Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 07-25-2013, 05:19 PM   #1
Master and Commander
 
markpierce's Avatar
 
City: Vallejo CA
Vessel Name: Carquinez Coot
Vessel Model: penultimate Seahorse Marine Coot hull #6
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 12,559
My fuel plug

Quote:
Originally Posted by markpierce View Post
Yesterday, the boatyard mechanic couldn't get the Coot's engine to run after having serviced the engine (including valve adjustment and on-engine fuel filters.) Neither could I after showing up to answer the mechanic's call for help. Fuel wasn't getting to the engine and there was a lot of air in the fuel line. Normally use the fuel polisher pump to prime the engine. Had everyone puzzled until a fibrous blockage was found in the fuel line prior to the filters. Am looking forward to examining the fibrous mass.
Examined the "mass." The first photo is how it came, the second after being pulled apart. The material was something like felt. It was found in the inlet to the fuel-polishing filter.





Comments welcome.
__________________
Kar-KEEN-ez Koot
markpierce is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-25-2013, 05:22 PM   #2
Senior Member
 
greysailor's Avatar
 
City: Matagorda Bay
Vessel Name: Salty
Vessel Model: 2005 Defever 44
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 227
Have you seen your cat lately???
greysailor is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-25-2013, 05:35 PM   #3
TF Site Team
 
Larry M's Avatar
 
City: Jacksonville
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 11,683
Mark: Did you or has someone gone in an looked/cleaned your tanks since you took delivery? I'd say that's "stuff" left over from when she was built.
Larry M is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 07-25-2013, 05:41 PM   #4
TF Site Team
 
FlyWright's Avatar
 
City: California Delta
Vessel Name: FlyWright
Vessel Model: 1977 Marshall Californian 34 LRC
Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 13,728
Is there a filter upstream from this one that could have been deteriorating over time and sending these filter fragments into your fuel polishing inlet?

(I now have this image of someone with a felt pad buffer 'polishing' their fuel.)

__________________
My boat is my ark. It's my mobile treehouse and my floating fishing cabin. It's my retreat and my respite. Everyday I thank God I have a boat! -Al FJB

@DeltaBridges - 25 Delta Bridges in 25 Days
FlyWright is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-25-2013, 06:02 PM   #5
Guru
 
MurrayM's Avatar
 
City: Kitimat, North Coast BC
Vessel Name: Badger
Vessel Model: 30' Sundowner Tug
Join Date: Jul 2012
Posts: 5,946
I do believe I have seen something quite similar in the past. It was in a book entitled, Medicine for Mountaineering, and was the foreign object of interest in a line drawing depicting the digital removal of a fecal impaction.
__________________
"The most interesting path between two points is not a straight line" MurrayM
MurrayM is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-25-2013, 06:07 PM   #6
Guru
 
CaptTom's Avatar
 
City: Southern Maine
Vessel Model: Prairie 36 Coastal Cruiser
Join Date: Dec 2012
Posts: 2,717
Quote:
Originally Posted by MurrayM View Post
...a line drawing depicting the digital removal of a fecal impaction.
There's a drawing I don't ever want to see. Now if only I could get rid of the mental image...
CaptTom is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-25-2013, 06:09 PM   #7
Guru
 
Giggitoni's Avatar
 
City: Vallejo, California
Vessel Name: Mahalo Moi
Vessel Model: 1986 Grand Banks 42 Classic
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 2,093
Looks like a cat's hairball...
__________________
Ray
"Mahalo Moi"
1986 GB-42 Classic
ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑβΕ
Giggitoni is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 07-25-2013, 06:56 PM   #8
Master and Commander
 
markpierce's Avatar
 
City: Vallejo CA
Vessel Name: Carquinez Coot
Vessel Model: penultimate Seahorse Marine Coot hull #6
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 12,559
No cats ... No upstream filters ... Thinking like Larry that it is left-over construction stuff.
__________________
Kar-KEEN-ez Koot
markpierce is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-25-2013, 09:27 PM   #9
Enigma
 
RT Firefly's Avatar
 
City: Slicker?
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 16,567
Greetings,
This is the guy they had welding the baffles inside the Coot's fuel tanks...

