Restarting Perkins Range 4s after 18 month layup

[Hervey]

My 32 year old Thompson Trawler 44’ has been on the hard at Essex, MD (near Baltimore) for about 18 months getting a bottom job, bow thrusters, new plumbing, etc. and now it’s time to relaunch her and travel to St.Pete, FL.

Can I/should I do anything to the engines (Perkins Range 4s 135 hp, naturally aspirated) before running her 8 hours a day for six weeks as we make our way down? I know the diesel fuel helps lubricate things but she has not had the benefit of that for a while. No smoke from the engine, oil samples at the beginning of layup were clean.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

Hervey Evans
Bluebird 44’
Baltimore, MD

 

[mvweebles]

Metal atuff should be fine. Rubber stuff should be checked. Hoses, etc. Replace the raw water impellor. I don't know what kind of lift pump it has, but if it has a rubber diaphragm, I'd keep an eye on it.

Other than that, 18-months isn't that long.

Good luck.

Peter

 

[kchace]

Very solid engines. If they were put away right, there should be no issue. Perhaps impeller change but that's all I can think of.


Ken

 

[C lectric]

closely Inspect.hoses and belts.
Crank engine but prevent start for 30 to 40 sec. to prime oil system. Or use aux. Pump to oil prime.
Drain some fuel. From filters for exam.

 

[Comodave]

Yes, hold the stop button and crank the engine to get the oil distributed.

 

[fgarriso]

Unless it was done before the layup. I would recommend replacing all rubber hoses, and water pump impellers before startup. Rubber products seem to go bad when just sitting. No need to get it started and have a hose failure then damage the engine.

 

[fgarriso]

Yes, hold the stop button and crank the engine to get the oil distributed.

 

[jleonard]

In addition to the above I would at the very minimum let it run for a while at idle and maybe 1200 rpm or so to let it heat up a bit and check for leaks. Do a good visual inspection.
Then if all looks good you should be ok

 

[mvweebles]

In addition to above, when I got my 4.236 running after close to 5-year layup, I triple-dozed with Stanadyne. At idle, engine 'loped' a bit (RPMs vary in a rythmical manner). My mechanic friend tells me the injection pump has some weights in it that get a bit stuck - the Stanadyne helps lubricate. It took a good 10-hours of running for the idle to return to a normal steady RPM.

Good luck! Very exciting when you first fire-up. I look forward to any update....

Peter

 

[High Wire]

If it was mine, I would bar the engine over by hand first with a breaker bar at least 2 full revolutions just for my own peace of mind.