Diesel Engines Fourth Edition PDF

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THE ADLARD COLES BOOK OF
DIESEL
ENGINES FOURTH EDITION
TIM BARTLETT
ADLARD COLES NAUTICAL

LONDON
Contents
Foreword to the First Edition v 5 • Cooling System 26
The basic system – raw-water cooling 26
Foreword to the Fourth The thermostat 27
Edition vi Raw-water pump 29
Anodes 30
Indirect cooling 30
1 • Why Choose a Diesel? 1 Circulating pump 31
Skin cooling 31
Oil cooling 34
2 • The Basic Engine 2
Things to do 32
The basic process 2
Valves 3
The two-stroke cycle 4
Variations on a theme 5
6 • Oil System 35
Cleans, cools and protects 35
Things to do 6 Pressurised oil systems 35
Oil grades and classes 37
Things to do 38
3 • Fuel System 8
The basic system 8
The single-element injection pump 10
The in-line injection pump 12
7 • Electrical System 40
The basic system 40
The rotary injection pump 12
Making electricity 40
Injectors 12
Dynamos 42
High-tech fuel systems 16
Alternators 43
Electronic control 16
Starter motors 44
Unit injectors 17
Dynastarts 44
Common rail injection systems 17
Batteries 44
Things to do 17 Fuses and circuit breakers 46
Solenoids 46
Things to do 48
4 • Air System 21
Air filters 21
Exhaust systems 21
More power 22
Variations on turbocharging 25
Things to do 25
iii
The Adlard Coles Book of Diesel Engines
8 • Gearboxes 51 11 • Tools and Working Practices 70

Basic principles 51 Pipe fittings 71
A simple gearbox 52 Seals and gaskets 73
Layshaft gearboxes 52 Tools 74
Epicyclic gearboxes 53 Tricks of the trade 75
Clutches 54
Things to do 55
12 • Fault-finding 77
Starting problems 77
Problems shown up by the gauges 79
9 • Propeller and Stern Glands 56
Smoke 80
The propeller as a screw 57
Unusual noises or behaviour 81
The propeller as a pump 57
Compression 84
The propeller as a foil 58
Choosing a propeller 58
Cavitation and ventilation 59
Stern glands 60
13 • Winterizing 85
Autumn: before lifting out 85
Stuffing boxes 60
Autumn: after lifting out 86
Other shaft seals 60
Spring: before launching 87
Outdrives and saildrives 63
Spring: after launching 87
Things to do 62
Appendix 1 • The RYA Diesel

10 • Control Systems 66 Engine Course Syllabus 88
Cable systems 66
Control heads 66
Dual Station controls 67 Index 89
Cables 68
Things to do 69
iv
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Foreword to the First

Edition
Every year the rescue statistics published repairs on their own engines, this is not a
by the RNLI show that the most common realistic proposition; few boat owners have
cause of Lifeboat launches to pleasure craft the time to become skilled mechanics and
is machinery failure. In the case of motor not many boats carry the tools, spares and
cruisers this does not come as any great equipment to provide the full workshop
surprise; one might expect loss of motive support needed for complex repairs.
power to figure high in the list of prob- What is achievable by every owner is an
lems. The fact that engine failure is also understanding of the importance of routine
the most common cause of sailing cruiser engine management, how to rectify the
rescues is less predictable and serves to most common and relatively simple prob-
confirm just how important it is to keep lems which occur and how to recognise
the engine in good running order. the warning signs that an engine needs
In response to these statistics, the RYA expert attention.
introduced a one-day course on diesel Fortunately, most diesel engines are reli-
engine operation. The syllabus is, very able and relatively trouble free in operation,
broadly, the material covered in this book, so boat owners do not spend a high pro-
although the depth into which it is possible portion of their time confronted by smoky
to go in such a short course is inevitably exhausts, screeching temperature warning
rather limited. The aim of both the course alarms or engines that obstinately refuse
and of this book is not to create instant to start. Hence much of the knowledge
diesel mechanics, but to provide boat acquired on a diesel engine course is
owners with a better understanding of how seldom put into practice. This reinforces
their engines work and what they must do the need for a clear comprehensive refer-
to keep them working. ence book, both to back up the knowledge
While it would be great if everyone gained on a course and to provide a guide
could carry out all the servicing and for those who prefer to teach themselves.
Bill Anderson
Former RYA Training Manager
Foreword to the Fourth
Edition
Whilst the last six years have seen minimal This new edition remains a highly valu-
changes in the ‘nuts and bolts’ of diesel able guide, and can be read in conjunction
engine maintenance, mechanical failure with the RYA’s Diesel Engine course. It has
continues to be the main cause of rescue now been updated throughout with colour
call-outs to cruisers. The need for sailors to photos and diagrams, all to further aid the
learn about engine structure and the understanding process.
processes involved with fuel, air, cooling,
oil, electrical and control systems, is clearly
as important as ever.
vi
1 Why Choose a Diesel?
I still remember the time when, as a boy, electrically powered aircraft, and why
I was given my first ballpoint pen. It was you’re more likely to have a diesel engine
one of those with a knob on top that, powering your boat than your lawnmower.
when pressed, made the nib emerge and Compared with a petrol engine, for
when pressed again made it retract. Like instance, a diesel engine is likely to be
most small boys, I amused myself by click- expensive, heavy and slow to respond. On
ing it in and out for a while. The clicking, most boats, though, these drawbacks are
I recall, seemed much more fun than worth putting up with in order to take
writing. advantage of a diesel’s main attributes:
It wasn’t long, though, before that nov-
elty wore off – and not much longer before • Reliability
my new pen had ‘come to bits’ as I tried to • Long life expectancy
find out how it worked. I suppose most of • Non-explosivecosts
Low running
us have done much the same thing, and • fuel
I’m quite convinced that the outcome of Even a diesel engine, however, will deterio-
that experience determines our future rate if it is neglected, and could ultimately
attitude to all things mechanical. corrode away to become a useless lump of
If you are one of those for whom the pen rusty metal. To take advantage of its relia-
never clicked again, take heart. Remember bility and long life expectancy it needs to
that for all their apparent complexity, be looked after. Of course you can pay
engines depend on a sequence of simple someone else to do the work for you, but
processes. They don’t have souls, or wills that eats away at the advantage of low run-
of their own, so if you can make sure that ning costs.
those processes go on happening in the The aim of this book is to help you get
right order, your engine just has to keep on the most out of the capital invested in your
running. The flip side of the coin is that if engine, by making the most of the advan-
you don’t, your engine can’t keep going tages you’ve already paid for – reliability,
out of any sense of affection, loyalty, or longevity and economy.
self-preservation! A fringe benefit of doing your own
That much, at least, applies to all maintenance will be familiarity with your
engines, whether you’re talking about the engine and the tools you use to work on it.
electric motor of a vacuum cleaner or the Then, if things do go wrong, you have a
jet engines of an airliner. Every type of sporting chance of either being able to
engine, however, has its own strengths and solve the problem yourself, or of giving a
weaknesses that make it more suitable for professional mechanic something more to
some purposes than others. That’s why you go on than ‘it just sort of stopped’.
don’t find jet-powered vacuum cleaners or
2 The Basic Engine
As I pointed out in Chapter 1, diesel called the cylinder head. Tunnels in the
engines don’t have souls or wills of their cylinder head allow air and exhaust gas to
own, but depend on a sequence of simple flow in or out of the cylinder, controlled by
processes. valves.
The most fundamental of all those The bottom of the cylinder is formed by
processes takes place deep inside the the piston, another machined metal casting
engine. It’s the one that gives internal that is designed to slide up and down
combustion engines their name, because it inside the cylinder, with springy metal pis-
involves burning air and fuel inside a con- ton rings forming an almost gas-tight seal
fined space. between the piston and the cylinder walls.
Don’t bother, for the moment, about
how we get a mixture of fuel and air to
The basic process burn inside the cylinder: just accept that as
The confined space is the cylinder – a ver- it burns it produces a mixture of water
tical tube, machined into the heavy metal vapour, carbon dioxide and small quanti-
block that accounts for most of the ties of some more unpleasant gases such as
engine’s weight and bulk. The top of the sulphur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen. It
cylinder is closed by another heavy casting also gets very hot.
Fig 1 The four-stroke cycle.
INDUCTION COMPRESSION POWER EXHAUST
The Basic Engine
The rise in temperature makes this ignite spontaneously. The engine’s fuel sys-
gaseous cocktail expand – increasing the tem is designed to do exactly that –
pressure within the cylinder, and driving producing, in the cylinder, the burning
the piston downwards. The piston is mixture of air and fuel required to start the
attached to a connecting rod, or ‘con rod’, cycle all over again.
whose other end is coupled to the crank- So there you have it: the basic operating
shaft. Just as the cranks of a bicycle cycle of a diesel engine, made up of four
convert vertical movements of the rider’s distinct strokes of the piston. You can
legs to a rotary movement of the wheels, think of them, if you like, as ‘suck,
the crankshaft converts the downward squeeze, bang, blow’, though in more con-
thrust of the piston into a rotary move- ventional terminology they’re called
ment of the shaft. Induction, Compression, Power and
One end of the crankshaft carries a Exhaust.
heavy metal flywheel. Once the flywheel
has started turning, its momentum keeps it
going, so the crankshaft keeps turning with
Valves
it – pushing the piston back up the cylin- The work of the valves is vital to the whole
der. As it does so, one of the valves in the sequence: they have to open and close at
cylinder head opens, allowing the hot precisely the right moments, allowing an
gases to escape. unrestricted flow of air or exhaust gas
As soon as the piston reaches the top of when they’re open, yet forming a perfectly
its travel, the still-spinning flywheel and gas-tight seal when they’re shut.
crankshaft drag it back down again. At this Each valve is roughly mushroom-shaped,
point, the exhaust valve shuts and the inlet with a long straight stem and a flat circular
valve opens, allowing fresh air to flood head, whose edge is bevelled and preci-
into the expanding space inside the sion-ground to match the slope of the
cylinder. hardened valve seat that surrounds the
This time, as the piston reaches the bot- mouth of the tunnel in the cylinder head.
tom of its stroke, the inlet valve closes. For most of each cycle, each valve remains
With both valves shut, and the momentum shut, pulled firmly against its seat by one
of the flywheel driving the piston back or two very strong valve springs. It’s
up again, the air inside the cylinder is opened, when necessary, by a component
compressed. called a rocker, like a miniature seesaw
If you compress any gas, it gets hot. You that pivots on another shaft running across
can feel the effect for yourself by putting the cylinder head.
your finger over the outlet hole of a bicycle Meanwhile, a component called the
pump and pumping the handle. Even after camshaft is being driven by the crankshaft,
several hard strokes, a bicycle pump is but at half the crankshaft’s speed. On it are
unlikely to develop more than about 100 carefully machined bulges, called cams,
psi, but the pressure inside a diesel that are shaped and positioned so that
engine’s cylinder rises to over 500 psi in each in turn pushes upwards against a
less than 1/100 second. Its temperature rises, rocker at the right moment in each cycle.
as a result, to something in the order of As one end of a rocker is pushed upwards,
800°C. the other end moves downwards to push
Diesel fuel doesn’t burn easily under the valve open.
normal conditions, but if you spray a fine Although the principle is standard, there
mist of it into hot pressurised air, it will are plenty of variations on the theme. The
Fig 2 Valve gear.
Rocker
Push rod Valve spring
Cam follower
Exhaust valve
Camshaft
camshaft, for instance, may be driven by amounts of wear and tear can be corrected
gears, or by a chain and sprocket system, by means of a simple adjustment, but it’s
or by a toothed rubber belt, and it may be asking for trouble to tinker with the gears,
mounted high on the engine with the cams belt or chain unless you know exactly what
pushing directly on the rockers; or lower you’re doing.
down and relying on push rods to transmit
the movement of the cams to the rockers.
In this case, the ends of the push rods
The two-stroke cycle
don’t rest directly on the cams but sit in It seems rather wasteful to have the piston
small bucket-shaped components called going up and down like a yo-yo, but only
tappets or cam followers. In some engines, producing power on one of its four strokes.
the cam followers are fitted with rollers to There is an alternative, called the two-
reduce wear: in others, they are designed stroke cycle. Apart from the fact that it
to rotate so as to spread the wear more produces power on every second stroke of
evenly, while some engines have hydraulic the piston, the diesel two-stroke has very
tappets which adjust themselves to correct little in common with its petrol-oil coun-
for wear as it happens. terparts on lawn mowers and outboards,
Whichever of these applies to your par- and its use is mainly confined to the very
ticular engine, do bear in mind that the large engines that drive ships. The one
whole system will have been set up so that exception is the Detroit Diesel range,
each valve opens and closes at precisely which includes two-strokes down to
the right moment in the cycle. Small 270 hp.
The Basic Engine
Fig 3 The two-stroke cycle.
INDUCTION COMPRESSION POWER EXHAUST
They are physically different from con- evenly balanced: power for power, two-
ventional four-stroke diesels in that they strokes are smaller and lighter, but are
have no inlet valves. Instead, air is pumped slightly less fuel-efficient, and because they
into the cylinder by a mechanical blower – are produced in very much smaller num-
a supercharger – through ports half-way up bers they tend to be relatively expensive.
the cylinder walls. (See Fig 3.) Most of their repair and maintenance pro-
When the piston is at the bottom of its cedures are similar, though, so we’ll
travel, these ports are above the level of concentrate on the more common four-
the piston, so, with the exhaust valve open, stroke engine throughout this book.
clean air flows into the cylinder and blows
the previous stroke’s exhaust gas out of
the top.
Variations on a theme
As the piston rises, the exhaust valve One apparently subtle variation is the distinc-
shuts, and the piston itself closes the inlet tion between direct and indirect injection.
ports, trapping the air inside the cylinder. Fig 1 illustrating the four-stroke cycle
The compression stroke continues, just as shows a direct injection engine: the fuel is
in a four-stroke engine, and is followed sprayed directly into the cylinder. In prac-
by the power stroke driving the piston tice, the top of the piston is usually carved
downwards. away to form a hollow, called the combus-
Just before the piston reaches the level of tion chamber, shaped to ensure that the
the inlet ports, however, the exhaust valve fuel and air mix as thoroughly as possible.
opens, allowing the exhaust gas to start In an indirect injection engine, the pis-
escaping. As the piston descends still fur- ton crown is usually flat, and the
ther, it uncovers the inlet port, allowing combustion chamber is deeply recessed
fresh air into the cylinder, to start the into the cylinder head, with only a narrow
sequence all over again. opening between it and the cylinder. The
The advantages and disadvantages of idea is that the turbulence created when
two- and four-stroke engines are pretty air from the cylinder is forced into the
••• Things to do
Checking valve/rocker
Cylinder
clearances – once per season
head
There isn’t much an amateur mechanic with a
Combustion limited tool kit can (or should) do to the major
chamber components inside the engine apart from mak-
ing sure that it has a good supply of fuel and
Piston air and clean lubricating oil.
You can, however, check and adjust the gap
between the rocker and the valve. There has to
be a gap – usually about the thickness of a fin-
gernail – to allow for the different rates at
which the various components expand and con-
tract as they warm up. Without it, there’s a very
real risk that the valves won’t shut completely:
Cylinder they may even come into catastrophic contact
head with the pistons. If the gap is too large, the
valves may not open as far as they should, and
Combustion
the engine will certainly be noisier than it
chamber should be.
1 Read the engine manual to find out what the
Piston valve/rocker clearances should be, and
whether they should be adjusted with the
engine cold or at normal running temperature.
Note that the clearances for inlet valves may be
Fig 4 Direct injection (above) and indirect different for those for exhaust valves, because
exhaust valves get hotter.
injection.
2 Remove the rocker cover (A) – a relatively thin
combustion chamber ensures more thor- metal box on top of the engine, usually with the
oil filler cap in the middle. Some engines have
ough mixing of the air and fuel, and a
a separate rocker cover for each cylinder, or
more progressive increase in cylinder pres- for each of two or three groups of cylinders.
sure during the power stroke.
Historically, at least, indirect injection 3 Check the gap on each valve in turn, when
the valve is completely closed and the gap is at
engines have been regarded as quieter and
cleaner but harder to start, because the
cylinder head absorbs a lot of the heat cre-
ated during compression. Unfortunately,
the heat lost to the cylinder head and the
effort required to force air and burning gas
in and out of the combustion chamber
make them rather less fuel-efficient overall.
Developments in piston design are now
allowing modern direct injection engines to
catch up with the indirect engine’s advan-
A
tages without the drawbacks, so indirect
injection seems destined to fade away.
The Basic Engine
its widest. There are two ways of finding out 6 Slacken the lock-nut on the rocker whose
when this happens. On a multi-cylinder engine, clearance you are about to adjust, and then
the best way is to find the ‘magic number’ for unscrew the threaded adjuster about one or two
your engine by adding one to the number of turns.
cylinders. For a four-cylinder engine, for
7 Set a feeler gauge to the clearance specified
instance, the magic number is five.
in the engine manual, and slip it between the
4 Turn the engine slowly by hand, if necessary valve stem and the rocker (C). Gently wiggle the
using a spanner on the crankshaft (big nut on feeler gauge whilst tightening the adjusting
the lowest of the pulleys at the front of the screw, until you can feel the feeler gauge being
engine). Watch the rockers moving as you do nipped between the valve stem and the rocker.
so, until the two rockers for one cylinder are ‘on
8 Leave the feeler gauge in place, and hold the
the rock’ – that is, when one is rising and the
adjusting screw with a screwdriver while you
other falling – signifying that this particular
tighten the lock-nut. When it’s tight, wiggle the
cylinder is at the end of its exhaust stroke and
feeler gauge again to check that you haven’t
just beginning its induction stroke. Subtract the
upset the adjustment: you should feel a slight
number of this cylinder from the ‘magic number’
resistance, but it shouldn’t be jammed tight.
to find the number of the cylinder that is ready
to have its valve clearances checked. If, for 9 Repeat the process for each valve in turn,
instance, you have a four-cylinder engine and then replace the rocker cover, making sure that
number 2 cylinder’s valves are on the rock, the cork or rubber sealing gasket is smooth,
number 3 cylinder is ready, because 5 – 2 = 3. undamaged and properly seated.
5 On a single-cylinder engine, the clearance for
one valve should be checked when the other
valve is fully depressed. You can use this
approach for a multi-cylinder engine, but it will
take longer! (B)
B C
3 Fuel System
Otto Diesel’s original patent application system includes some of the most sophisti-
for what we now know as a diesel engine cated and expensive parts of the engine,
was pretty vague about the kind of fuel it responsible for achieving pressures of
might use: he even suggested coal dust as a almost 200 atmospheres, measuring doses
possibility. Some boatowners seem almost of fuel accurate to less than a thousandth
equally vague: every year lifeboats have to of a millilitre, and repeating the process
tow in boats that have simply run out of perhaps half a million times an hour!
fuel!
There’s more to getting fuel into an
engine, though, than simply pouring the
The basic system
stuff into the tank. The fuel system starts, however, with the
Diesel fuel doesn’t burn very easily, and crudest component of all: the tank. It’s
in order to burn quickly, cleanly and worth bearing in mind, though, that a full
reliably it has to be in the form of fine tank can be very heavy, so it needs to be
droplets, like an aerosol spray. You’ll well supported and secured against the
remember from the previous chapter that boat’s motion. A big tank – anything over
the air in a diesel’s cylinders is made hot about 5–10 gallons – should include inter-
by being compressed to 20 or 30 times its nal baffles to stop the fuel sloshing about,
normal atmospheric pressure, so producing and any tank needs a vent, or ‘breather’, to
an aerosol spray inside the cylinders means let air in as the fuel is used up.
that the fuel has to be at an even higher Unfortunately, the fuel received from the
pressure – in the order of 2,500 psi. hose may not be perfectly clean, and the
It’s also essential for the proportions of air that comes in through the breather will
fuel and air to be exactly right, so each almost certainly be moist enough to allow
squirt of fuel has to be very accurately condensation to form inside the tank. The
measured. If you think of a typical four- end result is that the tank will include
cylinder diesel developing 80 hp when it’s some dirt and water.
running flat out at 4,000 rpm, it will be To prevent this reaching the engine, the
burning about 4 gallons of fuel an hour. engine installation should include a com-
Each cylinder will be receiving 2,000 ponent known as a primary filter, pre-filter,
squirts of fuel every minute – making 8,000 separator, sedimenter or filter-
squirts per minute, or 480,000 squirts per agglomerator, usually mounted on a
hour. Each squirt, then, must be less than bulkhead in the engine compartment
10 millionths of a gallon, 0.04 ml, or less rather than on the engine itself.
than a hundredth of a teaspoon. At low The lift pump is responsible for pulling
loads the amount of fuel sent to the cylin- the fuel out of the tank, through the
ders has to be even less. primary filter, and passing it on to the rest
It’s hardly surprising, then, that the fuel of the system. In most cases, it’s a simple
Fuel System
Injectors
To tank
From tank
Fine Injection pump

