Beta 43 Engine

[seadog42uk]

Help please,

 

We have been trying to help a young man who cannot get his engine to run. The boat has been in the marina and has not been started for about a year. The first thing we did was to charge the starter battery, then we put 25 litres of fuel in the tank. The bleed screw on the top of the first fuel/water filter was removed but no fuel came through. The drain plug on the bottom could not be turned by hand and as it appeared to be made of plastic we did not try to use grips.

 

Can anyone help with regard to the lack of fuel at the bleed point and how to we turn the drain screw? We have of course opened the fuel valve.

 

Regards,

 

Stuart

[GUMPY]

Somwhere on the engine will be a lift pump this needs pumping until fuel appears at the bleed screw on the filter on the engine.

Betas are supposed to be self bleeding but.......

Alternatively just open the bleed screw and crank the engine on the starter motor until fuel appears,can be quite a while.

Edited July 2, 2015 by Loddon

[Machpoint005]

Method 2 ^^ usually works for me

[1agos]

It maybe a blockage in the pick up pipe in the tank.( sludge in the bottom of the tank may have been stirred up when the fuel was put in) Undo the pipe from the water separator at the tank end and blow down the pipe this should clear any debris out. Make sure the fuel cock isn't turned off.

 

Good luck

[nicknorman]

If it is anything like our Beta 43 there is a priming pump on top of the engine-mounted fuel filter. Large black round thing. Pushing this down (and letting it spring up) circulates fuel from the tank, through the filters etc through the injector pump and back into the tank. By doing this, you bleed the injector system. On our boat you can hear the fuel trickling back into the tank, but if in doubt remove the return pipe and check that fuel comes out when you cycle the pump. If not, something is blocked etc (is the fuel actually turned on at the tank stopcock?). There is an air bleed valve on the top of the injector pump which should allow the last bit of air to escape, but make sure the knurled nut is turned so as to be open (ie anti-clockwise). It is left open as a float mechanism (like on a central heating system) allows air, but not fuel, to escape.

 

From a dry fuel system, and following repeated operating of the priming pump, it should start within a couple of seconds unless there is something else wrong.

Edited July 2, 2015 by nicknorman

[andy the hammer]

I have just post a reply on another topic asking if anybody can tell me where the water sensor is on a Beta 43?

 

Regards

 

Andy

[nicknorman]

I have just post a reply on another topic asking if anybody can tell me where the water sensor is on a Beta 43?

Regards

Andy

It's just at the base of the thermostat housing which is top front of engine, forward of the oil filler and water filler, just under the link from the water tank to the thermostat. Well it is on our's anyway, although I think Beta 43s have "evolved" quite a bit over the years.

 

 

Just above the T in Beta you can see a brass thingy, that's it.

Edited July 2, 2015 by nicknorman

[GUMPY]

Manual is here

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ezq7s8houmipsa5/beta1903.pdf?dl=0

 

Spares list is here

https://www.dropbox.com/s/pkoyxqikew0leit/B43_to_B60_Spares_List.pdf?dl=0

 

Both are in my dropbox

Along with another three manuals for varying versions of the 43 if that one don't match.

Here they are

https://www.dropbox.com/s/h71rpw0p93q7zbq/Manual%20-%20BV1903%2C%20BV2203.pdf?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/m5c94g7gawskfo8/HE%2043%20to%2050%20bhp%20-%201660%20March%202006.pdf?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ujlgfh6b6sgf68u/1660-4360-HE-SOM-1011.pdf?dl=0

Edited July 2, 2015 by Loddon

[Bee]

On my Beta 43 the lift pump lever is not on the filter, its on the lift pump and not very obvious. I have a small plastic funnel and I fill the filters with fuel through the bleed screws, its the quickest way, when they are both full it starts easily.

[nicknorman]

On my Beta 43 the lift pump lever is not on the filter, its on the lift pump and not very obvious. I have a small plastic funnel and I fill the filters with fuel through the bleed screws, its the quickest way, when they are both full it starts easily.

