Hi Group,
Still learning about my new 365 and its Westerbeke 40. I have just hauled and need to winterize the engine-problem is it wont start and I need to run freshwater antifreeze thru the heat exchanger, vdrive and oil cooler etc. The engine cranks, readily but no fire. I have a had a slow leak in the primary fuel filter that was introducing air. In the past, I'd bleed it and it would fire right up, but after bleeding it still wont fire. I have read of a fuel preheat funtion on some diesels, but I don''t see such a device on the W40. Does anyone else have a cold weather fuel preheater on their W40? Am I correct in assuming cold diesel could be the culprit rather than air in the fuel line? Anyone have any suggestions?
The preheat is in the intake manifold. There should be a button near the start button.
In general, if the W40 doesn't start, it's a fuel issue. The worst place for air in the fuel, (and the hardest to bleed) is in the high pressure lines from the injector pump to the injectors. If air gets in, it will compress preventing the pressure to get high enough to trip the injector. Simply cracking the nut at the injectors, and cranking a bit will clear it. (don't forget to re-tighten them, or you'll have a mess).
I've heard some say you can use ether to help start in cold weather, but I've seen how rings get destroyed by the premature ignition that causes.
If the weather gets too cold, you might try a block heater.
You can also disconnect the raw water exhaust at the exhaust elbow, and let it run into the bilge. Then using a 12V water pump ($35 from Harbor Freight) to push 50/50 antifreeze through the system. You'll have to add a little to the hydro-lift muffler to keep it from freezing. The antifreeze in the bilge keeps any water that collects there from freezing and can be pumped out in the spring.
Here's a link to the pump I mentioned:
http://www.harborfreight.com/12-volt-marine-utility-pump-9576.html
Hi, thanks for the advise. I tried again today and bled the fuel lines from the fuel filter forward to the high pressure pump and to each injector. It "grumbled" once like it might start, but then just cranked. The boat is on the hard so the moisture blowing out the exhaust was likely diesel.
The preheat device is installed, but not wired. any suggestions as to how it should be wired would be appreciated. I am guessing that once the preheat plug is enrgised, she'll start. I understand how the preheater works, just not sure how to wire it. It needs a momentary switch like the start button that can be depressed and held to let the plug heat up.
I have also heard WD40 in the snorkle is effective and safer than ether, but I really want the preheat function installed because I will be launching in late March and I need to run the engine to heat up oil before giving it an oil change and winterizing.
I haven't tried this in the main engine, but a diesel mechanic showed me how to start a stubborn diesel with some gasoline and a rag. It worked perfectly on my diesel generator.
Put some gas on a rag "til it's drippin" and put it up against the intake then crank. Make sure you tie a string securely to the rag and hold the other end so you can yank it out quickly when the engine starts to fire up because the airtake sucks is pretty strong and you don't want that rag getting sucked into the engine. He also said throw the can of ether away because that will ruin the engine right quick. Don't get mad at me if you blow yourself up.
All you're trying to do is get some fumes into the intake manifold so the engine fires on the gas fumes. It'll run until the fumes are gone and, you hope, will continue to run on diesel.
If this helps, my 1 cylinder diesel had a fuel shutoff that failed to open (had to replace the fuel shutoff). But when I was trouble-shooting (before I knew about the gasoline/rag trick), the engine would blow a little bit of white smoke out the exhaust, which most people associate with water. In this case, that was diesel. There was not enough to fire the engine so it was just compressed and blew out the exhaust.
Good luck.
We have always had success heating the intake air. A hair dryer or better yet a heat gun aimed at the intake (careful with the heat gun). If no 110 AC, a propane torch, but very carefully, it is an open flame. Jim
The preheater works differently than other glowplug systems. When you push the button in, it supplies power to a coil inside the heater. This gets hot and also opens the line that is there from the return fuel system. So it heats up a dribble of fuel in the intake manifold, vaporizing it. We find it very necessary for our Beke to have it.
Wiring is very simple. Wire from power to a momentary on push button switch (14gage wire)(ours is from the start switch right next to it)
Wire from the switch to the preheater using 14ga wire)
It grounds to the manifold so there is no ground wire. Simple eh?
To test, remove the heater by simply unscrewing it. Connect the wire and ground the heater with a jumper. It will glow red hot and retract allowing the fuel valve to open.
Cheers!
Wayne
One even easier, but not as thorough method to test the preheater is to turn it on while watching your ammeter, if you have one. It should show a draw if it is not open circuit. With ours we usually get a little puff of white smoke out the air intake when it is on as well.
Ours does not like to start in cold weather without it. With it it usually works, except in really cold weather. I did have one experience where it didn't start cold and the heater wasn't working because of a wiring problem we found later. Ether worked well then. Ether does work, and I am not as hard over as some on it's use. I have successfully used it on a lot of engines in really cold weather and if there is nothing else wrong with the engine, it really helps. The problem is that if you preheat the engine like you should and everything is working right, you don't need it. The westerbeke solution isn't as effective as a real glow plug, so there are conditions that you may need other tricks. I like the hot air idea and it seems sound, but I haven't done that myself. It seems safer than gasoline or ether.
Starter fluid (ether) is OK IMO if used extremely judiciously. It is of course extremely flammable and ignites easily and you are spraying it next to the heater, and sparky bits in the starter and solenoid. What could go wrong? gasoline vapor if almost as bad. The key is not to use too much and to time it right. One quick squirt and hit the starter to pull it in to the intake. It takes two people unless you have a remote starter button. (Seems like a good thing to me and it's mentioned on this forum, but I don't have one.).
Other than the obvious safety issue there are two other reasons I have heard to be carefull starting a diesel with either gas or starter fluid. First is you can over do it easily. Too much fuel in the cylinder and it could ignite to early on the compression stroke and kick back. That can tear stuff up. It's never happens to me because I don't give it enough, but it is a risk.
The other issue is that if you try to run it on ether or gas by feeding it into the intake many bad things can occur. Fire risk is the biggest. Kickback, over pressure, and scoring the cylinder walls, blowing the head, and the rings also.
However, when used very carefully, ether works and doesn't damage the engine any more than any other cold start will. Starter fluid won't solve other problems though. If you aren't starting due to low compression for example, ether just masks the problem.