filter
Pre-filter
Lift pump
Fig 5 General layout of fuel system.
diaphragm pump, very much like a min- engineered surfaces of the rest of the
iature version of a manual bilge pump. It’s system.
driven by the engine, but usually has a If a diesel engine has a ‘heart’, it has
hand-operated priming lever so that you to be the injection pump, because this
can pump fuel through the system without is where the fuel is measured and
running the engine. pressurised.
The fuel then passes through another fil- Injector pipes, with very thick walls to
ter, sometimes known as the main filter or withstand the pressure, carry the highly
secondary filter or fine filter, whose job is pressurised fuel from the injection pumps
to remove particles of dirt that – at less to the injectors that spray it into the
than a thousandth of a millimetre in dia- cylinders.
meter – may be too small to see, but that Some of the fuel that is pumped to the
are still capable of wearing the very finely injectors, however, never actually reaches
the cylinder but is returned to the tank The principle is much like that of a bicy-
through a leak-off pipe, or return line. cle pump or an old-fashioned bilge pump,
with a piston (usually called the plunger)
moving up and down inside a cylinder. A
The single-element hole called the spill port in the side of the
injection pump cylinder allows fuel to flow into the cylin-
der when the plunger is at the bottom of
There are three main types of injection its travel. As the plunger rises, however, it
pump, of which the simplest is the kind covers the port to shut off the flow and
found on single-cylinder engines. Even if trap some fuel in the cylinder. As it contin-
you have a multi-cylinder engine, it’s worth ues to rise, the trapped fuel has to go
knowing a bit about the single-element somewhere, so it escapes by lifting the
‘jerk’ pump, because many multi-cylinder delivery valve off its seat, and flowing out
engines use derivatives of it. into the injector pipe.
Principle of the jerk pump
1 2 3 4
Fig 6 Jerk pump.

1 When the plunger is at the bottom of its travel, reaches the spill port: fuel can flow down the
fuel flows into the pump cylinder through one of groove and out through the spill port. The pres-
the ports. sure is released so no more fuel reaches the
injector.
2 As the plunger rises, it blocks off the ports and
pressurises the fuel, driving it out of the top of the 4 Rotating the plunger means that the cut-out
pump cylinder. reaches the spill port at an earlier stage in the
plunger’s travel. The effective stroke of the
3 As the piston rises further, the helical cut-out plunger is shortened, so less fuel is delivered.
10
Fuel System
In-line injection pump
D
I
E
Fig 7 An in-line fuel injection pump.
Key F Control lever connected by cable to the helm

