How do you start you boat?

Seems like a simple question but some people go thru a lot of procedures to start up the motor.

Most of us have a key to start. I have seen some with a key and a push button.

I have installed a button in the ER so when I check the oil and I am right there I can start her from the engine room. I run the boat solo often. I like this because if there are any issues I can see them right away.

What do you do?*

*How do you start your boat?

SD

*


-- Edited by skipperdude on Wednesday 26th of October 2011 01:17:23 PM

Turn the key to the first stop (On?), listen for the low oil pressure warning, turn the key to the next stop (Start?) and hope she turns over.* Once she fires up I run to the stern to make sure cooling water is coming out of the exhaust.

The only button is for the solenoid that chokes off the fuel flow for shut-down.

That solenoid thing sounds like a good idea. For safety reasons like a runaway.

I'll put it on the list.

SD*

Power "on" with the key. Push the start button to fire up. Stand by the helm until the low oil P buzzer stops and I see pressure, then I raise the rpm a tad (to*700 ish) to smooth her out while she's cold. Then I go look over the transom to make sure*she's pumping water.

*

I also have a key. Here is SOP for me:

1) Check fluid levels.
2) Check fuel management system for correct settings.
3) I installed a new preheat button for cold days.
4) Set throttle to half.
5) Turn key to 'ON'
6) Turn key to 'VROOM'
7) Pet the dog that is now sitting on the sofa saying, "Oh crap, here we go again."
8) Head up to flybridge to enjoy the ride.

Check gauges should be #6.5 (oops)


-- Edited by GonzoF1 on Wednesday 26th of October 2011 01:45:10 PM

First start of the day, I put my hand over*low oil pressure alarm (very loud). Turn on and then turn to activate starter. I then step out the wheelhouse door and check the tell-tale out the side of the boat for cooling water. On subsequent starts, I don't bother checking for water.

Turning off, first push a big red button which de-activates the fuel solenoid and then turn the key off. Occasionally someone turns the key off first, the solenoid doesn't de-activate, so they need to turn the key on again to stop the engine.

Turn on engine-room exhaust fan.

Turn on engine-room lights.

Open port-side floor hatch for access to engine room.

Check transmission and engine oil levels.

Close port-side hatch.

Check fuel levels of fuel tanks.

Open starboard side floor hatch to engine room*and confirm/change fuel flows.

Close starboard-side hatch.

Turn off engine-room lights.

Put gear shift in exact central/neutral position.

Adjust throttle to one-third

Turn the key.

Push the start button.

Adjust speed to idle.

Turn off engine-room blower.

*

On my sailboat I installed a push button along with spring loaded key switch. I did this after the key switch stuck when I did not know it. I found out when smoke filled the cabin.

Skipperdude,
Shutting down the injector pump with the solenoid switch won't stop a diesel from a runaway. The fuel for the engine is coming from another source.

GonzoF1 wrote:
I also have a key. Here is SOP for me:

4) Set throttle to half.
5) Turn key to 'ON'
6) Turn key to 'VROOM'

-- Edited by GonzoF1 on Wednesday 26th of October 2011 01:45:10 PM

Click to expand...

*

Vroom would indeed be the desired result.* Does your engine manufacturer actually recommend starting with half throttle?

I send my butler down to prepare my yacht for me and make sure the gin and tonics are properly mixed before I get out of our limo.....

In reality though, I check fluids, turn the key and push the start button, then check for water out the exhaust. I had to fire my butler some years ago- good help is hard to find!

Don't forget to keep the blower running on warm/hot days...it's not for explosive gasses on a diesel boat (often they are mounted high with no hose going low)...it's to keep fresh cool air coming to the diesel for better performance. A blower to get rid of explosive gasses is still a good idea especially if you carry gasoline or propane, etc...onboard...

skipperdude wrote:
*How do you start your boat?

Click to expand...

*Grand Banks boats, at least the ones made before the early 90s, don't use keys.* They're like Boeing airplanes--- the only key is to the flight deck (main cabin) door.