__________________
RTF
RT Firefly is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 07-25-2013, 09:40 PM   #10
Guru
 
gwkiwi's Avatar
 
City: Juno Beach, FL
Vessel Name: Takes Two
Vessel Model: Defever 49 RPH
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 500
Thats what happens when you post this topic at "Happy Hour"
gwkiwi is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-25-2013, 10:41 PM   #11
Master and Commander
 
markpierce's Avatar
 
City: Vallejo CA
Vessel Name: Carquinez Coot
Vessel Model: penultimate Seahorse Marine Coot hull #6
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 12,559
You guys are too much!
__________________
Kar-KEEN-ez Koot
markpierce is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-26-2013, 08:38 AM   #12
Senior Member
 
Baggiolini's Avatar
 
City: Monterey, CA
Vessel Name: Mahalo
Vessel Model: Defever 44
Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 406
Quote:
Originally Posted by greysailor View Post
Have you seen your cat lately???
I just spit my morning coffee all over the paper!
Baggiolini is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-26-2013, 09:14 AM   #13
Senior Member
 
greysailor's Avatar
 
City: Matagorda Bay
Vessel Name: Salty
Vessel Model: 2005 Defever 44
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 227
Quote:
Originally Posted by Baggiolini View Post
I just spit my morning coffee all over the paper!
Sometimes the strangest and simple things cause the most hours spent troubleshooting problems.... I recently had a similar "ghost" when trying to find the loss of high speed power on a new goKart I have for the grandkids. First thought it was dirty carb. Tore it down and cleaned twice, double checked float height....nothing. Then noticed I was getting some blowback through the carb when I would increase revs. I adjusted the valves thinking something was leaking by there, but they were within tolerance. Was about to pull the head and check for bent/burned valves, when I thought I'd check the muffler for obstruction.....BINGO! A wad of fiberglass insulation had collected on the spark arrester screen (about 2" up inside the 3/4" tailpipe....knocked the treehugger screen out and everything was fine. Had more power than ever so I guess it was in there from manufacture, and slowly collected carbon on the fiberglass untill it affected power.... In 40 years of nuclear power technical troubleshooting work, it is usually the most simple things that are the hardest to find!
greysailor is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-26-2013, 11:57 AM   #14
Guru
 
City: Hotel, CA
Join Date: Sep 2011
Posts: 8,323
I've seen something similar with a string attached but it came out of a septic tank
__________________
Craig

It's easier to fool people than to convince them that they've been fooled - Mark Twain
CPseudonym is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-26-2013, 12:22 PM   #15
Guru
 
Giggitoni's Avatar
 
City: Vallejo, California
Vessel Name: Mahalo Moi
Vessel Model: 1986 Grand Banks 42 Classic
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 2,093
Oh, gross!
__________________
Ray
"Mahalo Moi"
1986 GB-42 Classic
ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑβΕ
Giggitoni is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 07-26-2013, 04:43 PM   #16
Guru
 
Phil Fill's Avatar
 
City: Everett Wa
Vessel Name: Eagle
Vessel Model: Roughwater 58 pilot house
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 2,919
So now I have to install another fuel line in parallel to the existing line?

The fuel system on the Eagle does allow the fuel to direct feed the engine, by passing the Racor filters. So what do you think the material is and where did it come from?
Phil Fill is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-05-2013, 12:09 AM   #17
Art
Guru
 
Art's Avatar
 
City: SF Bay Area
Vessel Model: Tollycraft 34' Tri Cabin
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 12,569
You sure it's not simply a fluff from RTF's last haircut. Geeee, he really does look like a fellow named Groucho!
Art is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-05-2013, 09:13 AM   #18
Senior Member
 
City: Great Lakes
Vessel Name: NONE
Vessel Model: NONE
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 448
I recall seeing something similar long ago and it was a snake-oil product that you put in your rad to stop rad & coolant leaks. It had tiny fibers retained in a solution that supposedly would plug the leak but not the rad. I wonder if this might be a similar quack product a previous owner has used to plug a possible tank leak? Just a thought.....
Capt Kangeroo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-05-2013, 10:05 AM   #19
Guru
 
Capthead's Avatar
 
City: Long Beach, CA
Vessel Name: Heads Up
Vessel Model: Grand Banks 42 Classic
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 956
I'm a wooden boat guy and there is a product called oakum I used to stuff inside the larger seam openings and it looks a lot like that. I just can't figure out why it would get inside your fuel tank.

https://www.google.com/search?q=oaku...hp%3B576%3B286
Capthead is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Trawler Port Captains
Port Captains are TF volunteers who can serve as local guides or assist with local arrangements and information. Search below to locate Port Captains near your destination. To learn more about this program read here: TF Port Captain Program





All times are GMT -5. The time now is 10:36 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Search Engine Optimization by vBSEO 3.6.0
Copyright 2006 - 2012