A Excess fuel button for cold starting. position.
B High pressure fuel line connectors that feed the G Control rod assembly which is moved by F
injectors. Six in this case for a 6-cylinder engine. and a combination of the excess fuel device, the
C Control fork that moves levers on the plunger engine governor and the stop control to provide
arm on each pump to control the quantity of fuel exactly the right control of the pumping elements
injected. to suit the particular running or stopping
D This model has the low pressure fuel pump conditions.
built on to the side of the injection pump. This is H Stop lever.
a diaphragm type driven from the injection I Cam and roller cam follower which drive the
pump’s camshaft rather than from the main pumping elements. This is a pump which requires
engine camshaft. the gallery to be topped up with engine oil for
E The actuating arm that along with C moves the the internal lubrication of the moving parts.
pump element to control the amount needed for J Maximum fuel stop screw, usually has a seal
injection at various engine speeds. placed through it to prevent tampering.
11
The measuring part of the fuel pump’s The rotary injection pump
job is taken care of by a spiral-shaped cut-
out in the side of the plunger. As the The rotary or DPA injection pump is
piston nears the top of its travel, the spiral lighter, more compact, and can cope with
cut-out eventually comes level with the higher engine speeds than the in-line type,
spill port in the side of the cylinder, allow- so it’s eminently suitable for small, high-
ing fuel to flow round the spiral and out of revving engines. Unfortunately, it’s also
the spill port. more vulnerable to dirty or contaminated
Pushing or pulling on a toothed rod fuel and – unlike an in-line pump that may
called the rack makes the plunger rotate, fail on one or two cylinders but keep going
so the spiral can be made to uncover the on the others – a DPA pump that goes
spill port at any stage in the plunger’s wrong will often pack up altogether.
stroke, varying the amount of fuel that is The reason for this ‘all-or-nothing’ oper-
delivered without having to change the dis- ation is that a DPA pump consists of a
tance the plunger actually moves. single high pressure pump, distributing fuel
This is significant, because the up and to each injector in turn through a spinning
down movement of the plunger is achieved rotor.
by the action of a cam, very similar to the The lift pump supplies fuel to the injec-
cams that operate the valves in the tion pump at one end, where a vane-type
engine’s cylinder head. transfer pump – similar in principle to the
It’s worth noting that thin metal packing engine’s raw water pump – increases its
pieces called shims are usually fitted pressure. The fuel then flows to the high
between the base of the pump and the pressure pump through the metering valve,
cylinder block or crankcase. Increasing the which controls the amount of fuel that will
number of shims raises the pump body, so be delivered to the engine’s cylinders.
the ports are higher, which means that the The high pressure pump consists of two
pump doesn’t start delivering fuel until small plungers built into a rotor. Fuel from
slightly later in the cycle. In other words, the metering valve flows into the space
the number and thickness of the shims has between the two plungers forcing them to
a critical effect on timing – the moment at move apart. As the rotor turns, however,
which fuel is sprayed into the cylinder – so bulges on the cam ring that surrounds it
if you remove the fuel pump for any rea- force the plungers back inwards.
son, it’s essential to make sure that you Fuel, now at very high pressure, is driven
retain all the shims and put them back out of the space between the plungers and
when the pump is re-installed. through a drilling in the rotor, which
directs it to each injector pipe in turn.
The in-line injection pump
A few multi-cylinder engines use a separate
Injectors
single-element fuel pump for each cylinder, The injectors convert the tiny squirts of
but it’s more common to find all the sepa- high pressure fuel into an atomised spray
rate elements combined into a single in the cylinders. They are usually cylindri-
component that looks rather like a minia- cal in shape, about 6 in (15 cm) long and 1
ture engine. It’s called an in-line pump in (25mm) in diameter, but are clamped
because it consists of several jerk pumps in into the cylinder head so that only a cou-
line, driven by a camshaft in the pump ple of inches of the injector body and a
body instead of in the engine block. couple of pipe connections are visible.
12
Fuel System
Rotary injection pump
E
G
H
D
I
F
T
C
B
K
J
A N L
P
Q
S O M
HYDRAULIC ROTOR ROTOR DISTRIBUTOR
HEAD PORT
METERING OUTLET
PORT PORT
FUEL TO
FUEL IN
INJECTOR
R
HYDRAULIC
INLET
HEAD
PORT
PUMP
PLUNGERS PUMP
PLUNGERS
Fig 8 Rotary injection pump.

Key (N) via metering valve (J).
A Centrifugal governor weights provide sensitive N High pressure pump plungers are driven out-
speed control. wards by fuel pressure from (N) and pushed
B Front bearing oil seal and retaining circlip. inward by the lobes on the cam ring (O).
C Tapered drive shaft. O Cam ring.
D Back leak connection feeds excess fuel which P High pressure outlet pipe connections to
has also helped lubrication of the pump back to injectors.
the fuel filter. Q The distributing part of the rotor contains a
E Shut off lever, hand operated by cable control. central axial passage (dotted) and two radially
F Return spring to hold speed control lever drilled ports. The distributing port aligns succes-
against idle stop. sively with each high pressure outlet port to P,
G Idling speed control stop. there being one for each cylinder of the engine.
H Speed control lever usually connected to helm A similar number of inlet ports in the rotor align
position by cable control system. successively with a single port in the head, called
I Maximum speed stop and adjusting screw the metering port, and admits the fuel from (M)
sealed to prevent tampering. under the control of the governor. See inset.
J Fuel metering valve, governor controlled. R Fully automatic advance device.
K Low pressure fuel inlet with nylon filter below it. S Pump fixing and locating bolt slot that allows
L The stationary hydraulic head which houses the rotation of pump about axis for timing. Score
transfer pump (M) and the distributor rotor (Q). marks across engine and pump flange can help
M The transfer pump which transfers low pres- re-install pump to same timing position.
sure fuel from inlet (M) to high pressure plungers T Governor spring.
13
The principle of a mechanical governor
B B
From cockpit To fuel

control pump
Fig 8a The principle of the mechanical governor.

The shaft (A) is driven by the engine, so as the weights to slow the engine down, so the engine
engine speed increases, the weights (B) try to fly speed increases.
outward. The linkage (C and D) is arranged so The balance between the governor weights and
that this movement tells the fuel pump to slow the the spring tension keeps the engine running at a
engine down. constant speed, set by the cockpit control, even if
The cockpit control is connected to the spring. the load varies.
When the control is pushed forwards, for higher The mechancial governor inside a diesel injection
engine speeds, the increasing tension in the pump is more sophisticated than this, but the
spring makes it more difficult for the flywheel principle is identical.
14
Fuel System
The injector body is basically a tube, flows down a narrow passage to the pres-
almost completely filled by a needle valve, sure chamber, just above the nozzle.
push rod, and a strong spring. Fuel from The nozzle is sealed off by the needle
the injection pump enters the side of the valve, which is held in place by the push
injector from the injector pipe, and then rod and spring. When the injector pump
Leak-off union
Holder cap-nut
Spring cap
Body
Valve spindle
Nozzle cap-nut Spring
Dowel
Feed hole Inlet
Nozzle body
Fuel gallery
Needle valve
Sac
Seat
Fig 9 Injector.
15
delivers one of its pulses of fuel, the pres- the nozzle instead of forming a fine spray.
sure within the pressure chamber rises The same applies to injection pumps,
sufficiently to lift the needle valve off its because there is nothing an amateur mechanic
seat. Fuel then rushes out of the nozzle so can achieve by tinkering with them, other
quickly that it breaks up into a spray. Of than a lot of damage. Even the apparently
course, this sudden escape of fuel means simple job of removing an injection pump is
that the pressure in the pressure chamber more complicated than it may seem, because
drops again, allowing the needle valve to re-fitting it involves adjusting it to make sure
snap back into its seat to stop the flow. that the squirts of fuel are delivered to the
Although the movements of the needle valve right cylinders at the right time: it needs
are very small, they happen so quickly that confidence and the right workshop manual.
lubrication is essential. This is achieved by
allowing some of the fuel from the pressure
chamber to flow up the injector, past the
High-tech fuel systems
needle valve and push rod, and out through The last few years of the twentieth century
the leak-off pipe at the top to return to the tank. saw growing concern, worldwide, about
If too much fuel took this route, it would the use of fossil fuels and atmospheric pol-
entirely defeat the object of the exercise: the lution. Customers wanted cleaner, quieter
pressure in the pressure chamber would cars and lorries, and legislators wanted to
never rise enough to lift the needle valve, be seen to be doing something. Almost
so no fuel would get into the cylinder. The inevitably, fuel systems came under close
fact that it doesn’t is entirely due to the very scrutiny. The effect was that by the beginning
high precision engineering of the injector, of this century we started to see new, radically
which keeps the clearance between the different ways of getting fuel into cylinders
needle valve and the injector body down to being introduced in cars and commercial
something in the order of 0.001 mm (about vehicles. It’s taking longer for these to trickle
40 millionths of an inch). That’s so small down to marine engines, and it will undoubt-
that if you were to strip an injector and edly be many years before conventional
leave the body on the bench while you fuel systems disappear altogether, but it is
held the needle valve in your hand, your worth being aware of developments such
body heat would expand the needle valve as electronic control, unit injectors, and
enough to stop it going back into its hole! common rail injection systems.
There are three reasons for mentioning
this, of which the first is to make the point
that you should never strip an injector: it
Electronic control
may look rugged, but it’s so finely engineered A key part of any conventional fuel pump is
that injector servicing is definitely a job for the governor. At its simplest, this consists of
a specialist company. The second reason is a set of weights connected to the shaft of the
that it goes a long way towards explaining pump. As the engine speed increases, the pump
why new injectors can cost several hundred shaft turns faster, so the weights try to fly out-
pounds each, and the third is that it explains wards. As they do so, they operate a mechanical
why all those filters are so important: the linkage which reduces the amount of fuel
tiniest specks of dirt can be sufficient to being sent to the injectors. This, of course,
abrade the surface of the needle valve enough slows the engine down, allowing the
to increase the leak-off to such an extent that governor weights to move inward again.
the injector doesn’t open properly, or to wedge The engine control, in the cockpit or wheel-
the valve open and allow fuel to drip out of house, is connected to the governor by a
16
Fuel System
spring. By adjusting the engine controls the injection. The key feature of this is that
helmsman adjusts the spring tension so as to metering and control functions have been
increase or decrease the speed at which the taken away from the injector pump alto-
shaft has to turn before the weights move gether: its sole job is to produce a constant
outwards far enough to slow the engine down. supply of fuel at enormously high pressure
The aim of all this is partly to stop the — up to about 30,000psi (2,000bar).
engine over-revving, but it also means that From the pump, the pressurised fuel
when you — the user — set the throttle for passes to a thick-walled tube (the ‘common
a particular engine speed, the governor will rail’) or to an equally rugged reservoir,
keep the engine running at that speed even from which injector pipes carry it to
if the loading varies. electronically controlled injectors.
Simple mechanical governors like this have The advantages of the system are that the
been used to control machinery for centuries: higher pressure means that the fuel spray
you can see rudimentary versions in water- from each injector is much finer, while the
mills, windmills, and on steam engines, but electronic control means that the amount of
now their place is increasingly being taken fuel, the timing and duration of each squirt,
by electronic versions which monitor other and even the number of squirts per cycle
factors such as air temperature and inlet can be varied by the electronic processor
manifold pressure as well as shaft speed. to give increased fuel efficiency, less toxic
exhaust gas, and lower noise levels.
The down-side of the system (apart from
Unit injectors price!) is that it has done away with the
Unit injectors, in principle, are almost a rugged simplicity which used to be one of
retrograde step: they take us back to the the advantages of a diesel engine, and has
days when each injector had its own high made a diesel just as dependent on elec-
pressure pump. As the name suggests, how- tricity as a petrol engine.
ever, the modern unit injector combines
the pump and injector in a single unit,
mounted in the cylinder head in much the ••• Things to do
same way as a conventional injector.
In some cases the pump is mechanically There is absolutely nothing an amateur
driven. Each cylinder has three rockers mechanic can or should do to the internal
instead of the usual two. Two of the three working parts of a unit injector, to electronic
rockers open the valves, exactly as they do controls or to a common rail fuel system, with-
in a conventional engine, while the third out specialist expertise and equipment. But
one operates the plunger of a small piston- bear the following in mind:
type pump in the head of the injector.
An alternative is to dispense with • Regular checking and changing of fuel filters
mechanical operation, and use hydraulics and water traps is more important than ever.
instead, with an electric solenoid (see page • Visually inspect electrical connections, and
46) controlling the pump plunger. clean/tighten if necessary.
• On rocker driven unit injectors, check and
adjust the rocker clearances in accordance
Common rail injection with the manufacturers instructions and the
Perhaps the most exciting development is procedure outlined on pages 6–7.
known as ‘common rail’ or ‘reservoir’ fuel
17
Safety first suitable container such as a jam jar until clean
fuel emerges.
Diesel fuel can cause skin problems, especially
b Shut the drain screw, being careful to avoid
in people who have become sensitised by
using excessive force (it’s hollow, and can snap
repeated contact. Avoid the risk by using pro-
easily), and then dispose of the contaminated
tective gloves and by keeping your hands
fuel carefully.
clean.
The fuel leaving the injection pump is at such c Some pre-filters have a replaceable element
high pressure that it can penetrate skin. This is similar to that in a cartridge-type fine filter, and
particularly true of the very fine droplets that which should be replaced in much the same
leave an injector at high speed. Never expose way.
yourself to high pressure diesel.
2 Replacing the fine filter
1 Draining the pre-filter The fuel filter should be changed at least once a
The pre-filter is the part most likely to be affected season, or after about 200 hours’ use. Start by
by water or dirt from the fuel tank, so it should cleaning the area around the filter, and placing
be checked frequently. The optimum interval will a bowl or rags underneath to catch any spills. If
vary widely, depending on how clean your fuel your filter is below the level of the fuel in the
is to start with, and how quickly you’re using it, tank, shut the fuel cock on the tank, but remem-
as well as on the filter itself, but after every ten ber to open it again before attempting to start
hours’ running is usually about right. the engine. In any case, you will have to bleed
Many pre-filters have a transparent bowl at the system before starting the engine.
the bottom, so you can see any dirt or water at
a glance. If yours doesn’t have this, or if you Spin-on filters
can see a layer of dirt or water collecting at the
a Use a strap or chain wrench to unscrew the
bottom, you will need to drain it.
filter canister. If this isn’t available or doesn’t
a Slacken the drain screw at the bottom and work, try a large pair of gas pliers or a set of
allow the contents of the filter to run off into a stillsons (pipe wrench).
1 2
18
Fuel System
b Smear the sealing ring with

a thin film of fresh oil, then spin
the filter on until the sealing
ring just touches the filter head.
c Tighten the filter another half
turn by hand. Do not over-
tighten it by using any kind of
tool.
Cartridge filters
a Unscrew the central bolt to
release the filter body (see
photos above).
b Remove the cartridge, and
replace it, making sure that
the various springs and wash-
ers are replaced in the correct a b
order, and that the filter is the
right way up. Make sure the
old rubber sealing ring isn’t stuck to the
filter head, and replace it with the new
one supplied with the filter.
c Replace the complete assembly, making
sure the filter body is correctly seated,
and tighten the retaining bolt.
Water trap filters

