Limped into dock on one Perkins 6.354

[DHeckrotte]

Driving happily along at 8+ knots and both engines at about 1850 rpm. Wind ahead @ 15kts +/-. Waves minor, then negligible. (Several days ago, we were rolled hard enough to overturn chairs and scatter stuff.)

Port engine rev'd up then dropped to nothing. Starboard engine failed to notice anything untoward and churned along. Port cranks nicely, with no hint of starting.

I opened the port engine's lift pump output; no fuel when hand pumping. Did not try it when cranking the engine. Both engines' lift pumps are fed through their own Racor 500FG Turbo Filters. Sediment in both bowls. Port engine's bowl drains fluid that looks and smells like fuel. Both Racors are beyond my capability to service (size and arthritis).

Both engine room 12v lights were not operating. Sue managed to fit in there and got both working. See pic.

Serving the Racors require accessibility and the ability to recharge the canister with fresh fuel before reassembling. We've called a guru to lead us (Sue) through it and change the filter elements.

There is over 6" of fuel showing on a dipstick in both tanks. Tanks are about 3' deep and 12" (really? why so far?) below the deck fill. That would be 1/6 of a tank left. Tanks are supposed to be 200 gal. They might slope down towards the stern and may well have bottoms that follow the deadrise of the hull. Fill and measuring point is toward the forward end.

 

[dhays]

Me things you likely don't pay your Engineer enough. ;-)

 

[BruceK]

Me things you likely don't pay your Engineer enough. ;-)

But you did get her a cup of tea while working.

 

[RT Firefly]

 

[sunchaser]

DH
Out of fuel

So how did you establish the tank level at which your pickup tubes suck air? Priming the engine after putting fuel in the tank will get you going.

 

[stanfromhell]

If your lift pump is mounted on the side of the engine block and driven by the engines camshaft , the camshaft lobe may have fully stroked the pump which will prevent you from being able to manually pump fuel when you stroke the lever. You may need to bump the engine over a bit untill the cam lobe has moved from maximum stroke and you feel a little bit of resistance when you push the lever down. This resistance is caused by the pump diaphragm moving up to push fuel towards the filters. If it is an electricaly driven pump or a squeeze bulb this does not apply.

 

[DHeckrotte]

I may well have discovered that the pickups are high, Sun. Stan, newbie here thought that you lift the lever on the lift pump. I surely do not, dhays. And, no, Bruce; she popped out of there like a cork. And was pleased that I did not try to talk her and me through replacing the filter elements. Speechless at your video library, FF!

A tremendously good sport, here she is taking a break while I fit the next bolts to the winch mounting on our sailboat.

 

[Baker]

I love sue!!!!

 

[Lepke]

If you install a vacuum gauge between each of the racors and engine's lift pump, you can see if the primary filter is clogged w/o replacing every filter when you have a problem. Also, an inline electric pump makes filter changing and bleeding the fuel system easier. Some people replace the engine driven lift pump with an electric one.
Because you had a big roll, the most likely cause of engine stopping is either sucking air because the tank pick up tube was out of the fuel(so the engine needs bleeding) or the roll stirred up debris that is either plugging a fuel line or a filter. It's common for the primary filter (Racor) to be 30 microns and the secondary to be 10 microns. So if you have a plugged filter it's probably the secondary.
You need to look up the bleed procedure and attempt bleeding. There is a screw on the side of the injector pump that is loosened until fuel flows without bubbles while you manually pump the lift pump. Tighten screw. Then slack the tubing nuts on the top of the injectors until fuel flows. A common, but less likely reason for stopping and no fuel at the injector is a stop condition in the injector pump. If you stop the engine with a key then failure of the stop solenoid could be the issue. If you pull a cable to stop the engine, then the cable may be out of adjustment.

 

[CaptTom]

Yeah, all of the above. BTW, the manual actually says you don't have to bleed each injector, just one or two of them. Not sure why, but I can attest it works.

 

[DHeckrotte]

New Racor elements. Foul fuel. Added Star Tron to each tank. Will shortly add fuel to reduce the concentration of slop in the tank.

Kudos to R&D Boat Supply in Cambridge. Ken Daniels is the contact there. Very bright, knowlegable.

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. DH. Re: post #7..."Speechless at your video library, FF!" ????
Mr. FF is a totally different animal IF you were attempting to comment on MY post...

These gifs are all available on the net. I have no library other than a vacuous mind...

 

[DHeckrotte]

Vacuous is good, RTF!

 

[Heron]

Also, an inline electric pump makes filter changing and bleeding the fuel system easier. Some people replace the engine driven lift pump with an electric one.
.

Do this. Most of the Walbros are "pass throughs" IE: they don't need to be on to pass fuel. They do fill filters and purge air when needed. Put a simple switch on one and you're covered for numerous issues...

 

[Donna]

Sue, you are a gal after my own heart! Go Sue!

 

[kchace]

New Racor elements. Foul fuel. Added Star Tron to each tank. Will shortly add fuel to reduce the concentration of slop in the tank.

Kudos to R&D Boat Supply in Cambridge. Ken Daniels is the contact there. Very bright, knowlegable.

If the fuel in that tank is actually "bad" Startron or anything else won't fix it. If it's just the concentrated dirt at the bottom of a low tank that has clogged your filter, put in some more fuel and change filter and get the tank cleaned when you can.

Ken

 

[Irish Rambler]

The 6354's are a cracker of an engine but give 'em a chance.
Clean air, Clean oil and Clean fuel is all they need.
Expensive Raccors are a waste of money, keep it simple, effective and inexpensive.
Empty your fuel tanks, vacuum out any dirt, fit a drain cock at the lowest point and drain a cupful every month to take away any sediment or moisture. check and modify your lift pipe.
There's a modification available for the fuel filter head from ASAP supplies that's changes the filter to a 'spin on' type and incorporating a pump operated by the heel of your hand, there's no need for Sue's sore fingers on the manual lift pump.
Opening just 2 injectors while turning the engine over is sufficient to bleed the system.
Just thank goodness you have Sue, but have a heart and do the job right.