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Old 06-25-2017, 10:12 PM   #21
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Capt. Well done.
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Old 06-25-2017, 10:32 PM   #22
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Capt. Well done.

Thanks, but not really. I just managed to not completely screw up and was fortunate.

In retrospect, I think I should have dropped the anchor sooner. I should have dropped the anchor at 50-60'. I knew the shore was very steep. I waited until I had about 26' of water which put me too close to shore.
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Old 06-25-2017, 10:34 PM   #23
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Instead of a rum & coke I would have filled my glass with engine oil to see if I could get any fuel to separate out. My first instinct would have been a failed oil pump. But smelling fuel would indicate injectors either out of time or orifices too large and washing fuel past the rings. Curious about the cause of unplanned afternoon of leisure.
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Old 06-25-2017, 10:43 PM   #24
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I anchored north of the Panama Canal, Pacific side. Single handling and tired. Dropped the hook in 21 fsw

Slept and woke up with Mai Tai in breaking waters. I was Blessed to get my ground tackle back.
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Old 06-25-2017, 11:01 PM   #25
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That sounds like a not too fun day Dave, sorry that happened, it sucks. But as you say, could have been worse. You done allright, got the boat home, no injury or damage. Now to have a chat with the mechanic fella!
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Old 06-25-2017, 11:16 PM   #26
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Yes, Dave, kudos for your calmness. And yes, it might have paid to drop anchor a bit sooner, but hindsight is great. Now we are all agog as to what the issue turns out to be. The thing against your diagnosis re the low oil pressure is such a low pressure. Even if contaminated with diesel oil, one would still not expect such a huge drop - ie, enough to set off the low pressure alarm. What was the dipstick level..?
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Old 06-26-2017, 06:55 AM   #27
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Diluted oil absolutely can cause low oil pressure. It also can wreck crankshaft and rod bearings. If injectors were replaced, could have been an error in the supply or return lines under rocker cover.
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Old 06-26-2017, 07:33 AM   #28
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Diluted oil absolutely can cause low oil pressure. It also can wreck crankshaft and rod bearings. If injectors were replaced, could have been an error in the supply or return lines under rocker cover.
+1

Who was the last guy who worked on injectors and/or fuel system?
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Old 06-26-2017, 07:39 AM   #29
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Well handled Dave.

..though IIRC that boat seems very comfortable on the rocks. You missed another photo-op.
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Old 06-26-2017, 09:56 AM   #30
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Instead of a rum & coke I would have filled my glass with engine oil to see if I could get any fuel to separate out. My first instinct would have been a failed oil pump. But smelling fuel would indicate injectors either out of time or orifices too large and washing fuel past the rings. Curious about the cause of unplanned afternoon of leisure.


I am curious as well. I have had a 6 months of engine trouble, all starting with a problem of my own making. A short recap;

In January I changed the charger on my engine battery and then forgot about that. A couple weeks later when we next ran the boat the engine was running very rough.

Got a mechanic out to check it out. Three visits, a new lift pump, and 6+ weeks later I gave up on that shop (their Cummins Tech was out on an L&I claim).

Called Cummins Northwest, they replaced the fuel pump actuator, all six injectors, and still the problem persisted (the engine simply ran poorly better than it had before). When the mechanic disconnected the alternator and the problem got a bit better, I finally remembered the charger. When it was disconnected the problem disappeared.

Next time we used the boat it ran better than it has ever run, but after a while it would smoke. Still ran well (not as efficient) and no issues with oil pressure or temps.

Mechanic came back Friday and we took it out for a sea trial and he found that one injector was returning a lot more fuel than it should. He corrected that (he thought the tube that feed the fuel into the side of the injector hadn't seated fully) and being as it was late at this point, we called it good. BTW, he along with every other mechanic on the boat checked the oil each time they were on the boat.

Sunday, no smoke, no problems, until the oil pressure dropped.
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Old 06-26-2017, 09:59 AM   #31
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Yes, Dave, kudos for your calmness. And yes, it might have paid to drop anchor a bit sooner, but hindsight is great. Now we are all agog as to what the issue turns out to be. The thing against your diagnosis re the low oil pressure is such a low pressure. Even if contaminated with diesel oil, one would still not expect such a huge drop - ie, enough to set off the low pressure alarm. What was the dipstick level..?


Dipstick was about twice as high as it should have been. So their was a whole lot more volume in the pan. I am completely ignorant about anything mechanical but to me it seems there are only two possibilities, water or fuel. It didn't seem like water so I was guessing fuel. Hard for me to tell but it seemed to me that it smelled like diesel a bit.
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Old 06-26-2017, 10:00 AM   #32
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Well handled Dave.



..though IIRC that boat seems very comfortable on the rocks. You missed another photo-op.


At one point I could almost have jumped from the swim step to shore and taken another photo.
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Old 06-26-2017, 10:13 AM   #33
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I am curious as well. I have had a 6 months of engine trouble, all starting with a problem of my own making. A short recap;

In January I changed the charger on my engine battery and then forgot about that. A couple weeks later when we next ran the boat the engine was running very rough.