Some filters have a bowl designed to
trap water underneath the filter cartridge.
The sequence of photos above shows c
the fitting of a new cartridge:
Fitting a new cartridge
a Slacken the drain tap in the bowl and
drain off the contents of the filter.Then
as shock absorbers which prevent the pressure
unscrew the bolt that protrudes from the centre
from rising sufficiently to open the injector’s
of the bowl.
needle valve. If the engine suddenly stops or
b Reassemble the filter with a new cartridge and misfires, or if you have let air into the system by
the new seals that are supplied with it – noticing running low on fuel or changing a filter, you will
that the upper and lower seals are different. have to remove the air by ‘bleeding’ the system.
Special hollow bolts called bleed screws are pro-
c Tighten the central bolt gently, applying no more
vided for the purpose. In principle, the process
than about 10 lb to the end of a typical spanner.
involves working from the tank towards the
engine, slackening each bleed screw in turn
3 Bleeding the fuel system until clear diesel comes out, then tightening that
Even a very small amount of air in the fuel sys- screw, and moving on to the next. If you can’t
tem can be enough to stop a diesel, because if find a bleed screw, it is usually enough to slacken
air bubbles reach the injector pipes they can act one of the pipe unions instead.
19
a Open the fuel cock to allow fuel to flow
from the tank into the system, and slacken
the bleed screw on top of the pre-filter until
clear diesel – free of bubbles – comes out.
To bleed the system downstream of the
lift pump, you’ll have to operate the lift
pump by hand, using the hand priming
lever. If the hand priming lever doesn’t
move, it may well be that the engine has
stopped with the pump lever at or near the
end of its travel: try turning the crankshaft
(with the starter or by hand) so that the
pump is at a different part of its stroke. 3b
b Slacken the bleed screw on top of the
engine’s fine filter, making sure that it’s the
bleed screw you are undoing, not the one
that holds the whole thing together! The
bleed screw is higher, and usually just off
centre. Operate the lift pump by hand until
clear diesel emerges from the bleed screw,
then tighten the screw and move on to the
injection pump.
c There may be one or two bleed points
on the injection pump, depending on the make
and model, but they are usually smaller than
any spanner in an off-the-shelf tool kit.
Check with the engine manual, mark them
with a dab of paint, and make sure you 3c
have a suitable spanner on board.
d Changing filters is unlikely to let air into
the high pressure side of the system, but if
the engine has stopped of its own accord
or fails to start, bleed the injector pipes by
slackening the pipe unions that join them to
the sides of the injectors. With the engine
controls set up for a fast idle, use the starter
motor to turn the engine as though you
were trying to start it, while watching the
fuel escaping from the unions. When no
bubbles appear from one union, tighten it,
then continue the process until you’ve re-
tightened them all. Don’t worry if the engine 3d
starts and runs on one or two cylinders
while some unions are still slack: this is
perfectly normal, and simply saves you
the trouble of operating the starter.
20
4 Air System
Fuel, by itself, is of no use whatsoever: it make up for this its area has to be
needs oxygen from the air outside in order increased by being folded into a concertina
to burn. At the most basic level, this happens shape. It’s also difficult to clean, so once a
of its own accord: as the piston falls during paper filter becomes clogged it has to be
the induction stroke, air rushes in past the replaced with a new one.
open inlet valve to fill the expanding space. Wire gauze doesn’t restrict the air flow as
Then, when the compression and power much, but it is less effective because the gaps
strokes are complete, the exhaust valve opens between the strands of wire are bigger than
and the rising piston pushes the exhaust gas those between the fibres of paper. To counter
out ready for a fresh charge of clean air. this problem – and to minimise corrosion
In practice, though, the engine needs an – wire gauze filters need to be dipped in
air filter to stop dirt, moisture and bits of oil from time to time, so that dust sticks to
rubbish being sucked into its cylinders, and them instead of passing straight through.
it needs an exhaust system to dispose of
the hot exhaust gases safely and quietly. To
save having a separate filter and exhaust
Exhaust systems
pipe for each cylinder of a multi-cylinder When it comes to exhaust systems, the
engine, the incoming air is fed to the cylin- boot is on the other foot: road vehicles and
ders through a tubular structure called the agricultural machinery have an easy time
inlet manifold, and the exhaust gases are of it. Their engines are in compartments
carried away through a similar structure that are open to the atmosphere but sealed
called the exhaust manifold. away from their drivers and passengers, so
all that’s required is a pipe connected to
the exhaust manifold, with a few baffles to
Air filters reduce the noise. A few marine installations
Unlike their cousins that power tractors and adopt a similar ‘dry’ exhaust system, usually
earth-moving machinery, marine diesels in the form of an exhaust pipe sticking
usually operate in a relatively clean environ- straight up from the engine compartment,
ment: there’s little danger of them having to with a weighted flap to stop rain or spray
contend with straw, dust or roadside litter. running down inside and heat resistant
This means that their air filters can be lagging to minimise the risk of fire or burns.
relatively simple, so some engines operate For pleasure craft, though, ‘wet’ exhausts
perfectly well for years with little more are pretty well standard, with water from
than a metal box with a few baffles in it. the engine’s cooling system used to cool
Most, however, have something a little the exhaust gas. The water is mixed with
more sophisticated, involving either wire the exhaust gas in the injection bend,
gauze or porous paper. where it almost immediately turns into
Paper tends to restrict the air flow, so to steam but in doing so reduces the
21
Anti-syphon
valve
Swan-neck
Injection
bend
Transom
fitting
Muffler
Water-lock
muffler
Fig 10 The exhaust system.
temperature of the exhaust gases from pletely when the engine is not being used.
almost 500° C to about 70° C – cool enough The vital thing about any exhaust system is
to allow flexible tubing and GRP to be that it must not restrict the flow of exhaust
used for the rest of the exhaust system. gases beyond a certain limit, because if the
At that reduced temperature, the steam exhaust can’t get out of the cylinders, there
condenses back into water. That is why the will be no room for fresh air to get in. The
mixing takes place in a bend: it protects effect is exactly the same as if the air filter
the engine against the possibility of the were clogged: starved of oxygen, the engine
cooling water running back through the will not be able to burn its fuel, so it will
system and into the cylinders. lose power and produce black smoke.
If the engine is below the waterline, or
very close to it, however, the injection
bend alone is not enough: there’s a danger
More power
that water already in the exhaust might set Any engine is simply a device for convert-
up a siphon effect that would allow sea ing the energy released from burning fuel
water from outside to make its way back into mechanical power. None of them are
through the exhaust system and into the very good at it: well over 60 per cent of the
engine. To stop this, many boats have an energy released from the fuel is expended
extra loop in the exhaust system, known as heat and vibration, rather than as useful
as a swan-neck. To guard against the pos- mechanical work. Engine designers are
sibility of waves pushing water up the continually working to improve efficiency,
exhaust pipe, some boats have a one-way but the fact remains that the power an
flap covering the end of the pipe where it engine can produce will always be limited
emerges from the hull; on some sailing by the rate at which it can burn fuel.
yachts you may even find a hand-operated At the present state of development, a
gate valve that seals the exhaust pipe com- good rule of thumb is that every gallon of
22
Air System
Turbocharger
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 14
18
D 17
16
E
19 20 14 15 14 21 22 23 24
C B
Fig 11 Working principle and parts of the turbocharger.

