Cleanliness is next to startingness


2010-01-10

According to Nigel Calder, dirty fuel is at the center of the vast majority of diesel engine problems.  Be meticulous about fuel handling, tank cleaning, fuel antibiotics, condensation, and fuel filters, and your diesel engine will run like a top.  My Yanmar 1GM10 has two fuel filters, an aftermarket primary fuel filter (Racor 120R), and a secondary fuel filter on the engine.   The position of the primary makes it very difficult to eyeball the fuel bowl and even harder to change the filter, and hence the primary line of defense against engine failure is substantially compromised.  Changing the location of the filter by raising it a few inches should significantly ameliorate the problem.

Getting at the support bracket for the filter required removing the raw water pump (bracket is visible at far left of the photo), which necessitated disconnecting the wet exhaust reservoir (bottom of photo).  Then, the 11 mm socket I have was too large in diameter to get into the countersunk holes attaching the bracket to the boat.  The solution was a destructive disassembly of the bracket (no room to swing the hatchet... yes, I tried...); a small japanese saw enabled me to notch and split the bracket, and by jambing a screwdriver into the counter sunk hole, work the nuts off the bolt and remove it entirely.

I fabricated a replacement bracket of cherry, longer than the original, with slots for attaching it to the boat, so it can be adjusted up and down.  We'll see if it fits tomorrow.

I'll have to untangle the fuel line and the water cooling line, meaning I'll have to open one of the two systems, but it can't be helped.  At least I should get away without replacing either the water lines or the fuel lines.  I am eager to get it all put back together and test it.  Very unsettling to have Ripple crippled.

Wouldn't hurt to move that water filter a bit, either...

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