Hi, I am down in mexico and while traveling up the coast one of my 2 DB1005 engines died. I opened the engine compartment and found the engine partially submerged up to the top of the transmission. I closed the trough hull and pumped the engine compartment and found that a bronze heat exchanger bolt had broken and the heat exchanger had turned into a fountain. I rinsed the engine as good as I could with fresh water but we are underway and no hoses were available. I manged to find a replacement bolt on a neighboring boat and put the heat exchanger back together, i turned over the engine just fine but it does not want to start. I pulled the glow plugs and there is compression, it has little white plumes of smoke conming from the openings when I turn over the engine. There is fuel at the intake end of the high pressure fuel pump and some comes out when I open the top of the injectors, barely any but when comparing it to the working engine it is about the same. I have removed and re-installed the stop solenoid and that one is not stuck open. I won't be able to get any professional help in the next few days and maneuvering a big catamaran with only one engine is challenging in tight spots. The fuel is in a different area away from the flood. Any suggestions where i could start troubleshooting?
Thanks,
Arjan Bok RotKat
-- Edited by arjan on Tuesday 1st of February 2011 08:58:59 AM
I do not feel that this is a fuel delivery issue or an electrical issue.
If the engine stopped suddenly you have most likely ingested water or the wet air filter collapsed and is blocking the intake air.
Water ingested into the cylinders while the engine is running can cause bent connecting rods which leads to loss of compression. Low compression will cause the engine not to start.
Do you feel the engine is creating compression when it turns over or does it turn over much more easily then it did before?
The chance that you ingested water is a good possibility particularly if water was spraying onto the air cleaner. You have removed the glow plugs and turned the engine over so this should have removed any water from the cylinders.
I would recommend that you put the fuel system and glow plugs completely back together and bleed the system of air. Do not disconnect the injector pipes to bleed the system.
Remove the air cleaner and check that the element is dry and in one piece and not blocking the air intake. Replace the filter if it is wet.
Hit the glow plugs for 8-10 seconds and try to start the engine. Do not run the starter for more then 20 seconds and allow the starter to cool down between attempts.
If the engine will not start you will need the aid of a competent mechanic.
The first thing he should do is check cylinder compression. Without compression a diesel engine will not fire.
Thanks for your reply, since we were slowly motoring up the coats there was all kinds of spare time, before I got your reply ( internet is spotty and only available around the coastal villages)I did go through the whole fuel system anyway but still no luck. Finally after giving it some more throttle and using the glow plugs it came back to life and all seems well. I guess I should replace the starter and possibly the wiring harness since they will probably fail shortly.
If the harness and starter were under seawater you may very well have corrosion issues in the future. I would spray all connections with corrosion inhibitor as soon as possible.
If the top of the transmission was underwater I would replace the fluid.
You will also need to replace the temporary bolt you put in the heat exchanger with another bronze bolt or electrolysis will result.