On our GB starting the FL120s is*a dirt-simple process.* After the pre-start engine room checks, we always start the port engine first, then the starboard engine.

1.* Turn on the port electrical switch that energize the hour meters, oil pressure and coolant temperature*alarms,*and closes the start button circuit.

2.* Per operators manual, advance the port power lever 1/4 to 1/3 of its full travel.

3.* Push the spring-loaded start button on the DC panel.

4.* When engine starts (usually within two seconds of pushing the start button) release the start button and adjust throttle down to 1,000 rpm.

5.* Confirm (from person on aft deck or go back and look) that the water flow out the exhaust is the correct volume and that there is no rust in the water behind the boat*from the initial burst of exhaust water.

6.* Repeat 1-5*for the starboard engine.

The FL120 does have a cold start lever on the injection pump that is connected via Teleflex cable to pull-knobs on helm consol be we have never needed to use them in the PNW even though we boat through the winter.

*


-- Edited by Marin on Wednesday 26th of October 2011 05:24:25 PM

Marin wrote:*
*Grand Banks boats, at least the ones made before the early 90s, don't use keys.* They're like Boeing airplanes--- ...*we always start the port engine first, then the starboard engine.

Click to expand...

*Is there a reason the port engine is started first?* Is it a carryover from starting plane's engines: engine #1, 2, 3 ... in that order?

I asked*a former Boeing*B-17 copilot (my*93-year-old father) about the order of starting the plane's engines.* His memory is vague, but he thinks the engine order was from one side to the other (1, 2, 3, 4) as a routine.


-- Edited by markpierce on Wednesday 26th of October 2011 06:09:08 PM

Thanks, Marin. Now that Mark knows we don't need a key to start a Grand Banks he can walk two slips down to my boat and drive off!

I'm tempted Ray, but I should have my boat back from the yard in a few days.


-- Edited by markpierce on Wednesday 26th of October 2011 06:11:49 PM

markpierce wrote:
*Is there a reason the port engine is started first?* Is it a carryover from starting plane's engines: engine #1, 2, 3 ... in that order?

Click to expand...

It's the reason I start our engines that way.*But there is no rule or instruction in our*boat's operating manual that suggests that order be followed.*

Aircraft engines are numbered left to right*relative to the pilot in his seat,*and they are typically started in that same order.* Since I've been around machines that start their engines in this order since I started flying planes*in the early '70s and now at Boeing,*that's the only order I think of when starting multiple engines.

But there is no reason that I can think of on a boat to always*start engines in this order, or in any order.* The WWII vets I've interviewed for my current writing project told me the three engines in a PT boat were generally*started starboard to port.* While nobody told me why, I suspect this is because the duty motormac sat in a seat bolted to the inboard rocker box of the starboard engine, the transmission shift levers all came together next to him, and the engine instruments were in front of and beside him.* So they started the closest engine and worked out.

*


-- Edited by Marin on Wednesday 26th of October 2011 06:39:16 PM

markpierce wrote:

Marin wrote:*
*Grand Banks boats, at least the ones made before the early 90s, don't use keys.* They're like Boeing airplanes--- ...*we always start the port engine first, then the starboard engine.

Click to expand...

*Is there a reason the port engine is started first?* Is it a carryover from starting plane's engines: engine #1, 2, 3 ... in that order?

I asked*a former Boeing*B-17 copilot (my*93-year-old father) about the order of starting the plane's engines.* His memory is vague, but he thinks the engine order was from one side to the other (1, 2, 3, 4) as a routine.


-- Edited by markpierce on Wednesday 26th of October 2011 06:09:08 PM


I start my stbd engine first. Reason is that it is farthest from the battery bank, longest cable run- so most likely to fall victim to low voltage.
Having said all of that :biggrin: I would prefer to "hear" that engine and starter as it spins.

