Looking for mechanic to service Barrus Shire engine this week!

[Floating Guye]

Hi there,

A bit last-minute, but I'm looking to get my Barrus Shire engine serviced asap this week. Does anyone know a mechanic available around Hackney in East London?

Thanks,

Chris

[Alan de Enfield]

Any one that is any good is booked up weeks (even months) ahead.

Just taking any random bod just becasue he is available is a high risk.

 

Why the rush - surely being in London the engine will not be doing many more hours even if you have to wait a few weeks.

[Tony Brooks]

It all  depends upon what you mean by "serviced" and why you want it done. In many cases a "service" turns out to be changing the engine oil and the filters. I think the Shire will be self bleeding, but check in the manual, and if so it is a fairly simple DIY job. I will stick my neck out and say that if you left the fuel filter(s) just this once nothing bad is likely to happen so as it is the engine oil & filter that causes wear if ignored, changing the engine oil and filer is easy on a modern engine with a spin on oil filter. I think Barrus fit a sump drain pump on the Shires so in most cases no tools are needed. If you do DIY make sure that you oil the seal on the spin on oil filter before fitting it.

[Nightwatch]

1 hour ago, Tony Brooks said:

It all  depends upon what you mean by "serviced" and why you want it done. In many cases a "service" turns out to be changing the engine oil and the filters. I think the Shire will be self bleeding, but check in the manual, and if so it is a fairly simple DIY job. I will stick my neck out and say that if you left the fuel filter(s) just this once nothing bad is likely to happen so as it is the engine oil & filter that causes wear if ignored, changing the engine oil and filer is easy on a modern engine with a spin on oil filter. I think Barrus fit a sump drain pump on the Shires so in most cases no tools are needed. If you do DIY make sure that you oil the seal on the spin on oil filter before fitting it.

Can confirm all that Tony mentions. My confession is that I didn’t change the fuel filter for far too long. I changed it after struggling up the Thames at higher than ‘canal revs’. It was well mucky!

[bizzard]

Normally an electric fuel pump on those and self bleeding. If so after changing fuel filters just turn on the ignition key to turn on the warning lights only without attempting starting up the engine. Leave it on for a couple of minutes which should self bleed the system, you should hear the pump whining. After a couple of minutes the engine should start right away.

[Floating Guye]

On 01/02/2022 at 16:09, Alan de Enfield said:

Any one that is any good is booked up weeks (even months) ahead.

Just taking any random bod just becasue he is available is a high risk.

 

Why the rush - surely being in London the engine will not be doing many more hours even if you have to wait a few weeks.

Just a rush because I won't have an opportunity to do it after this week. Other than that, my main concern is that I have not done a service for 18 months, whilst they're supposed to be carried out every 12, so this is a separate question, but:

 

-Do people think it's very bad news if I only do a service after 18months instead of 12? Will that have caused a significant amount of damage to the engine? Or am I worrying unnecessarily?

15 hours ago, Tony Brooks said:

It all  depends upon what you mean by "serviced" and why you want it done. In many cases a "service" turns out to be changing the engine oil and the filters. I think the Shire will be self bleeding, but check in the manual, and if so it is a fairly simple DIY job. I will stick my neck out and say that if you left the fuel filter(s) just this once nothing bad is likely to happen so as it is the engine oil & filter that causes wear if ignored, changing the engine oil and filer is easy on a modern engine with a spin on oil filter. I think Barrus fit a sump drain pump on the Shires so in most cases no tools are needed. If you do DIY make sure that you oil the seal on the spin on oil filter before fitting it.

 

Thanks for your help Tony. I've spent today watching a load of videos and reading lots of dense manuals and think I have finally started to get it. The problem is, I have zero mechanical background, so lots of mechanically-savvy people telling me it's a relatively DIY job wasn't reassuring, because I have next to no DIY experience. But having read the manuals & watched the videos I can now see what you mean about how it's easy... these modern engines seem to be laid out in a really user-friendly way, so that's good!

[Tony Brooks]

5 hours ago, Floating Guye said:

Just a rush because I won't have an opportunity to do it after this week. Other than that, my main concern is that I have not done a service for 18 months, whilst they're supposed to be carried out every 12, so this is a separate question, but:

 

-Do people think it's very bad news if I only do a service after 18months instead of 12? Will that have caused a significant amount of damage to the engine? Or am I worrying unnecessarily?

 

1. The oil filter should have a bypass (pressure differential) valve built into it so that when the filter clogs and reduces the il flow through it then unfiltered oil plus any debris it carries is sent straight into the bearings etc. That will cause accelerated wear. What and how much debris there is in the oil depends upon the degree of wear in the engine, to a certain extent the quality of the oil, and how long the oil has been in use. Although I am sure the marinisers (Barrus) build  a good safety margin into their oil change interval recommendations only an idiot would tell you it is OK to exceed the oil change intervals. However, for  a price, you can send a sample of your oil away (google oil analysis) for a report that will probably read  like gobbledy-gook to you to say if it needs changing.

 

That leads us on to where did a year come from? Normally boat engine oil change intervals are specified in hour run with a default of a year if those hours have not been done. I don't know the hours for a Shire but 300 hours is about the longest I have come across and some are only 100 hours. If you are a live-aboard with no shore power I don't see how you could have failed to reach 300 hours some time ago.

 

 

5 hours ago, Floating Guye said:

Thanks for your help Tony. I've spent today watching a load of videos and reading lots of dense manuals and think I have finally started to get it. The problem is, I have zero mechanical background, so lots of mechanically-savvy people telling me it's a relatively DIY job wasn't reassuring, because I have next to no DIY experience. But having read the manuals & watched the videos I can now see what you mean about how it's easy... these modern engines seem to be laid out in a really user-friendly way, so that's good!

 

You may need a filter wrench to get the filter to start turning if someone over tightened it but a leather belt and a block of wood will often do the job as will a large jubilee clip, a block of woof and a hammer but as it is an ongoing job you might a swell by a filter wrench. Halfords or a decent car parts place should have them.

 

Before you try to pump the oil out run the engine so the oil warms up and thins, but d not try it after a loger harder run or the oil could scald your hands. Run until the sump feels nicely warm to the touch. 

 

Remember to oil the seal on the new filter. Refill to level and no more, run the engine and check for leaks around the filter, the stop and top up to the maximum level because some oil is now trapped in the filter. Do not overfill, go by the dipstick not the nominal capacity found in the engine instructions.

[john.k]

A friend of mine ran trucks,never changed the fuel filters,thousands of gallons of diesel.......his theory was that clean diesel wont clog filters......However if you leave it too long (years) spin ons may be very difficult to spin off.............The Gardner in our work boat generally went 5 years or so between oil changes ,but a bit more frequent with fuel,as there was crud in the tank.....Fortunately ,I bought up a lot of fuel filters at an auction....still got dozens.

[Machpoint005]

8 hours ago, Tony Brooks said:

Before you try to pump the oil out run the engine so the oil warms up and thins, but d not try it after a loger harder run or the oil could scald your hands. Run until the sump feels nicely warm to the touch. 

 

About 7 or 8 minutes is plenty for my Beta 43.

 

I find a filter wrench invaluable: mine looks like this: