Bleeding a diesel engine
 

For the very first time in some 60 years of driving, I ran out of fuel
yesterday. Der Klunker ('81 300SD) suddenly started sputtering and
stumbled to a halt, luckily in a parking lot. Opened the hood. Sure
enough, no fuel in the sight glass. A couple of kind gentlemen helped me
push the car out of the way and in due course road service arrived with
two gallons of diesel fuel. They were concerned that it would be very
hard to get a diesel that has been sucking air to start without a lot of
work. If this had been my boat they would have been entirely correct. But
this car has a built-in priming pump on the engine. A few strokes on the
pump, the sight glkass filled up and a few more strokes later a hissing
sound confirmed that the byapass valve on the injectopr pump had openen
meaning the pump was now ready to send fuel with no air to the injectors.
She started with a couple of turns on the starter.

Now, why can't boat diesel engines be set up like that? I live in terror
of the boat engine sucking air becaise it will stop and bleeding the
system in a seaway or even at the dock is an exercize in contortion and I
don't pretzileize so well anymore.

Bleeding a diesel engine
 

Gogarty wrote:
....
Now, why can't boat diesel engines be set up like that? I live in terror
of the boat engine sucking air becaise it will stop and bleeding the
system in a seaway or even at the dock is an exercize in contortion and I
don't pretzileize so well anymore.


My old Westerbeke was self bleeding. My new Yanmars aren't, but I've
never had a problem with them; they don't seem to need bleeding even
after changing the fuel filter.

Bleeding a diesel engine
 

Running out of fuel when "on the high seas" has a lot more problems than
air in the fuel lines!
And your boat's fuel tank is a lot larger than 18 gallons - as you well
know when the fuel bill is presented.

Bleeding a diesel engine
 

Gogarty wrote:
For the very first time in some 60 years of driving, I ran out of fuel
yesterday. Der Klunker ('81 300SD) suddenly started sputtering and
stumbled to a halt, luckily in a parking lot. Opened the hood. Sure
enough, no fuel in the sight glass. A couple of kind gentlemen helped me
push the car out of the way and in due course road service arrived with
two gallons of diesel fuel. They were concerned that it would be very
hard to get a diesel that has been sucking air to start without a lot of
work. If this had been my boat they would have been entirely correct. But
this car has a built-in priming pump on the engine. A few strokes on the
pump, the sight glkass filled up and a few more strokes later a hissing
sound confirmed that the byapass valve on the injectopr pump had openen
meaning the pump was now ready to send fuel with no air to the injectors.
She started with a couple of turns on the starter.

Now, why can't boat diesel engines be set up like that? I live in terror
of the boat engine sucking air becaise it will stop and bleeding the
system in a seaway or even at the dock is an exercize in contortion and I
don't pretzileize so well anymore.

Mine is.

Bleeding a diesel engine
 

"Gogarty" wrote in message
...
For the very first time in some 60 years of driving, I ran out of fuel
yesterday. Der Klunker ('81 300SD) suddenly started sputtering and
stumbled to a halt, luckily in a parking lot. Opened the hood. Sure
enough, no fuel in the sight glass. A couple of kind gentlemen helped me
push the car out of the way and in due course road service arrived with
two gallons of diesel fuel. They were concerned that it would be very
hard to get a diesel that has been sucking air to start without a lot of
work. If this had been my boat they would have been entirely correct. But
this car has a built-in priming pump on the engine. A few strokes on the
pump, the sight glkass filled up and a few more strokes later a hissing
sound confirmed that the byapass valve on the injectopr pump had openen
meaning the pump was now ready to send fuel with no air to the injectors.
She started with a couple of turns on the starter.

Now, why can't boat diesel engines be set up like that? I live in terror
of the boat engine sucking air becaise it will stop and bleeding the
system in a seaway or even at the dock is an exercize in contortion and I
don't pretzileize so well anymore.


Well you can make things a little easier on yourself:
- Racor has a fuel filter with a built-in hand pump
-or you could install an electric pump in the fuel system
-only open the bleed screw on the injector pump, at least as a first try.
My experience (with Yanmars) is that if you pump fuel to the injector pump
the engine will start, run rough, and then operate normally. No need to
bleed injectors.
-my other experience with Yanmars is that the hand lever on the engine fuel
pump is pretty useless for bleeding, hence my addition of the Racor filter
with pump.

Bleeding a diesel engine
 

In article ,
Gogarty wrote:

Now, why can't boat diesel engines be set up like that? I live in terror
of the boat engine sucking air becaise it will stop and bleeding the
system in a seaway or even at the dock is an exercize in contortion and I
don't pretzileize so well anymore.

Simplicity, probably.

Personally, I can prime our Yanmar in a few minutes now. It all came
together when I realized the pumping happened when the lever was
released, which is counter-intuitive. Of course, we're blessed by a
designer who arranged the engine room so I need only open one of the
doors. See http://members.dca.net/jerelull/Xan-ER.html and drool over
our access.

--
Jere Lull
Xan-a-Deux ('73 Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD)
Xan's Pages: http://members.dca.net/jerelull/X-Main.html
Our BVI FAQs (290+ pics) http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/

Bleeding a diesel engine
 

"Gordon Wedman" wrote

-my other experience with Yanmars is that the hand lever on the
engine fuel pump is pretty useless for bleeding, hence my addition
of the Racor filter with pump.
Our Yanmar installation has an electric pump to draw fuel up from the
tank. Would a bypass switch to activate this pump make bleeding
easier? Is the hand pump on the engine a type that will pass fuel
through if pressurized from upstream?

--

Roger Long

Bleeding a diesel engine
 

On Wed, 14 Dec 2005 13:17:52 GMT, "Roger Long"
wrote:

Our Yanmar installation has an electric pump to draw fuel up from the
tank. Would a bypass switch to activate this pump make bleeding
easier?

===================================

That's a fairly commom practice on larger power boat diesels. It
makes filter changes a lot easier and removes uncertainty about the
ability to get started again. My setup uses a Walbro 6802 fuel pump
with a switch and a couple of small bypass valves on each engine. I
have a third Walbro that can be valved to bypass the backup generator,
thus serving as a dockside fuel polishing system by constantly
circulating fuel through the Racor filters.

Bleeding a diesel engine
 

In article ,
says...


Running out of fuel when "on the high seas" has a lot more problems than
air in the fuel lines!
And your boat's fuel tank is a lot larger than 18 gallons - as you well
know when the fuel bill is presented.

The car is eighteen gallons? The road service guys put in two gallons and
half a block later at the gas station I put in 19.56 gallons. It would seem
there is a reserve. The fuel guage is pretty reliable and I generally have
sense enoughg never to go less than 1/4. But lately it has been bouncing
between empty and 1/4. I generally pay more attention to the mileage but
this tankful came up just a wee bit short.

As for the boat, thank God it's a sailboat. It only has a twenty gallon
tank and uses only a gallon an hour. Of course, that works out to about 5
mpg :) But between the boat and the car we have been spending a lot on
diesel at $3+ per gallon.

Boat in the slip next to us is a power boat with a 450 gallon fuel tank. He
bought the boat last year when diesel at the dock was under $2. He did not
use the boat much this year.

Bleeding a diesel engine
 

In article _7Knf.160245$yS6.29238@clgrps12, says...



Well you can make things a little easier on yourself:
- Racor has a fuel filter with a built-in hand pump
-or you could install an electric pump in the fuel system
-only open the bleed screw on the injector pump, at least as a first try.
My experience (with Yanmars) is that if you pump fuel to the injector pump
the engine will start, run rough, and then operate normally. No need to
bleed injectors.
-my other experience with Yanmars is that the hand lever on the engine fuel
pump is pretty useless for bleeding, hence my addition of the Racor filter
with pump.

The engine is a Universal. It is enough to bleed at the injector pump. But it
still takes a contortionist.