6BT 210 cranks but won’t fire.

[Steve Downs]

I have a 12 month old 6BT 210 Cummins factory reman engine that cranks but will not fire.  I was anchoring, clicked the starboard engine out of gear then back into gear to nudge forward and the starboard engine stalled.   I managed to restart it but it cranked over for about 15 seconds before it fired (until that day if fired immediately, 1-2 seconds).   Next morning I started the engine to leave and it cranked for about 8 seconds and then “worked its way up to firing”.  Once engines were up to temp I ran on the plane at 2150rpm for the next 90 minutes and it ran nicely, no smoke, no soot, no steam, just a clean plane.   Immediately after dropping off the plane (entering an anchorage), the starboard engine came back to 800rpm nicely, but as soon as I put the power down it wouldn’t move over 800rpm, pushed to 100% throttle and it stalled.  Since then we have not been able to restart it.  It cranks hard but won’t fire,  the battery is strong, tech has checked and blead the system, we have good spurts of fuel at all 6 injectors, air filter is good, turbo looks good (not that a turbo will affect starting the engine per sae).   I have booked a Cummins tech to come out, but they’re extremely busy.  I wondered if anyone might have any thoughts in the interim ?  

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[donald roth]

Fully open the throttle when cranking, just remember to pull it back quick when it starts.  

[Steven Danaher]

If you are getting fuel at each injector, you could have a problem with the injection pump.  However usually in hard starting cases there is a leak somewhere, air getting into the system.

[Steven Danaher]

Yes, check the electrical to make sure the grounds are good, etc.  Probably next step is to remove the injectors and do a compression test.  You need a diesel engine tester, there are low cost testers for $60 which might work for your occasional use.

Also you might try starting the engine with the seacock off, to prevent water filling the exhaust system.  If it starts, immediately open the seacock.

[Tony Athens]

I read this a few times and it would seems that you may have multiple installation issues, electrical connections, fuel supply  issues,  etc going on..  How about posting some very good pics of the overall installation of the engine..

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