This is the problem with folk saying "Beta 43", there are several different incarnations of it. Just for clarity, on our's it is just a manual priming pump on the filter, the lift pump is built into the engine and I don't think it can be manually operated.

[magnetman]

Same on my Beta 90 - prime the system by just pushing down on a flat diaphragm pump on top of the fuel filter and it sorts itself out. Its a 2012 unit.

[Bunny]

Same as nicknorman with us , have to hand prime and ours is a right b####r to prime after a service ect takes ages . Bunny

[GUMPY]

All those are recent units, what age is the OP's engine

[nicknorman]

Same as nicknorman with us , have to hand prime and ours is a right b####r to prime after a service ect takes ages . Bunny

Shouldn't do. Our's takes about 10 pumps of the primer following a fuel filter change. Reasons could be:

Automatic air vent is shut

Fuel return is connected to fuel inlet pipe instead of separately back to tank thus recirculating any air

Primer pump is duff

[Old Son]

My primer pump stopped working. Still a pressure when depressed but very little fuel being moved. A new unit cured it.

[Bee]

Same as nicknorman with us , have to hand prime and ours is a right b####r to prime after a service ect takes ages . Bunny

I assemble the things with new filters and cleaned out water trap 'dry' and then remove the bleed screws and fill them up with diesel with a little funnel and a bit of plastic hose. otherwise it can take forever with the priming lever. Are they supposed to self bleed?

[nicknorman]

Are they supposed to self bleed?

The later ones certainly are (our's was built in 2010) but don't know about older ones.

[GUMPY]

Self bleed is not strictly true as some air will remain in the system, the way it works is as follows;

The fuel pump provides over twice the ammount of fuel that the engine needs sothere is always more fuel going back down the return line than the engine uses, this allows air to return direct to the tank thus eventually bleeding the system. U der normal circumstances (no blocked pipis/filters) if you loosen the nut on the top of the filter crank the engine then as soon as fuel comes out close the nut the engine should start a few seconds later wi6h no need to bleed any further as air is removed to the tank.

[nicknorman]

Self bleed is not strictly true as some air will remain in the system, the way it works is as follows;

The fuel pump provides over twice the ammount of fuel that the engine needs sothere is always more fuel going back down the return line than the engine uses, this allows air to return direct to the tank thus eventually bleeding the system. U der normal circumstances (no blocked pipis/filters) if you loosen the nut on the top of the filter crank the engine then as soon as fuel comes out close the nut the engine should start a few seconds later wi6h no need to bleed any further as air is removed to the tank.

Well on our's you certainly don't have to loosen any nuts (bolts?) since it has the float-type air release valve as I said. In fact since our's has an electric lift pump from the under-engine fuel tank, just turning on the ignition and waiting a while will circulate enough fuel to completely remove the air. Trouble is the warning buzzer is screaming whilst you wait, so for peace I use the manual primer pump on the filter.

[GUMPY]

Yours is one of the newer ones mine is one of the first with all sorts of variants in between.

The latest manual I can date is 2006 and even that mentions manual priming using the nut on the fuel filter

 

ETA

 

even their latest manual on their website says you should open the bleed screw/nut on the filter assy when bleeding.

Edited July 3, 2015 by Loddon

[Tony Brooks]

Just to point out that accepted practice is to fill spin on fuel filters with clean fuel before fitting them. You can also do this to older types where the element sits in a bowl. You can not do it to the three section types such as BMC 1.5s & 1.8s. Doing thsi helps to reduce the time and effort required to bleed the system.

 

If the system has a decent sized leak back system (unlike the BMC's 0.5mm one) then as long as no air has got into the high pressure side of the pump the system will normally self bleed. If air has got into the high pressurised it may still self bleed but simply take longer.

 

However even on nominally self bleeding systems I would advocate manual bleeding as it reduces the load on the battery.

 

I think i have seen three different types of priming pumps on Beta engines so again, without a photo, we can not give detailed advice about one specific engine.