[Mark]

Thanks for the tip. Dont think that tools still available. The website is very vague when it comes to placing an order.

[Mark]

Tthanks rob yeh just realised 3rd filter downstream of pump.

Well I’m on the water now in the bay, , new filters has got my 2800 rpm back. Up from 2500.

I turned the aneroid about 1/4 turn, now get a little black smoke under accel, for a few seconds. Is that ok?

 

 

 

 

 

[Mark]

Thanks Tony

That gauge would be to measure Vacuum?

 

Anyway Ive got 3 FS FGs in series.

Ill change them all.

 

Also searched boat diesel for answers to my aneroid adj, half turn.

 

[Mark]

Hey Tony, can this lazy aneroid thing affect high rpm cruising as well as acceleration?

I still have not played with the aneroid adjustment after my last issue with slow acceleration. bit scared to play with it.

Today i trolled lures all day at 1000 rpm. all good.

Pulled the gear in and pushed up to 2500 rpm to head home. all good so far.

5 min later rpm drops to 2000, so a loss of power, wanders around a bit, up & down. I pulled back throttle to match rpm and went slow for a while. No black smoke.

then after a while i tried applying power, it did pick up and cruised home but same happened a few more times.

 

To me it felt like turbo was losing boost.

Any way if its just the aneroid adjustment thing, is there a guide as to how much to turn that wheel?

 

Mark

 

 

[Mark]

Thanks Rob, ill order in the new seals etc from our local rep.

Mark

[Mark]

Thanks Rob,   I just did some googlin on Tides seals. Now i understand what ive got and how they work.   And yes your right, no spares on the shaft.    Being a ZF V drive, not sure if i have to remove the shaft or just slide it out a bit?

[Mark]

Thanks Tony ill try that. 

[Mark]

When “nothing happens” is there black smoke? No smoke   Aftercooler is clean – what does that mean exactly? I serviced it after this problem started, it wasnt very dirty   What’s it’s service history? Be specific.. engine or AC? engine gets oil & filters every 100 hrs, AC  has been done a few times as per tonys method.   Has an underwater inspection been completed since this started, running gear and all? yes its been slipped a couple of times since problem started. Post some engine pics and be sure to include the turbo and exhaust.

[Mark]

Its fixed, pilot relay was sticking. I stripped it down cleaned it out, there was a gooey substance on the contacts. you could feel it stick when you operated it mechanically without power.

Think I also noticed a contributing problem. Someone has mounted it horizontally to the side of the engine block. So it relies on the internal spring to return the armature to its disconnected position. Ive had this spring in my hand its not very big or strong. Im going to make a new bracket to hold the relay vertically, so gravity will assist the armature contacts to fall away from the power side terminals. Vertically, it should even work if the spring fails. Ide like to see the spec sheet for this relay to see if its approved for horizontal duty, either way Im changing it to vert.

 

[Mark]

Yes you can connect the negative direct to the starter which is technically better than connecting to block but i doubt if you’d notice a difference. But yes its better.

And yes you can add the extra negative strap from starter stud to block that would do no harm, I believe the alternator relies on the block for its negative return. all other devices use a black negative already in the harness.

Yes a heavy negative cable between engines is a good idea just in case you have to crank the stb engine of the port battery or visa versa assuming you have the battery selector switches set up that way.

Really dont know why that diagram refers to the starter stud as an isolated ground. Probably something to with a grounded system versus a floating system.

[Mark]

I feel nervous about replying this but here goes.

Quote;
it shows that when the ground is connected to the starter is an Isolated Ground and…

ground to the engine block is a Negative Ground system.

Im a 40 year exp elec professional, the above that you posted makes zero sense to me. the starter frame and block are electrically identical. block or starter negative connected to same thing.

the only thing ide advise is to take the negative from the battery direct to starter so the cranking high amps dont have to pass thru the cast iron block to get to the starter. copper conducts better than iron.

[Mark]

Thanks for taking the time to reply Clark,

So from your description, it sounds like its a typical starter say like a chevy. relies on the solenoid for electrical connection and thro out of the pinion gear with same mechanical action. ( with upstream elec pilot solenoid as well)

I will play around with a test lamp and determine if its an electrical delay or mechanical within the starter.
I started it again today and it hung on for a second or two but I didnt do any testing as it was a quick visit.

will check properly soon

Mark

[Mark]

thanks for taking time to respond Larry.
So thats what can happen, thats scarey..
Ive got every thing crossed that water did not actually get into pump., But I actually dont know for sure.
Today i gave her a short run without air cleaner on, no apparent change except i did rech 2700 rpm on a prop thats one inch bigger pitch than usual , with or with out air cleaner. that doesnt make sense.
so, air cleaner is fine. I pulled the aftercooler a few hours ago, its not blocked but definitely oily.

[Mark]

thanks for your concern Philip.

Vessel info is in my signature

Its now on 800 hours

Ive lost 3 to 400 RPM at WOT, which equates to 3 to 4 kts of speed. WOT was always 29kts @ 2900rpm.

I can think of 3 seperate incidents which all occurred about the same time, just before i put her into 5 weeks of dry storage., about a year ago. they may have contributed this problem.

1/ accidental high speed engine shut down (MOB safety device shut the fuel solenoid)
2/ Prop repair after one blade bent by picking up rope during storm
3/ salt water in fuel, picked up in same storm.

so i removed the water from tank and replaced filters and ran the boat several times before the storage. removed bent prop, gave to austral, told them they had 5 weeks to fix it. also gave them all the data sheets from the previous prop repair at ACCUTECK. Got back from OS trip, put repaired prop back on. noticed slight squealing noise from skeg bush in gear at idle, suspect a little bit of nylon rope still in it, local mech and shipwright both said nothing to worry about, it will go away, It did. prop shaft did spin freely when i installed prop.

besides that engine has been operating perfectly, although last trip out i couldn’t get over the hump onto plane after running slow (trolling) for about 1.5 hours. Its never done that before and it scared me.

it slowly started to come good, took a few minutes, turbo started to wind up and then we quickly went up 2200rpm, which as usual, is 22 Kts. thats how she runs,
2000rpm = 20 kts,
2500rpm = 25 kts,
2900rpm = 29kts which is WOT. (but not any more)

The source of the water (tank Vents ) was rectified instantly before the storage, but as both the coarse and fine water seperators had salt water in them, im not sure if it got past the 3rd engine filter and into the injector pump, hence my first post. Its a Tony Re power vessel, the filter setup is his design.

The new filter/seps in order are coarse 30 micron, fine 10 micron then another 10 micron on the engine. 2nd filter now has the WIF probe which ive wired u to the cummins alarm panel. It works, so this cant happen again.

Im working through Tonys Loss Of Power article.
Im not sure if ive got a black smoke problem, cannot see any smoke under way but there is some slight black soot on the transom after a day out, so not sure how this rates in tonys scoring.

things ive checked;
water issue fixed.
hull and prop clean
no extra weight in boat
throttle linkage good
fuel solenoid appears to get full movement but have not removed it totally, no signs of rust.
removed air cleaner, and spun turbo, appears to be spinning free and smooth.
good ventilation into engine box, ran with it open when i checked the WOT throttle linkage
took prop back to Austral 2 days ago, spoke with owner for one hour, he checked prop and said its not perfect two blades out of alignment slightly, buts its not the cause. he said to lose 300 rpm the pitch would have to be out by 2 inches and its not.

I haven’t ran with the air cleaner removed yet, im thinking thats next but not sure if thats a safe thing to do.

[Author]

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