Key 4 Compressor diffuser.
Lower drawing 5 ‘SQ’ ring seal.
A Hot exhaust gases from the manifold drive the 6 Clamping plate.
turbine. 7 Hex head screw and washer.
B The exhaust gases then pass through the 8 Seal (split ring).
exhaust pipe/silencer to be cooled by a raw 9 Oil slinger.
water injection bend fitted after the outlet. 10 Oil baffle.
C Air from the air cleaner is fed into the com- 11 Flat head cap screw.
pressor. 12 Thrust bearing.
D The compressed air is fed through the air inlet 13 Thrust collar.
manifold to the cylinders where it can burn an 14 Circlip.
increased amount of fuel compared to a normally 15 Bearing.
aspirated engine. 16 Hex head screw.
E Lubricating oil inlet from engine’s pressurised 17 Lockplate.
oil supply. 18 Clamping plate.
F Lubricating oil returns to engine sump. 19 Hex head set screw and washer.
20 Bearing housing.
Top drawing 21 Heat shield.
1 Compressor-housing. 22 Seal (split ring).
2 Lock-nut. 23 Shaft and turbine wheel.
3 Compressor impeller. 24 Turbine housing.
23
Turbocharger
Aftercooler
Exhaust
Heat To cylinder
exchanger intake valve
Fig 12 Charge air cooler.
diesel fuel will produce about 20 hp for one size or weight. Almost
hour – or 10 hp for two hours, or 100 hp all modern diesels run
for twelve minutes, and so on. So if you want faster than their coun-
an engine to develop 40 hp, for instance, it terparts of 20 years ago.
needs to burn about 2 gallons per hour.
It’s relatively easy to squirt more fuel
• Force air into
the cylinders
Done by pressurising it,
to squeeze the equiva-
into the cylinder, but that alone won’t pro- lent of about 11/4 litres
duce more power, because every gram of of air into each 1 litre
fuel needs about 25 g of air in order to of cylinder capacity.
burn. So to burn more fuel, you have to get
more air into the engine. The latter option has become very much
This can be achieved in various ways: more popular over the past 20 years or so,
and is usually achieved by means of a blower
• Bigger cylinders This has the advantage
of simplicity and relat- called a turbocharger driven by a turbine
ively low cost. built into the engine’s exhaust system.
Unfortunately, turbochargers have to
• More cylinders Involves more complex
castings, more valves, operate at high temperatures and at speeds
and a more compli- in the order of 100,000 rpm – which give
cated fuel system, but conservative marine engineers the heebie-
tends to be smoother- jeebies, and produce a high-pitched whine
running, and more that some people find offensive.
responsive. Nevertheless, turbochargers are usually
• Run
faster
the engine This pumps more air
through the engine,
very reliable, and coax about 25 per cent
more power out of an engine very effici-
without increasing its ently, by winning back some of the energy
24
Air System
that would otherwise be wasted in flow of reduced flow of exhaust gas produced at
hot exhaust gas. low engine speeds. This, however, means
One snag with a turbocharger is that that at high revs the turbocharger will be
pressurising air, especially by pumping it faced with more exhaust than it can cope
through a hot component like a turbo- with, so some of the exhaust has to be
charger, raises its temperature; therefore it diverted away through a by-pass arrange-
tries to expand – exactly the opposite of ment called a waste-gate.
what the turbocharger is trying to achieve! An alternative is to use a mechanically
To overcome this, many engines draw their driven compressor called a supercharger at
air supply through a duct lined with pipes medium revs, allowing the turbocharger to
containing cool sea water called a charge take over as the engine speed increases.
air cooler, intercooler or aftercooler.
You can get some idea of how effective
this is by looking at the specifications of an
engine such as the 90 hp Mermaid Melody. ••• Things to do
With a turbocharger, the same engine
becomes the 160 hp Turbo Melody; and 1 Black smoke
with an intercooler as well, it’s up to 200 hp
– a 122 per cent increase in power for a Black smoke is almost certainly a symptom of
3 per cent increase in weight and 40 per problems in the air system.
cent increase in price. a Check to make sure that the engine room
ventilation is adequate – that the engine com-
partment ventilation louvres aren’t blocked by
Variations on leaves or by the contents of lockers, for instance
– and that the engine’s air filter isn’t clogged.
turbocharging
b On turbocharged engines, look for loose
One application for which a turbocharged hoses or leaks between the turbocharger and
the engine itself.
engine is not suitable is in a boat that
spends most of its life operating at low c Make sure the exhaust hose isn’t blocked,
speeds with only occasional, widely spaced squashed or damaged: bear in mind that flexi-
bursts of high power. This is because at ble exhaust pipes can deteriorate in time,
allowing their inner layers to collapse while the
low power the exhaust flow won’t be outside looks perfectly sound.
enough to operate the turbocharger.
Exhaust gas flowing past the stationary tur- 2 Air filter
bocharger blades produces a build-up of
soot, so when high power is called for, the a Clean or replace the air filter at least once a
clogged-up turbocharger can’t work prop- season. Unclip or unscrew the cover, and lift out
erly. As a result, the engine won’t receive the filter element. Paper elements should be
replaced if they are dirty or damaged.
enough air to burn its fuel properly, so it
will produce more oily soot that makes b Wire gauze filters should be washed in
matters even worse. paraffin or a solution of washing up liquid in
water, and allowed to dry. Inspect the filter for
There are various ways in which design-
rust or loose strands, and replace it if neces-
ers have brought the benefits of sary. Otherwise, dip it in clean engine oil and
turbocharging to engines that have to drain off the excess.
operate at a wide range of speeds.
c Replace the element, making sure that it’s
One method is to fit a smaller turbo- correctly seated, and replace the filter cover.
charger, capable of operating even with the
25
5 Cooling System
The previous chapter mentioned that over but it’s inside a cube-shaped cylinder block
60 per cent of the energy produced by which leaves large open spaces between
burning fuel in a diesel engine is wasted in the walls of the cylinder and the outer
the form of heat. That’s almost inevitable: walls of the block that are filled by sea
heat is needed to ignite each charge of fuel water pumped up from the bottom of the
and air in the first place, and it’s heat that drive leg. The water absorbs heat from the
expands the contents of the cylinder to cylinder, and then escapes back to the sea
drive the piston downwards. The piston through a hole in the casting, pushed out
sliding up and down inside the cylinder by more water coming up from the pump.
produces yet more heat by friction, as does Components such as the piston and
the movement of the con rod on the crankshaft don’t have the advantage of
crankshaft and the rotation of the crank- being in direct contact with the cool sea
shaft in the main bearings – anywhere, in water, so they get much hotter, but are
fact, where metal moves against metal. kept down to a reasonable working tem-
If all this heat were retained by the perature by being able to conduct heat
engine, it would get hotter and hotter, until away to the relatively cool block.
it either set fire to the boat or welded some This kind of system is called direct cool-
of its own parts together to become a use- ing, or raw-water cooling, and is so simple,
less lump of dead metal. cheap and effective that it would be sur-
Very small engines have a large surface prising if it wasn’t also used in small diesels.
area compared to their volume and the heat The main difference between a diesel’s
they produce, so a lot of heat can be lost direct cooling system and that of an outboard
to the atmosphere by radiation – so lawn is that the diesel’s cooling water has to be
mowers, small motorbikes and light aircraft pumped into the boat and back out again.
need no cooling system as such, other than The way in is through a hole in the boat
fins to increase their surface area. It is very and a flexible hose. The hole has to be
different for boats: their engines are normally below the waterline, so any leaks from any
larger, and are invariably tucked away in snug part of the cooling system are potentially
engine compartments. They are, however, capable of sinking the boat. This makes a
blessed with a plentiful supply of water. seacock essential, so as to be able to isolate
the entire system from the sea.
If the system gets blocked accidentally,
The basic system – by weed or rubbish, the consequences are
raw-water cooling less dramatic, but are still potentially
serious. To guard against this, the system
Some of the simplest water cooling systems should have a raw-water filter.
are found in small outboards such as the Once the water has done its job of cooling
old British Seagull. Its cylinder is cylindrical, the engine, it can be discharged overboard
26
Cooling System
Thermostat
Exhaust manifold
Raw water
pump
Gearbox oil cooler Engine oil cooler
Raw water
filter
Sea cock
Fig 13 Raw-water circuit.
through a hole in the topsides. Nowadays, The thermostat

though, it’s much more common for it to be One drawback of raw-water cooling is that
mixed with the engine’s exhaust gas in the it can be too effective, especially when the
injection bend, where it cools and quietens engine is being started, or when it is running
the exhaust system. To reduce the risk of at low load. The engine needs some heat to
water from the cooling system flooding the ignite its fuel, so removing heat through the
exhaust manifold when the engine is not cooling system can be counterproductive.
running, an anti-siphon valve is usually To overcome this, and allow the engine to
built in just before the injection bend. start and run at its most efficient temperature,
27
Removing a
thermostat.
most diesels are fitted with an automatic temperature at which the thermostat opens
valve called a thermostat, which regulates and the temperature at which it closes, so
the flow of cooling water. if you watch the temperature gauge closely
The thermostat is usually mounted under you may well see a slow and fairly regular
a dome-shaped cover where the cooling rise and fall in engine temperature. This is
water leaves the cylinder head. It’s a simple nothing to worry about: just get used to
component, whose only moving part is a the normal range of operating tempera-
circular trap door of thin metal, held shut tures for your engine.
by a spring. Under the trap door is a sealed Thermostats can occasionally jam open
capsule of wax or alcohol which expands as or closed. If yours jams open, the immedi-
the temperature of the surrounding water ate effect will be that the fluctuation of
rises until it overcomes the resistance of temperature stops, and the engine runs
the spring and pushes the trap door open. cooler than usual, burning more fuel but
If the thermostat were 100 per cent producing less power and more smoke.
effective at shutting off the water flow, A more serious problem arises if the
there would be quite a build-up of pressure thermostat jams shut: the by-pass flow
between the pump and the thermostat, so alone won’t be enough to cool the engine,
the thermostat has a small by-pass hole to so it will overheat.
allow some water to flow when the ther- It’s easy to test a thermostat by taking it
mostat is shut. Even if there’s a separate out and putting it in a saucepan of water
by-pass hose, the hole has an important on the stove. As the water temperature
role. Without it, an air lock could keep the rises, you should see the thermostat open.
cooling water away from the thermostat – This should happen when the water is too
thereby stopping it from opening until the hot to bear putting your hand in it, but
temperature of the engine had already well before it reaches boiling point.
risen dangerously high. If the thermostat has failed, a get-you-home
It’s worth bearing in mind that there is solution is to break the wax capsule and
bound to be a slight difference between the spring away to allow the trap door to stay open.
28
Cooling System
Raw-water pump
Water There are many different ways of pumping
flow water for raw-water systems, but the most
common by far is the ‘flexible impeller’
type of pump – often known by the trade
Direction name Jabsco.
of The flexible impeller looks like a paddle
rotation wheel, with several flat blades or vanes
sticking out from a central hub. It’s a tight
fit inside a cylindrical casing, and is made
even tighter by a bulge in the wall of the
Raw-water pump: note that the vanes rotate casing, between the inlet and outlet
clockwise, and that the water flow is in the pipes.
same direction (ie the ‘long way round’). As the impeller turns, each vane in turn
Aftercooler Thermostat
Header
tank
Exhaust manifold
Heat exchanger
Gearbox oil cooler

Fresh water
pump
Raw water
pump
Engine oil cooler
Raw water
filter
Sea
cock
Fig 14 Fresh-water circuit.
29
has to bend to get past the bulge. This Body

reduces the space between the bent vane Tube stack
and the one in front. As the vane clears the End cap Raw water out
bulge, it straightens out again, increasing
the space between the two vanes and
pulling water in from the inlet pipe. As the
impeller continues to rotate, the water
trapped between the two vanes is carried
around with it, until it reaches the outlet
pipe. At this point, the leading vane
encounters the bulge in the casing and has
to bend again to get past it. This reduces
the space between the two vanes, and forces
the trapped water into the outlet pipe. Fresh water in
Raw water in
Anodes
Fresh water out
Warm sea water is ferociously corrosive, so
an engine with raw-water cooling needs
something to reduce the effect. Just as most Fig 15 Heat exchanger.
boats have sacrificial zinc anodes below
the waterline to protect exposed metal tages besides reducing the risk of corro-
parts, so do most raw-water-cooled sion: it offers closer control of the engine’s
engines. Engine anodes come in many operating temperature, and allows it to run
shapes and sizes, though they are often in slightly hotter without salt deposits build-
the form of rods, about the shape and size ing up in the pipe-work. Both of these
of a man’s finger, which screw into holes make the engine more efficient, so fresh-
in the engine block. water cooling is gradually becoming more
Sacrificial anodes are very effective, but common even on engines as small as 10 hp.
are inconspicuous and easily forgotten, so The big difference between a boat engine
do check the engine instruction manual to and its stable-mate in a car or truck is that
find out where they are and when they a boat engine doesn’t use an air-cooled
should be replaced. radiator to cool the water that has cooled
the engine. Instead, it uses a heat exchan-
ger, made up of a bundle of small-bore
Indirect cooling tubes or thin hollow plates inside an outer
An alternative solution to the problem of casing. The fresh water flows through the
corrosion is to keep sea water away from casing, while raw (sea) water flows
the engine altogether, and use fresh water through the tubes or plates.
– usually mixed with antifreeze as further Fresh-water cooling, then, involves two
protection against corrosion. sub-systems: a fresh-water system that
This is exactly the same as the way car cools the engine, and a raw-water system
truck and tractor engines are cooled, so it is that cools the fresh water. For this reason,
particularly common in engines over about it’s often known as indirect cooling.
50 hp (which are almost invariably based Apart from the heat exchanger, the com-
on designs intended for use in vehicles). ponents involved in an indirect system are
Fresh-water cooling has other advan- much the same as those that make up a
30
Cooling System
raw-water system, because the raw-water

side still has to have a seacock, filter, pump
and injection bend. Only the thermostat is
missing, because it is now part of the fresh-
water system.
Two extra components are involved in
the fresh-water side: a header tank to pro-
vide a reserve of cooling water and give
room for the water to expand and contract
as its temperature changes; and a circulating
pump to drive water through the system.
The header tank is often combined with
the heat exchanger, to form a substantial Fresh water circulating pump.
box-like component mounted high on the
front of the engine. It’s topped by something
very much like a car’s radiator cap and vanes sticking up from its surface like the
serving almost exactly the same purpose – fan of a hover mower. As the impeller
keeping coolant inside the system even when spins, the vanes set up a swirling move-
it tries to escape as steam, but acting as a ment of the water inside the casing.
safety valve if the pressure rises too high. Centrifugal force, helped by the curvature
Like a radiator cap, the header tank cap of the blades, drives the water out into the
can eventually fail, when the sealing ring is outlet pipe, while more water rushes in
damaged or when the spring loses its through the inlet pipe to fill the space that
resilience. Either of these will lead to a would otherwise be left in the centre.
steady loss of water, which could event- There is little to go wrong with a cen-
ually lead to the engine overheating. trifugal pump until – after several thousand
Doom and gloom merchants will tell you hours’ running – the bearings that support
(quite correctly) that loss of water and its shaft start to wear, producing a high
overheating are among the symptoms of a pitched and almost continuous squeak.
blown cylinder head gasket. It could save When this happens, it’s a fairly simple job
you a lot of money if you try replacing the to rebuild the pump with new components
header tank cap before leaping to the and even easier to replace the whole thing.
assumption that the pessimists are right!
Skin cooling
Circulating pump A variation on indirect cooling, popular in
Compared with the raw water pump, steel canal boats and some small commer-
which may have to lift water from the sea, cial vessels, is known as skin cooling or by
the fresh water pump has the relatively the somewhat misleading name of ‘keel
simple task of creating a flow of water cooling’.
through an enclosed system. This means the Essentially it replaces the heat exchanger
pump itself can be the simpler centrifugal by tubes or by a tank that is in direct con-
type, which is less prone to wear and tear. tact with the side or bottom of the vessel.
The outer casing is dome-shaped, with Coolant passing through the tank or tubes
the inlet pipe at its centre and the outlet discharges its heat through the metal skin
pipe emerging from the edge. Inside, the of the vessel, into the surrounding water.
impeller is virtually flat, but has curved Skin cooling systems require very little in
31
Safety first
Remember that when the engine is warm, the
fresh-water system may be full of very hot water
or steam, and under pressure.
The raw-water system is directly connected
to the sea. Any leak is potentially capable of
sinking the boat.
1 Clearing the raw water filter

