of the engine starting and running for a bit which I can (hopefully) share on here tomorrow. So anyone who wants a gander that would be great. 

 

I'm still feeling like if it's gonna cost me a few grand now, and it's an old engine I might be better off doing a part exchange for a new one. Does anyone have an idea of what a new canaline would cost? I found this https://engines.apolloduck.com/boat/canaline-for-sale/625698 for £5k but not sure if its the right one. It currently has a 26hp Mitsubishi K4D... 

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15 minutes ago, Jentreefication said:

Thanks Dave essentially all of the above!! I'm definitely feeling confused and definitely life would be much easier if I was in London or the boat was here! 

 

I've asked my friend if she can take a video of the engine starting and running for a bit which I can (hopefully) share on here tomorrow. So anyone who wants a gander that would be great. 

 

I'm still feeling like if it's gonna cost me a few grand now, and it's an old engine I might be better off doing a part exchange for a new one. Does anyone have an idea of what a new canaline would cost? I found this https://engines.apolloduck.com/boat/canaline-for-sale/625698 for £5k but not sure if its the right one. It currently has a 26hp Mitsubishi K4D... 

 

 

Try looking at  http://www.canaline-engines.co.uk/    the 24 HP will possible be big enough for your boat but they will tell you. As far as I know they can always make your gearbox fit their engines and mounting pads can be made to fit your bearers.

I have had nothing but favourable responses from people who have used these engines as replacements, Korean I believe like Hyundai.

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1 hour ago, dmr said:

So a second engine of unknown quality from a small second hand dealer is £1750 or maybe £2000.

Beta do not advertise prices but I think a brand new engine and gearbox could be had for about £5000. That's only an extra £3000 (which is probably easier to say than to find) and avoids a lot of uncertainty and is a long term investment.

 

We need a plan to get some diagnostic info from the current engine but its not easy, a visit from Tony would sort it but he's not a young man and will not want to go to London with all this covid stuff going on.

Are you a practical person Jen? If you went to London for a long weekend could you do a load of tests if the forum gives instructions?.....or even better can you get a good boat engineer to do an honest engine assessment?

 

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

 

 

 

Is not Biz a Tony and he is, I think in east London and more than capable of doing an assessment. If the OP gets the boat to Reading and this lockdown is over I would happily take a look (FOC) at Fobney Lock

 

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So I finally got the engine video... 

"Smoke coming off of the exhaust (white wrapping) is temperature related not engine smoke. 

 

Smoke coming from the oil dipstick is the engine - the dipstick isn't the right one so hence the lack in fit / seal - it needs a new one made / bought which would improve engine. 

 

It's running fine now :) warmed it all up - even though the canal is frozen over today!!"

 

Thoughts very gratefully received. I'm not a mechanic by any stretch so layman's terms would be great! 

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I would lay odds the white "smoke" from the exhaust is steam caused by condensation that has been absorbed into the bandage.

 

If that was a cold start its good and it just sounds like typical  diesel knock that may well scare someone used to petrol engines but its normal.

 

I did see what looked like a wisp or two of fumes from what may be the dipstick hole (centre of engine and low down on image) but it cleared and did not appear again.

 

I could see nothing to overly concern me about the engine but I can only go by that video. I would certainly take it on the Thames at its summer flow unless things are different when its hot and under load.

 

 

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Thats a nice clean engine and bilge, I assume its had a good clean recently?

 

I think I could see a fair bit of fumes coming out of the dip stick, but then "blowby" usually gets much better as the engine warms up. Can you see anything when the engine's hot?

 

A measure of oil consumption would be really useful but is not quite as easy to do as it sounds. If you could check oil level on the dipstick and then check again after at least about hours of running you can eliminate really serious oil consumption.

Remove dispstick wipe clean, insert fully, remove, note level, repeat several times to make sure you get consistent results.   And after stopping engine wait ten mins before checking oil.

 

Did you check the smoke coming out of the exhaust (outside the boat)?

 

If it starts from cold, does not use much oil, does not have serious blowby, and no major knocks, then its most likely ok

 

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

 

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Check that the breather on the rocker box is clear both in the pipe and inside on the baffle. if its blocked you will get blowing from the dipstick tube.

 

Engine sounds fine, set the tappets whilst you have the rocker box off.  Rule of 9 works, #1 open, set #8,   #2 open set #7, etc.

 

 

 

 

Edited by Tracy D'arth
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On 07/02/2021 at 11:45, Tracy D'arth said:

If the deal is too good to believe then it is a scam.