Jay N wrote:GonzoF1 wrote:
I also have a key. Here is SOP for me:

4) Set throttle to half.
5) Turn key to 'ON'
6) Turn key to 'VROOM'

-- Edited by GonzoF1 on Wednesday 26th of October 2011 01:45:10 PM

Click to expand...

*

Vroom would indeed be the desired result.* Does your engine manufacturer actually recommend starting with half throttle?

*Actually, knowing what I know about cold starts, this is a compromise. Here is a clip from the Ops Manual:

Insure that sea cock is open. Set throttle to about 1/12 (about 3/16" up from idle at the end of the lever). Turn key to the left for 6 or 7 seconds (or 10 seconds if in cool weather) to get the heaters red hot. Turn key to the right to crank the engine about 2 seconds and (after starting) adjust idle speed if need be. Half the time I don't need to. Check the exhaust for water at the stern. Check oil pressure.*

I can't believe you guys are starting your engines w so much throttle.*

Ray, * You're GB looks VERY nice. I especially like your railing. Mostly the low height.

I'm just following the instructions from THE MANUFACTURER! What should I do? Ignore it?

nomadwilly wrote:I can't believe you guys are starting your engines w so much throttle.*

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In our case, it's the power lever setting spelled out in the manual for normal starts (as opposed to cold starts).* Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that the FL120 has no glow-plugs or intake air pre-heaters.

Our Onan MDJE does have glow plugs and an intake air pre-heater.* The start procedure for that is to close the spring-loaded*pre-heat switch for 45 seconds to a minute (but not to exceed a minute), and then close the spring-loaded start switch, releasing both of them when the engine starts.

When we bought the boat we were told to apply pre-heat for "about ten seconds or so" and then engage the starter.* We did this for the first year or so and while the two-cylinder*engine always started* it always started hesitantly and*ran rough for a few seconds before smoothing out.

The Onan was the one thing on the boat that did not have an operators manual.* After I joined the Grand Banks owners forum I mentioned this and another member sent me a copy.* When I read it, I saw the* "45 seconds to one minute" instruction for pre-heat.* As soon as I started doing that, the Onan fired right up and ran smoothly from the get-go, as it does to this day.


-- Edited by Marin on Wednesday 26th of October 2011 06:55:38 PM

nomadwilly wrote:
I can't believe you guys are starting your engines w so much throttle.*

I agree.* There's no chance I'll ever start any diesel anywhere past idle throttle.* On our Lehman 120's if they are cold I'll push the start pin on the Mimetec pumps while I'm below doing my pre-start inspection.* With it pushed they will light up immediately even at dead slow throttle.* Then its out the back door to make sure there's water running in the exhaust and to watch for unusual smoke or oil sheens.

Click to expand...

*

Key on, idle speed on throttle, push start button. Lehman 135.

While the cold start lever on the FL120's injection pump is needed for starting in truly cold weather, we were told by people in a position to know that using the FL120's cold start button or lever--- which simply increases the travel of the fuel control rod-- is not a good practice to follow on a regular basis. We were told this not long after aquiring our boat, and unfortunately I have forgotten the reason behind this warning. Some vague thing tells me it results in excess fuel washing the cylinder walls of lube oil but that could be absolute crap. In fact the warning itself could be absolute crap.

But in asking our diesel shop and others in the marine engine industry about the cold start feature on our engines and should we use it and when, we were told that it really doesn't get cold enough in the PNW (outside of the occasional short cold snap) to use the cold start feature. So we never have in the 13 years we've owned the boat and the engines always start right now year round.

I am curious, however, about the reasoning expressed in this discussion behind never using the startup power lever setting called out in the FL120's operating manual but keeping the throttle at idle only during startup.

Warning: what follows is purely my personal opinion.* It is backed up by owning a variety of diesel engines for business and pleasure and some amateur wrenching but it is nevertheless personal opinion and speculation.