2a
The raw water filter should be checked, and
cleared if necessary, each day that the engine is
to be used, and whenever there is an unusual
rise in engine temperature.
If your filter has a transparent cover, putting a
table-tennis ball inside can save time and trouble
because movement of the table-tennis ball is a
clear sign that water is flowing through the filter.
Otherwise, when you start the engine, get into
the habit of checking that water is coming out of
the exhaust pipe.
Raw water filters differ in design and construc-
tion. In general, though, the procedure is: 2b
a Shut the raw water seacock. a Unscrew the header tank cap. If the engine is
b Remove the cover: this may involve undoing warm, protect yourself by covering it with several
several nuts, unscrewing the cap as though you layers of cloth (such as an old towel), and
were opening a jam jar, or releasing a clamp. unscrew it very slowly to allow any pressure to
be released gradually. Some types have a ‘bay-
c Remove the filter element – usually a cylinder onet’ fitting: these have to be pressed down
of perforated sheet metal, wire gauze, or a net against the spring pressure before they can be
of nylon mesh covering a metal frame – and unscrewed, but take only a quarter turn to
clear out any weed or debris. release: some have a two-stage unscrewing
d Put the filter back, making sure that any locat- action that allows them to be partly unscrewed to
ing studs fit into their notches, and that the top of release any pressure, then require a second push
the filter is at the same level as it was before. and twist action to release them completely.
e Replace the filter cover, making sure that it is b Most manufacturers recommend that the water
screwed down handtight. level should be between 1 and 3 in (25 and 76
mm) below the top of the tank: in general, if you
f Open the seacock and inspect for leaks around can touch the water with your finger, it’s full
the cover. Don’t be tempted to leave this while enough. If not, top it up with clean fresh water
you do your other daily checks – it’s too easy to mixed with antifreeze. Replace the cap.
start the engine with the seacock closed!
3 Replacing the raw water pump
2 Checking the header tank impeller
If your engine has an indirect cooling system, the Although ‘Jabsco’-type pumps are virtually stan-
level of water in the header tank should be dard there are many different models, so it’s a
checked whenever you check the raw water filter. good idea to carry at least one spare on board,
32
Cooling System
3a 3c
3b 3d
because the impeller will very quickly be damaged

if the pump is run dry. If the flow of cooling water
stops, or the engine shows signs of overheating,
check the filter first, then the pump impeller.
a Undo the screws holding the pump’s front
cover in place, and remove it. Peel away the
remains of the paper gasket that may be stuck to
the cover, or the body, or a bit of both.
b Pull out the impeller with a pair of pliers. If it
won’t come out, or if you have no suitable pliers 3e
available, it can be prised out using two screw-
drivers, but be very careful not to damage the
softer metal of the pump body. the vanes are bent the right way and that it is
c If the impeller has disintegrated, try to piece it properly located on the drive key or pin that pro-
together so as to be certain there are no missing trudes from the shaft. Notice (see photo on page
pieces wandering around the cooling system 29) that the water always takes the ‘long way
where they could cause blockages later. If there round’ in its trip from the inlet pipe to the outlet
are any missing pieces, try to find them if you and that the vanes trail backwards like the
can: dismantle the pipe-work between the pump sparks from a Catherine wheel.
and the heat exchanger to see if they are stuck at e Use a little water or washing up liquid to tem-
a bend, or look in the heat exchanger itself. porarily stick the new gasket that is supplied with
d Smear the new impeller with washing up liq- the impeller in place on the pump body, and
uid, and slide it on to its shaft, making sure that then replace the cover plate.
33
••• Things to do Oil cooling

One tends to assume that an engine needs
oil for much the same reason as a bicycle
or a door hinge – to reduce friction so that
things move or slide over each other more
easily. That, however, is only one of its
jobs: it also plays an important part in
carrying heat away from the engine’s most
intimate working parts. Some engines, for
instance, even have a system that squirts a
jet of oil against the underside of each piston.
In a car, the heat that the oil has collec-
ted as it travels around the engine is
4 Replacing internal anodes dissipated from the sump, hanging down
below the engine in the rush of air passing
Check with your engine instruction manual to under the vehicle.
see how and when to replace internal anodes. For obvious reasons this doesn’t apply to
marine engines, so many – particularly
those over about 50 hp – have an oil cooler.
the way of maintenance, but it is important An oil cooler is another heat exchanger,
to check the coolant level regularly, and to similar to the main heat exchanger but
make sure any hoses are in good con- smaller, that uses the engine’s raw-water
dition. Every couple of seasons or so, system in order to cool the oil. A second
replace the coolant with a fresh mixture oil cooler is often used to cool the
of antifreeze and water. gearbox oil.
34
6 Oil System
One of the quickest and most sure-fire particles of carbon or metal, and neutral-
ways to wreck an engine is to run it with- ising the acids produced from burning
out oil, because even a smooth or polished fuel.
surface has minute imperfections called
asperites. These jagged spikes and ridges
• It cools the engine by carrying heat away
from hot spots that can’t be reached by
may only be a millionth of an inch high, the engine’s water cooling system, such
but as metal moves against metal, the as the pistons and main bearings.
asperites on one surface collide and inter-
lock with those on the other, and then
• It protects the engine by covering the
metal parts to exclude air and moisture
have to bend or break to allow the move- that would otherwise cause corrosion.
ment to continue. One significant job that the advertising
The cumulative effect of repeatedly agency forgot is that oil also helps to cre-
bending or breaking thousands of asperites ate a gas-tight seal between – for instance
soon produces visible damage to the sur- – the piston rings and the cylinder walls.
face, known as wear. The effort expended
in doing so is friction.
Each collision also generates heat, with Pressurised oil systems
local temperatures sometimes rising to as A few very simple engines have no oil
much as 1,600° C – enough, in severe cases, system at all. Two-stroke petrol engines,
to weld the surfaces together. for instance, run on a mixture of oil and
Oil solves the problem by separating the petrol, and rely on the engine’s demand for
two metal surfaces with a thin layer of air to pull the petrol-oil mixture through
fluid, and filling the tiny valleys between the areas where oil is needed. Some small
the asperites: reducing wear, allowing four-stroke engines rely exclusively on
moving parts to move more freely, and ‘splash-feed’ lubrication, in which a spike
stopping them welding themselves or paddle, protruding from the bottom of
together. the con rod, flings oil around the inside of
the crankcase, the bottom of the cylinder,
and the underside of the piston.
Cleans, cools and protects You don’t have to move far up the scale,
Lubrication is undoubtedly the oil’s main though, to reach engines in which pres-
job, but it has a number of subsidiary func- surised oil systems are standard. They use
tions. These were neatly summed up by an oil pump to lift oil out of the sump and
one of the oil companies whose advertising through a filter, before pushing it through a
slogan, at one time, was ‘cleans, cools and maze of oilways to the crankshaft,
protects’. camshaft and rocker bearings; to the con
rods and pistons; and out to ancillaries
• It cleans the engine by flushing away tiny such as the turbocharger and fuel pump.
35
Gravity then returns the ‘used’ oil to the keep an eye on the oil pressure gauge.
sump. Some internal wear is inevitable, so as time
Most of the lubrication system – like the goes by, the gaps between some of the
pistons and main bearings that it serves – moving parts will increase, making it easier
are deep inside the engine, and out of for oil to seep away. This doesn’t just mean
reach of a limited onboard tool kit. User that the lubrication around the affected
maintenance is confined to making sure part will be less effective: it also means
that the engine has a good supply of clean that less oil will reach other components,
oil by topping up and changing the oil at leaving you with an escalating trail of dam-
regular intervals, and changing the filter. age throughout the engine.
In the longer term, it is a good idea to Good operating practices delay the onset
Oil system
1 2
14
C
13 3
4
B
5
6
12
11
A
9
10 7
8
Fig 16 The engine lubricating oil circuit.

Key 7 Oil pump.
A The sump and coarse filter. 8 Feed pipe to filter and thence to main oil
1 Rocker shaft. gallery.
2 Turbocharger (some petrol and diesel engines 9 Feed to diesel fuel in-line injection pump (see 4
only (C)). above).
3 Oil drain to oil pan from turbocharger. 10 Oil filter.
4 Lubrication for fuel injection pump (some ‘in- 11 Main oil gallery.
line’ diesel pumps only (B)). 12 Big end bearings.
5 Camshaft bearings. 13 Main bearings and piston cooling nozzles.
6 Spray to timing gear. 14 Metered oil feed to rockers and rocker shaft.
36
Oil System
of wear: in particular it pays to remember be very much too thick for easy starting in
that until the engine has been running for the depths of winter. To overcome this, it
a few moments, it will be dependent on the was once common practice to use a much
oil which has been left clinging to its bear- ‘lighter’ oil in winter, and to accept
ing surfaces. If the engine has been idle for increased wear as a penalty that had to be
very long, those surfaces may be almost paid. SAE catered for this by introducing a
completely dry, so if it is started with full second series of ‘Winter’ grades, such as
‘throttle’ and roars into life as soon as the SAE 10W.
key is turned, a lot of wear will take place Oil technology has advanced enormously
before any new oil has had a chance to since the SAE grades were introduced.
reach the parts it is supposed to protect. Now, additives mixed with the oil make it
much less susceptible to changes in tem-
perature. This means that most modern
Oil grades and classes engine oils can be used in summer and
It is pretty obvious that if the oil is to do winter alike, and therefore have summer
its job of separating two moving parts, and winter SAE grades shown together,
there has to be a gap between them that such as SAE 20W/50 or SAE 15W/40.
the oil can fill. This, however, means that if Even ‘ordinary’ engine oils nowadays
the oil were perfectly fluid it would simply contain a cocktail of other additives
escape through the gap, so to be effective intended to enhance particular aspects of
an oil needs a certain viscosity, or their performance. Inevitably this means
‘thickness’. that some oils are ‘better’ or ‘worse’ than
This seems to imply that a ‘thick’, viscous others, so various bodies have introduced
oil is better than a ‘thin’ one, but that is performance standards to identify oils that
certainly not the case: viscosity is an indi- are suitable for particular jobs.
cation of the friction between the molecules The most widespread of these classi-
of the oil itself, so a very viscous oil makes fication systems was developed by the
starting difficult, wastes power, and gener- American Petroleum Institute (API), which
ates extra heat. assesses an oil’s performance in each of
In other words, you need to choose an two categories: S, for spark ignition
oil of the right viscosity for your engine. (petrol) engines; and C, for compression
There are lots of different ways of mea- ignition (diesel) engines. As time has gone
suring viscosity but, to make life relatively by, the capabilities of the oil producers and
simple, oils are now graded according to a the demands of the engine manufacturers
system of numbers devised by the have increased, so now there are a range
American Society of Automotive of API classifications from SA/CA (the
Engineers, in which the higher the number, oldest and obsolete) up to SL and CM.
the thicker the oil. Your engine manual Most oils now meet SE/CD or SG/CF
may specify, for instance, that it needs an specifications, and are perfectly suitable for
oil grade ‘SAE 40’. use in most engines, but if you are faced
The picture is made slightly more com- with an unfamiliar brand it’s as well to check
plicated by the fact that oils become less the quality designators printed on the can
viscous as they warm up, so an oil that is and to check, if necessary, that it is speci-
right at normal operating temperature may fied as suitable for a turbocharged engine.
37
Safety first
The additives that make modern oils better for
your engine make them worse for you. Take care
to avoid unnecessary or prolonged contact with
engine oil – new or used.
1 Oil level
Check the oil level each day that the engine is to
be used. It is quite normal for an engine to ‘use’
a certain amount of oil.
a Withdraw the dipstick, wipe it with a dry rag
and then put it back, making sure it is pushed
fully home. Pull it out again, and look at the oil
level, which should be between the ‘max’ and
‘min’ marks. Then replace the dipstick.
b If necessary, top up the oil by pouring oil in 1b
through the filler cap – usually on top of the

rocker cover. Leave the engine for a few seconds
for the new oil to drain down before re-checking
the level.
2 Changing the oil filter