Got a mechanic out to check it out. Three visits, a new lift pump, and 6+ weeks later I gave up on that shop (their Cummins Tech was out on an L&I claim).

Called Cummins Northwest, they replaced the fuel pump actuator, all six injectors, and still the problem persisted (the engine simply ran poorly better than it had before). When the mechanic disconnected the alternator and the problem got a bit better, I finally remembered the charger. When it was disconnected the problem disappeared.

Next time we used the boat it ran better than it has ever run, but after a while it would smoke. Still ran well (not as efficient) and no issues with oil pressure or temps.

Mechanic came back Friday and we took it out for a sea trial and he found that one injector was returning a lot more fuel than it should. He corrected that (he thought the tube that feed the fuel into the side of the injector hadn't seated fully) and being as it was late at this point, we called it good. BTW, he along with every other mechanic on the boat checked the oil each time they were on the boat.

Sunday, no smoke, no problems, until the oil pressure dropped.

Excuse my bluntness but you may have incorrectly hooked up the batt charger but I do not see anything you did permanently to the engine "problem".
From your description it appears that a Cummins mechanic replaced parts while guessing at a causal problem and installed one or more parts incorrectly and did not pick it up on a test run.
IMHO - let the problem lay with whomever caused it since this is not a situation that is near resolution and the results may be more than you might imagine - hopefully not - but there is not a complete picture here so far.
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Old 06-26-2017, 10:38 AM   #34
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Excuse my bluntness but you may have incorrectly hooked up the batt charger but I do not see anything you did permanently to the engine "problem".
From your description it appears that a Cummins mechanic replaced parts while guessing at a causal problem and installed one or more parts incorrectly and did not pick it up on a test run.
IMHO - let the problem lay with whomever caused it since this is not a situation that is near resolution and the results may be more than you might imagine - hopefully not - but there is not a complete picture here so far.

I think you have characterized it very well. One small difference is that I hooked the charger correctly. There seems to be an issue however with the Balmar Duo Charger with the Cummins electronic engines. Once that charger was removed from the picture, things were fine.

So, all my current problems were created by the mechanic's attempts to find and fix the prior problem. In their defense, I will say that this was a very difficult problem to track down. I also had simply forgotten that I had reconnected that Balmar prior to the engine initially running rough. If I had recalled that, I would have solved the problem myself (which I did anyway) before I had ever called a mechanic.

In general I try to maintain a positive attitude about most things. I will admit though that this is starting to get me down a bit. Thursday the mechanic will be out at the boat again and then hopefully a sea trial on Friday.
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Old 06-26-2017, 10:41 AM   #35
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GEEE WIZZZ Dave - Almost a BIG, BIG Ouch!! But, now you are in position to correct the situation. Hope repair goes smoothly and quickly... inexpensively too!

You did well!! Sorry I'm so late to the "party".

Regarding how coolly you handled things. I felt confident that that coolness is in your nature... from looking closely into the first avatar photo at captain's wheel you had on TF. Pictures really do tell a thousand words.

Best Luck! - Art
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Old 06-26-2017, 11:34 AM   #36
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[QUOTE=Ski in NC;567011.... If injectors were replaced, could have been an error in the supply or return lines under rocker cover.[/QUOTE]

This happened to us after the rebuild last fall. The bleed off pipe wasn't torqued properly at an injector so instead of returning fuel to the tank it was leaking under the rocker arm cover and diluting the oil. Found and fixed the problem then changed the oil. That was 150 plus hours ago and everything seems good.
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Old 06-26-2017, 10:20 PM   #37
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Afraid I don't grasp how a remote charger would make the engine run rough. Once its started it doesn't need anything but fuel and air.
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Old 06-26-2017, 10:32 PM   #38
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Afraid I don't grasp how a remote charger would make the engine run rough. Once its started it doesn't need anything but fuel and air.

Electronic engines seem to be picky about their batteries and voltage. I recall Tony Athens being very vocal about never letting an engine start battery "talk" to anything else but the engine. In essence, the Balmar Duo Charge was "talking" to the engine and the engine didn't like what it heard.

The mechanic had been told by a more senior tech for truck based Cummins that they had seen a faulty alternator create the same type of problem we were having. We disconnected the alternator while the engine was running and the engine ran better, but still not great. When i disconnected the Balmar Duo Charge the engine ran smooth.

The Duo Charge would charge the engine start battery (which is what is connected to the engine) whenever a charge current was applied to the house bank. The alternator was connected to the house bank and the Duo Charge then charged the start battery. We kept connecting and disconnecting the Duo Charge and it was like magic. Ran like crap with it connected and purred like a kitten with it disconnected.
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Old 06-26-2017, 10:52 PM   #39
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Thanks Dave, I guess with my more primitive Lehman such is unlikely to be a problem. I hope your situation is easily resolved.
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Old 06-26-2017, 10:54 PM   #40
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Thanks Dave, I guess with my more primitive Lehman such is unlikely to be a problem. I hope your situation is easily resolved.


Thanks. I get just a little sick every time I think about it. <sigh>
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