Hi having trouble with a Watermota (Ford Leaman) 130 hp desiel motor

Changed the water seperator filter and the engine ran fine. Switched tankes but turned the return off by mistake (new boat to me with four
Tanks and a confusing array of valves)

Engine ran for about 30 seconds and quit

Disassembled several valves to verify flow paths ended up replacing one line.

Tried to blead the system and the fuel lift pump did not work

Disassembled and cleaned the lift pump. Found a bunch of crude. Pulled the whole pump apart and the diaphragms are hard. Put it back together.

Replaced one of the two fuel filters (only had one and the stores have closed) the filter and bowl looked clean

Rigged an in line squeeze pump and was able to bleed the fuel system. The squeeze pump verifies that fuel is passing through the water seperator and I am 99% the return is flowing to an empty tank.

Engine will not start. The fuel line is pressurized with the squeeze pump and stays pressurized

Tried starting fluid and the engine will run for a few seconds.

Any suggestions? How hard is it to clean injectors? How hard is it to rebuild the lift pump and where do you get parts?

Thanks for the help in advance

Sent from my GT-N5110 using Trawler

If you have a remote starter switch, you might try loosening an injector line at the pump and cranking the engine -- you should get fuel at the loose fitting, but make sure you're safe if the engine starts.
Lift pump parts aren't available any more but complete pumps are, from American Diesel, 804-435-3107, or Fred Warner in Marysville, WA, sells on Ebay.
Injectors aren't very user-friendly and you need a pop-tester to set them up after disassembly, but a local diesel shop could probably service them for you. American Diesel and Bomac Marine, 954-766-2625, both have exchange units.
Additional bleeding would be my first guess. If the fuel drained back from the line while changing fliters the squeeze bulb will be your best help. Get fuel coming out the bleeder ports on the injector pump, put the plugs back in, and crank the engine with half throttle.
It is possible to fill a lift muffler with water by cranking a lot. If you have one installed you might want to drain it if it has a plug or remove an exhaust hose to check.

Turning off the fuel return probably did "something" by over pressuring the pump..

You should call whoever made the injection pump, or who rebuilds them for a more educated guess.

Thanks for the help. Reread the manual and I missed purging the injectors. Followed the procedure she starts and runs fine. The lift pump is definitely weak. Using the inline squeeze pump definately did the trick.

Sent from my GT-N5110 using Trawler

I have a friend who has a sailboat with a M-30 Perkins. Lift pump died 2 years ago. He replaced it then and last week it died again. Not much running time so I tend to think these things are kinda weak to begin with. It takes at least 2 weeks to get another lift pump. We went down to the local auto parts store and bought an electric pump for diesel and plumbed it into the system and it worked like a charm. He figures when the new lift pump comes in he'll use the electric as a spare and maybe as a fuel polisher. I think I would definately have one of these pumps as a backup in case of lift pump failure.

Kevin

Not a bad idea. Cleaned the old one out but having an electric one for backup/polishing is not a bad idea

Sent from my GT-N5110 using Trawler

Many cars use only an electric pump, and it lasts , usually, till the car is scrapped.

Would be easier to change than the mechanical if it died , and far easier to prime the fuel system after a filter change or running dry.

The folks at the auto parts store warned us the pump we bought probably wouldn't last very long. It was an inexpensive aftermarket pump, about $60 bucks. We needed to get going for the weekend so we gave it a try and it worked well. We thought maybe the problem the auto parts store was having with the pump was people trying to use it on large pickup trucks or something that requires a lot more flow than a little Perkins needs. Time will tell and I'm sure there are some high quality electric pumps out there.

We had one of those solid state pumps on the Perkins on our sailboat. Worked fine for many years. The mechanical lift pump had been removed and a cover bolted over the opening. I think the one I bought was for a Yanmar so it was diesel rated, although at one point I had part numbers for a NAPA diesel rated pump.

Bob