The oil and filter should be changed at the end
of each season, or after about 200 hours’ use.
First run the engine up to operating temperature,
then protect the area around the filter from
spillages. Try to avoid contact with the used oil.
a ‘Spin-on’ filters are best removed by unscrew-
ing with a strap or chain wrench.
b If that isn’t available or doesn’t work, drive a
large screwdriver through the canister, just off
centre, and use it as a lever.
c Smear the sealing ring with a thin film of fresh
oil. Spin the filter on until the sealing ring just
touches the filter head, then tighten it another
half turn by hand. Do not over-tighten it.
d Cartridge-type filters are usually secured by a
1a single bolt.
38
Oil System
3 Changing engine oil

There’s no point changing the filter without
changing the oil, and if your engine has a sump
pump, this is a simple matter of pumping the oil
into a suitable container. If not, you will have to
resort to other methods:
a You will have to insert a small tube down the
dipstick hole, connected to a pump, to suck the
oil out.
b Replace the sump drain plug if you have
removed it, taking care not to over-tighten it,
before topping up with the right grade and
quantity of oil.
2a
2c
e Remove the cartridge, and replace it, making

sure that the various springs and washers are
replaced in the correct order, and that the filter is
the right way up.
3a
f Make sure the old rubber sealing ring isn’t
stuck to the filter head, and replace it with the
new one supplied with the filter.
g Replace the complete assembly, making sure
the filter canister is correctly seated, and tighten
the retaining bolt.
h Change the oil, then run the engine at tick-
over for a few minutes to inspect for leaks
around the filter. Even if no leaks appear, check
the oil level and top it up, because some oil will
be retained in the filter.
39
7 Electrical System
One of the great virtues of a diesel engine battery being overcharged. For indirect
is that it doesn’t need electricity to start or injection engines, there is usually also
run. Small diesels can be started by hand, some kind of cold starting aid to make
bigger ones by coiled springs, and the the starter motor’s job a little easier by
biggest of all by compressed air or separate warming the air in the cylinders.
starter engines. No ordinary switch can cope with the
An electric motor, though, is such a con- sort of currents involved in the starter cir-
venient way of doing the job that almost cuit, so the ‘switch’ that controls the starter
all marine diesels now have an electrical motor is actually a relay or solenoid – a
system of some description. remote controlled switch operated by
another switch on the control panel. The
control panel also needs a warning light or
The basic system buzzer to attract attention to any failure of
Diesels intended for hand starting usually the electrical system, so the complete sys-
have decompression levers, which make it tem ends up looking something like that in
a lot easier to build up momentum in the Fig 17 (over page).
heavy flywheel by opening the valves in
the cylinder head to release the pressure
in the cylinder.
Making electricity
Even so, hand starting a diesel can still Generators and motors both depend on
be hard work, so it shouldn’t come as any the close link between electricity and mag-
surprise to find that it takes a lot of electri- netism, which can be summed up by saying
cal power to do the same thing – especially that if you move a wire in a magnetic field
as electric-start engines don’t usually have you’ll create electricity, and if you pass
decompression levers. Compared with any electricity through a wire you’ll create
other electrical equipment on board, the magnetism.
amount of power involved is huge: the Fig 18A shows how this might be
initial surge of current may be in the order applied to make electricity: a coil of wire,
of 1,000 amps. It quickly drops away to wound around a central core, is spinning
about 200 amps as the motor picks up in the magnetic field between two magnets.
speed, but it’s still asking a lot to expect As it rotates, the wires that make up the
any battery to start an engine more than coil move through the magnetic field, to
once or twice without recharging. generate an electric current.
This means that as well as the starter Fig 18B shows one way of getting the
motor itself and a switch to control it, even electricity out of the coil: the ends of the
the most basic electrical system is likely to wire are connected to brass slip rings, fixed
include a dynamo or alternator to recharge to the spinning shaft. Self-lubricating car-
the battery, and a regulator to stop the bon brushes press against the slip rings to
40
Electrical System
Basic electrical circuit
Alternator
Warning light
Earth Switch
Solenoid
Starter motor
Earth
+
Battery
Fig 17 Basic electrical circuit.

Tracing an engine’s wiring loom can be compli- solenoid current returns to the battery through
cated because some wires do two or more jobs, the starter’s earth connection.
and it is not possible to see exactly what is going The alternator creates current which flows
on inside some components. straight to the battery and is returned through the
Here, the battery supplies power to the starter engine block. A thinner wire links the alternator
solenoid, which – when activated – passes it on terminal labelled ‘IND’ to the warning light,
to the starter. The starter returns the current to the which is connected to the battery through the key
battery through the engine block itself, shown by switch. So long as the alternator is charging, no
the ‘earth’ symbol. current flows through this wire, but if the alterna-
The solenoid is activated by the key switch, tor fails, current flows from the battery, through
which draws power from the battery through a the switch and warning light, and returns to the
thinner wire and feeds it to the solenoid. The earth.
41
collect the electricity, and wires take it A

away to the rest of the system. Magnet
This is simple, but for practical purposes
it has a major problem: because the coil is
passing up through the magnetic field on
one side, then down through it on the
other, the current created in it is regularly
changing direction.
Batteries can’t handle alternating current Magnet
(AC): they need a one-way current (direct
current, or DC). One possible solution is
B
shown in Fig 18C. Instead of a pair of slip Magnet
rings there is only one, split in half along
its axis. Every time the current flow rever- Magnet
ses, the connection to the outside world
reverses as well, producing an intermittent
but one-way current.
Slip
rings
Dynamos Brushes
A real dynamo looks much more compli-
cated than the contraption shown in Fig 18, C
Magnet
but works in exactly the same way.
Instead of a single coil of wire, it has Magnet
several, each wound around its own soft
iron core. This, in turn, means that the
two-piece ‘slip ring’ of the rudimentary
Brushes
dynamo has to be replaced by a commuta-
tor made up of several segments – one pair
Single
for each coil. This produces a smoother slip ring
flow of current, because as the flow gener-
ated by one coil is reducing, the flow from D
another is increasing. Magnet
The other major refinement in a real Magnet
dynamo is that instead of using permanent
magnets to create the magnetic field, it
uses electromagnets. They consist of soft
iron cores bolted to the casing of the
dynamo, and wrapped in coils of copper
wire called the field windings. Passing an
electric current through the field windings
creates the magnetism.
The virtue of using electricity to make Fig 18
more electricity is that it allows the inten- A A simple generator
sity of the magnetic field to be varied. A B An AC generator
separate component called the regulator C A simple dynamo
monitors the output of the dynamo and D Electromagnets allow control of output
42
Electrical System
interrupts the power supplied to the field

windings if the output rises too high,
allowing the dynamo’s output to be con-
trolled without having to adjust its speed.
Alternators
Dynamos are something of a rarity nowa- 1
days, having been almost completely
replaced by a more efficient kind of gener- 2
ator called an alternator.
3
8
Power is generated by the alternator.
Mechanically, an alternator can be 7

regarded as a dynamo turned inside out,
with its field windings mounted on a spin-
ning rotor in the middle, surrounded by a
fixed ring called the stator which carries
the generating coils. 5
This arrangement leaves the coils sta-
tionary, but subjected to a spinning
magnetic field. Having stationary generat-
ing coils means that an alternator can’t use 4
a commutator arrangement to convert AC
into DC: instead, it uses a solid-state elec-
tronic rectifier and regulator, usually
built-in under a plastic cover at one end of
the alternator body. 1 Cover 5 Rotor assembly
As well as being more efficient than 2 Regulator 6 Bracket, slip ring end
dynamos, alternators are generally more 3 Rectifier 7 Stator
reliable and require little or no main- 4 Bracket, drive end 8 Brush box assembly
tenance. Their main weakness is that
their electronic components burn out
very quickly if they are kept running with Fig 19 ACR alternator.
43
nowhere for the electricity to go, so it is make a good motor or vice versa, so this
essential to make sure never to disconnect rather neat idea has now gone out of
an alternator while the engine is running – fashion.
by switching the battery isolator switch off,
for instance. If your installation allows you
to stop the engine by turning a key, make
Batteries
sure it really has stopped completely before We can’t create energy: we can only con-
switching the key to the ‘off’ position. vert it from one form into another. That is
what happens inside the engine itself:
chemical energy is released from the burn-
Starter motors ing fuel and converted into mechanical
Structurally, an electric motor is very much energy. The alternator then converts some
like the rudimentary dynamo in Fig 18: it of that mechanical energy into electrical
too has coils of wire mounted on a central energy. Electrical energy, however, can’t be
shaft called the armature, and magnets stored: to achieve that effect, the battery
bolted to the inside of the casing to create has to convert it back into chemical
a magnetic field. energy.
There are lots of ways of doing this,
including the lightweight nickel-cadmium
(NiCad) and nickel-metal hydride (NiMH)
batteries used for mobile phones and
hand-held radios. For the time being, how-
ever, these are too expensive to be used to
store large amounts of power, so boats
almost invariably use relatively cheap,
low-tech lead-acid batteries.
The working part of a fully charged lead-
acid battery is a stack of lead plates,
interleaved with layers of lead peroxide
and porous separators and surrounded by
The starter motor. sulphuric acid. The acid tries to convert
both sets of plates into lead sulphate while
The big difference is that a motor uses converting itself into water by rearranging
electricity instead of creating it! When a the electrical charges that hold the mole-
current is passed through the armature cules together. In the process, it creates an
coils, it creates a magnetic field which electric current between the positive perox-
interacts with the magnetic field set up by ide plates and the negative lead plates.
the field windings in such a way that the Eventually, the sulphuric acid becomes
armature is forced to rotate. so diluted that the reaction stops. The
battery is then described as ‘flat’. The beauty
of the lead-acid battery, however, is that
Dynastarts the whole process can be reversed by
A motor and a dynamo are so similar to pumping electricity through it in the oppo-
each other that at one time there was a site direction. This converts the lead
trend towards using a single component, sulphate back into lead and lead peroxide,
called a Dynastart, to do both jobs. while the left-over sulphate turns the water
Unfortunately a good dynamo doesn’t back into sulphuric acid.
44
Electrical System
Starter motor
20 9 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 2 18 6
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 10
19 20 2 22 21 23 24 25 2 26 27 28
a b c d e
Fig 20 The Lucas M50 starter.