Selling off ebay when he has used it to advertise is very dodgy.

I would pay nothing until it is delivered and the video of it running could be any engine painted the same, they could all be paint pot recons of knackered engines.

Pay a fair price for a known engine to a guy who doesn't want to fiddle ebay. If he is prepared to scam ebay, what could he do to you? 

 

Absolutely agree - never trust someone who openly admits that they plan to scam someone else - even if their intended victim is a big corporation like eBay or Amazon.

A scam is a scam and a scammer is a criminal . . .

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On 11/02/2021 at 19:25, Tony Brooks said:

I would lay odds the white "smoke" from the exhaust is steam caused by condensation that has been absorbed into the bandage.

 

If that was a cold start its good and it just sounds like typical  diesel knock that may well scare someone used to petrol engines but its normal.

 

I did see what looked like a wisp or two of fumes from what may be the dipstick hole (centre of engine and low down on image) but it cleared and did not appear again.

 

I could see nothing to overly concern me about the engine but I can only go by that video. I would certainly take it on the Thames at its summer flow unless things are different when its hot and under load.

 

 

Nice one, that's useful. I'm gonna move her from Islington to Uxbridge next weekend so that my friend can keep an eye on her and get a mechanic to have a gander. I'm then going to try to get her from there to Bristol mid march so need to know she's ship shape by then. 

On 11/02/2021 at 21:02, dmr said:

Thats a nice clean engine and bilge, I assume its had a good clean recently?

 

I think I could see a fair bit of fumes coming out of the dip stick, but then "blowby" usually gets much better as the engine warms up. Can you see anything when the engine's hot?

 

A measure of oil consumption would be really useful but is not quite as easy to do as it sounds. If you could check oil level on the dipstick and then check again after at least about hours of running you can eliminate really serious oil consumption.

Remove dispstick wipe clean, insert fully, remove, note level, repeat several times to make sure you get consistent results.   And after stopping engine wait ten mins before checking oil.

 

Did you check the smoke coming out of the exhaust (outside the boat)?

 

If it starts from cold, does not use much oil, does not have serious blowby, and no major knocks, then its most likely ok

 

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

 

Thanks Dave. I was reliant on my friend doing the video. I won't be on board until next week. She did struggle to start in the cold but the canals were frozen so I'm not too concerned. Will see how she is on my maiden voyage next week... 

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34 minutes ago, Jentreefication said:

Nice one, that's useful. I'm gonna move her from Islington to Uxbridge next weekend so that my friend can keep an eye on her and get a mechanic to have a gander. I'm then going to try to get her from there to Bristol mid march so need to know she's ship shape by then. 

Thanks Dave. I was reliant on my friend doing the video. I won't be on board until next week. She did struggle to start in the cold but the canals were frozen so I'm not too concerned. Will see how she is on my maiden voyage next week... 

 

What we are trying to do is to assess the state of the cylinder bores as the owners inferred they were not good. Worn bores give blowby,oil consumption (with blueish exhaust smoke) and low compression which results in difficult starting, especially when cold. I have no experience of your model of engine so don't know how easily it should start, but I suspect somebody like Tony will have a good idea. So if you can film the complete cold start up it will give a clue as to engine condition.

 

I assume you are only going up the cut and not out onto the Thames just yet......have just seen that its frozen at Teddington ?.

 

Its -6 here at night and we are totally frozen in with the boat making all sorts of creaks and groans.

 

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

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58 minutes ago, Jentreefication said:

 She did struggle to start in the cold but the canals were frozen so I'm not too concerned. Will see how she is on my maiden voyage next week... 

 

1. For goodness sake check the state of the Thames. I expect it is still on red boards and even  experienced boaters tie up until the red boards go. You might be safer to go the long way round via Oxford because at least you will be going downstream on the Thames. If you do remember to never try to moor up(except for locks) while going downstream, always turn and come in against the current and get the front rope of first and PDQ.

 

2. In recent weather the very cold temperature  will have materially degraded the battery performance so irrespective of the engine it would be a bit  reluctant to start and turn over slower than in warmer weather.

 

 

 

 

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1 minute ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

 

I think, from her other post about 'Red Boards' she is hoping to get to Bristol early March.

 

Yes, that's optimistic but if everything falls into place its quite possible.

We used to wait till late April or even May before leaving the K&A for the Thames, but going up the Kennet in a small boat is a whole lot easier than going downstream in a 70 footer. I'm quite envious.

 

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

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