I think most engine wear occurs on startup for 2 reasons: 1) the surfaces tend to be dry because the lube has drained down 2) the tolerances are larger than they were designed for because the engine is cold.* Running a cold engine at high RPM seems to me to be a recipe for greatly increased wear.* I support that with my perception that a cold engine running fast just sounds wrong - like I said, its personal opinion.*

On the Mimetec pump it appears to me that the idle position doesn't supply adequate fuel for starting.* The engine will eventually start cold at full idle but it takes a lot of cranking.* With the start pin pushed as I posted earlier, it lights up immediately.* I was unaware that the start pin even existed until a Lehman mechanic in Seattle pointed it out to me.* His advice was to use it every time.* Since my engines start at idle without it when they are warm I don't bother but I do use it every time on cold starts and will continue to do so.* I haven't done an oil analysis yet - too lazy to pull the samples - but if an oil sample showed fuel dilution I would consider changing my procedure but I still wouldn't start with an advanced throttle.*

I've heard people argue that extended cranking is a good thing because it allows the oil pump to build pressure.* I'm not sure I 100% agree with that assessment but I'd prefer extended cranking to a high speed start.* Many newer electronic engines require extended cranking because the common rail injectors rely on oil pressure to fire so evidently in those applications the design calls for longer crank times but our old Lehmans are about 50 years behind that technology so I'm not sure it transfers well.

*

All extended cranking to build oil pressure accomplishes is to put more wear on the starter.

The telling argument to me that supports simply starting an engine in the manner prescribed by the manufacturer is that engines don't die because people didn't crank them to build oil pressure, or use the manufacturer's starting instructions including partial throttle at startup. Nor are their lives extended by cranking to build oil pressure before starting, or by using the cold start to push more fuel into the engine so it can be started at idle instead of the called-for partial throttle setting.

From what I have read and been told by people in the engine manufacturing industry, an engine will die of some other cause long before the "excess" wear at startup caused by a momentary lack of lubrication will have any effect at all.

Not sure with this notion of "high speed" start with partial throttle setting comes from. Maybe some engines will do this, but it doesn't happen with our FL120s, at least not the way we start them. As I said, with the power lever set per the manufacturer's start instructions, the engines fire almost immediately. And the instant they do, I retard the power levers. I watch the tachs when I do this and they never exceed 1,000 rpm. In fact I have to add throttle back in to get to their warm-up rpm of 1,000 rpm.

And even if the engine did "vroom" up to a higher rpm at startup, ever listen to a car start? I've got a 24-year-old BMW with almost 250,000 miles on the clock that I drive every weekday to work. The head has never needed to come off, compression is right where it should be, and so on. Every morning when I start it, it "vrooms" into life and then the rpm settles back to about 1200 or so until it starts warming up. This engine isn't going to last forever, obviously, but when it does need an overhaul or replacement, it won't be because of the way it starts.

Contact + Load + Motion= Wear
When you start cold the oil has drained away allowing some contact between your crank journal/ main bearing, camshaft lobe/ lifter, etc. Contact has increased, so by starting at an idle you have the least load and motion possible until an oil film separates the things that wear:smile:.

Forkliftt wrote:
Contact + Load + Motion= Wear When you start cold the oil has drained away allowing some contact between your crank journal/ main bearing, camshaft lobe/ lifter, etc. Contact has increased, so by starting at an idle you have the least load and motion possible until an oil film separates the things that wear:smile:.

Click to expand...

No argument at all with what you're saying.* But this brief moment of wear apparently makes zero difference to the service life of an engine since they all seem to*crap out to the point of needing an overhaul*for reasons other than startup wear on the moving parts.* They blow gaskets, overheat and warp, swallow valves, burn pistons, wear out valve seats,*burn valves,*the fuel system finally dies, etc.

Marin wrote:
........ argumentative verbiage snipped .........


And even if the engine did "vroom" up to a higher rpm at startup, ever listen to a car start?

Click to expand...

We're not talking about your gas engine car.*

You asked - I answered.

Bottom line - they're your engines - you start them however you want to - you won't get any argument from me.