Key 15 Engagement lever.
1 Nut and spring washer. 16 Gasket.
2 Sealing washers. 17 Eccentric pivot pin.
3 Commutator end cover. 18 Drive and fixing bracket.
4 Sealing ring. 19 Armature.
5 Brush gear assembly comprising earth brushes 20 Insulated brushes – field coils.
and springs. Marine version has insulated nega- 21 Yoke.
tive brushes. 22 Through bolts.
6 Bearing bush. 23 Field coils.
7 Fibre washer. 24 Sealing ring.
8 Steel thrust washer. 25 Intermediate ring.
9 Flexible link. 26 Drive assembly.
10 Brake shoe and cross peg. 27 Thrust collar.
11 Copper link. 28 Jump ring.
12 Solenoid unit. Inset for marine version (a) Nut, (b) Plain washer,
13 Return spring. (c) Insulated washer for outside cover,
14 Sealing grommet which is deleted on the (d) Insulated bush for inside cover.
marine version.
The system isn’t absolutely perfect, accumulated lead sulphate flakes away, to
though. For one thing, the conversion lie useless in the bottom of the casing.
process is never 100 per cent completed: Another problem is that passing elect-
repeated charging and discharging leaves ricity through water – or through a solution
some unconverted lead sulphate on the of sulphuric acid in water – causes a
plates, gradually reducing the battery’s process known as electrolysis, which
ability to ‘hold its charge’. Eventually, the breaks down the water into hydrogen and
45
oxygen. For safety reasons, this potentially because the current could – for all sorts of
explosive mixture of gases should be reasons – increase to levels far greater than
vented overboard, but it’s important to the designer envisaged. To make sure this
appreciate that by doing so you’re effec- doesn’t happen, any properly installed
tively discharging water from the battery, electrical system incorporates some kind of
which will have to be topped up with excess current protection – either a fuse or
distilled or de-ionised water from time a circuit breaker.
to time. A fuse is a short piece of thin wire built
The demands of starting an engine are into the system as a weak link that will
very different from those imposed by heat up and break before the rest of the
‘ship’s services’ such as lighting and navi- system suffers. The commonest type is
gation equipment: the starter motor similar to the fuse in a domestic plug,
demands a lot of current for a few seconds consisting of a short length of wire inside a
at a time, while domestic and navigation glass tube. An increasingly common alter-
equipment draws a relatively tiny current native is a small plastic peg with a strip of
for hours at a stretch. Ideally, these con- thin metal on the outside acting as the
trasting requirements call for two different fuse. Both of these types have to be
types of battery: a heavy duty battery for replaced as a complete unit when they
engine starting, and a deep cycle or ‘blow’. The much rarer alternative consists
traction battery for domestic loads. of a piece of replaceable wire mounted in a
Structurally, the two types differ mainly in porcelain carrier, similar to that in an old-
the number and thickness of their plates: a fashioned domestic fuse box.
heavy duty battery has a large number of Circuit breakers are taking over from
relatively thin plates, in order to expose as fuses because although they’re more
much surface area to the acid as possible, expensive, you don’t have to carry spares.
while a deep cycle battery has a smaller Essentially, a circuit breaker is an automat-
number of thicker plates in order to with- ic switch, which uses either the solenoid
stand the long term effects of sulphation principle or the heating effect to switch
caused by being repeatedly discharged itself off if the current flowing through it
almost to the stage of being ‘flat’. ‘Marine’ becomes dangerously high.
batteries are a half-way house, intended Fuses and circuit breakers occasionally
mainly for small boats on which one bat- ‘blow’ for no apparent reason. Although
tery may have to do both jobs. this is a nuisance, it’s essential not to give
in to the temptation to replace a fuse with
a bigger one, or to stop the breaker trip-
Fuses and circuit breakers ping with string or sticky tape! Find out
Whenever an electric current passes why it’s blowing, and cure the cause,
through a wire it creates heat – and the rather than disabling your protection just
heavier the current or the thinner the wire, when it’s doing its job!
the hotter it is likely to get. Taken to
extremes, this could melt the insulation
around the wire, or even start a fire. To
Solenoids
stop this happening, designers should A solenoid is an electrically operated
specify cables that are big enough to switch consisting of a coil of wire around a
allow heat to radiate away from the wire metal plunger. When electricity flows
naturally. through the coil it becomes a magnet, and
There is still an element of risk, though, pulls the metal plunger into itself. This
46
Electrical System
pulling action has all sorts of purposes on slowly than the shaft on which it is moun-
an engine: it can, for instance, be used to ted. As a result, the spiral groove in the
shut off the fuel supply, allowing the shaft screws its way through the pinion,
engine to be stopped from the dashboard, forcing it away from the starter body to
or to operate the heavy duty switch that engage with a circle of matching teeth
allows current to flow between the battery (called the ring gear) on the engine’s fly-
and starter motor. wheel. As soon as the engine starts, the
On most small petrol engines, that is all ring gear drives the pinion faster than the
the starter solenoid does – it just allows motor is turning, so the opposite happens:
current to flow to the motor. The physical the pinion screws its way back down the
connection between the motor and the starter shaft to disengage itself from the
engine is achieved by an arrangement ring gear.
known as a bendix, made up of a cog Diesels generally have a more rugged
(called a pinion) that can slide along a set-up called a pre-engaged starter. Here,
spiral groove machined into the motor’s solenoid does two jobs. The first part of its
shaft. While the motor is stopped, a spring travel is used to push the starter pinion
holds the pinion down towards the starter into engagement with the ring gear: only
body by a spring. As the starter starts to when the pinion is engaged can the
turn, the pinion takes time to catch up so plunger complete its movement to allow
for a fraction of a second it is turning more current to flow to the motor.
47
Safety may be used to drive the water pump, so if it is

so loose that it slips, the engine will overheat. If it
The low voltages used in boats’ electrical systems is too tight, it will put a sideways load on the
are safer than high-voltage mains electricity, but alternator and water pump bearings, causing
can still create heat or sparks that could start a increased wear and making the belt itself more
fire. Use the isolator switch to disconnect the bat- likely to break.
tery before working on or near the starter or
alternator, and before physically disconnecting a Once a season or after every 100 hours’ run-
the battery terminals. ning, inspect the belt for cuts, fraying or oil, and
Never allow metal objects such as tools, jew- check the tension by pressing firmly on the mid-
ellery or watch straps to touch both terminals of dle of the longest section of the belt: it should
a battery simultaneously. Ideally, keep the termi- deflect by approximately half an inch.
nals covered when working near a battery, and b Adjust the belt if necessary by loosening the
keep one terminal covered while you are work- bolts that hold the alternator on to the engine,
ing on the other. without removing them altogether. Then slacken the
Batteries give off explosive gases while being bolt holding the supporting bracket to the engine,
charged, so the battery compartment should be followed by the one holding the support on to the
well ventilated, with the vent high up (to cope alternator. Use a short piece of wood such as the
with gases that are lighter than air). Don’t smoke handle of a hammer to lever the alternator away
near a battery, and avoid creating sparks. from the engine until the belt is tight enough, then
Battery acid is highly corrosive. Use goggles tighten all four bolts in the reverse order.
and gloves, especially when cleaning battery ter-
minals, and avoid spills. If you get splashed use c To replace a worn, greasy or broken belt,
plenty of water to wash it off immediately. slacken all the alternator bolts, and swing the
alternator so that it is as close to the engine as
possible. Use a degreaser such as Gunk or Jizer
1 Checking or replacing drive
to clean the pulleys and remove any rust by rub-
belts bing with wet-or-dry abrasive or wire wool.
The alternator or dynamo is usually driven by a d Fit the new belt over the crankshaft pulley,
vee-belt from the crankshaft pulley. The same belt water pump and idler wheel (if there is one),
1a 1b 1d
48
Electrical System
then up to the alternator. Guide it into place as

best you can, then use a spanner on the crank-
shaft pulley to turn the engine while easing the
belt into its groove in the alternator pulley. Adjust
the belt tension, and check it again after a few
hours’ running.
2 Looking after your battery

All electrical connections need to be clean and
tight, but one of the commonest causes of starting 2a
problems is corrosion around the battery terminals.
a Slacken the clamp that secures the cables to the
battery, and twist it to remove it from the terminal
post. Flush off any white or cream-coloured ‘fur’ –
acidic crystals of electrolyte – with plenty of very
hot water before cleaning the terminals and posts
with a wire brush or emery cloth.
b Lightly smear the terminal posts with petroleum
jelly, and wipe off any excess before replacing
the terminal and tightening the clamp. Finally,
smear the whole terminal with petroleum jelly to
keep out moisture. 2b
c Over time, electrolysis and evaporation remove
water from the battery, which has to be replaced
by pouring distilled water into each cell of the
battery until it just covers the top edges of the
plates. Some modern batteries have specially
designed fillers intended to minimise the loss of
electrolyte. Instructions for these are usually given
on the battery casing.
d If a battery is to be stored or left unused for
more than a month or when there is any risk of
freezing, it should be left disconnected and fully
charged: a voltmeter connected between the + 2c
and – terminals should read no less than about
2.1 volts per cell, so a 6-cell, 12-volt battery
should show at least 12.5 volts.
49
General maintenance and fault- Having the right kind of wire helps enormously:
finding ‘flex’ made up of lots of thin strands is much less
liable to break than ‘cable’ made up of one thick
The majority of electrical problems are caused one, but matters can be improved still further by
by poor connections or defective wiring, so fault- making sure the wires are well supported, and
finding is made very much easier if you have a that where a wire emerges from a connector it is
wiring diagram, and if the wires are either cushioned, stiffened and protected by a blob of
colour-coded or labelled. silicon rubber sealant.
A lot of preventative maintenance, however, Don’t be tempted to use electrical measuring
involves no more than inspecting the visible equipment on an engine’s electrics unless you
wires and connections to make sure that connec- know exactly what you are doing: some instru-
tions are clean and tight and that the wires show ments (especially ohmmeters and ‘meggers’)
no sign of fraying, breaking or corrosion. Look produce sufficient electricity themselves to
particularly carefully wherever the wires are free damage modern engine electrics if you apply
to move, or where they bend around a hard the voltage in the wrong direction or mistakenly
object such as the edge of a hole or duct. short circuit the wrong terminals.
50
8 Gearboxes
The overwhelming majority of engine- – only a half or a quarter of the speed of
driven craft use propellers to convert the the engine. Running the engine more slow-
power of the engine to useful work. There ly isn’t the answer, because you’d just lose
are plenty of alternatives which may have most of the power you’ve paid for by buy-
advantages for specific applications, but ing it in the first place. What you need is
propeller systems are good all-rounders something that will reduce the shaft speed
that are reasonably cheap, simple, reliable, but increase its torque (turning effort).
efficient and easy to use. It’s also very useful to be able to reverse
They suffer, however, from one poten- the direction of rotation, to provide astern
tially significant drawback, which is that a power to stop the boat or make it go back-
large slow-turning propeller is generally wards, or to fit counter-rotating propellers
more efficient than a small, fast-spinning on a twin-screw boat. Again, there are
one. Even on small pleasure craft, where alternatives such as variable-pitch pro-
the maximum size of propeller is often pellers whose blades swivel on the hub,
limited by hull shape, the optimum shaft scoop-like deflectors, or even engines that
speed is usually in the order of 1,000 rpm can be stopped and restarted in the oppo-
site direction, but by far the most popular
arrangement is a reversing gearbox.
Basic principles
The diagram (Fig 21) shows two gear-
wheels, whose teeth mesh together so that
as one turns, the other has to turn as well.
The smaller gear has 9 teeth, so if it is
turning at 1,000 rpm, its teeth are moving
at 9,000 teeth per minute. The larger wheel
is twice the size, and has 18 teeth, so
although its teeth must also be moving at
9,000 teeth per minute, that means only
500 rpm. Notice, too, that if the smaller
wheel is turning clockwise, the larger
wheel must be turning anticlockwise.
Now imagine that you’re using a spanner
a foot long to turn the smaller wheel. If
you apply an effort of 10 lb to the end of
the spanner, you’re applying a torque of
Fig 21 The principle of gears. 10 lb/ft (10 lb at a radius of 1 ft). The gear-
51
wheel is much smaller – let’s say it has The bevel gear on the input shaft turns
an effective radius of 1 in. That means its two slightly larger bevel gears that spin
teeth must be pushing on the teeth of the freely on the vertical shaft. One is driven
other wheel with a force equivalent to by the top of the input gear and the other
120 lb (120 lb at a radius of 1/12 ft = 120 by the bottom of it, so they rotate in oppo-
x 1/12 = 10 lb/ft). The larger wheel has an site directions, but they are the same size
effective radius of 2 in, so a force of 120 lb as each other so they turn at the same
to its teeth corresponds to a torque of speed.
20 lb/ft (120 x 2/12 = 20 lb/ft). Between the two gears is a sliding clutch
In other words, by using a 9-tooth wheel assembly, shaped like two shallow cones
to drive an 18-tooth wheel, we’ve: mounted base-to-base on the shaft. Ridges
called splines on the shaft and matching
• halved the speed grooves in the clutch ensure that it can
• reversed the
doubled torque, and easily slide up and down, but can’t turn
• the direction of rotation.
without turning the shaft as well. Moving
the gear lever slides the clutch up or down
so that one of the cones engages into a
A simple gearbox matching hollow in one of the spinning
Real gearboxes look more complicated, but gears, which locks that gear on to the
depend on exactly this principle. In fact, shaft.
the main difference between the simple At the bottom of the shaft, a relatively
gear train in Fig 21 and the Volvo MS2 small bevel gear engages with a much
shown in Fig 22 is that the MS2 uses cone- larger gear on the output shaft, to give a
shaped bevel gears, so that although the horizontal output, at a much lower speed
input shaft is horizontal, the central driven of rotation.
shaft is vertical.
The motive for this is that it provides a
simple way of achieving a choice of ahead
Layshaft gearboxes
or astern gear. Although the MS2 and its derivatives are
common on Volvo engines up to about 200
hp, it’s somewhat unusual in using a verti-
cal shaft. A more widespread arrangement
Input
shaft is the layshaft gearbox, like that shown in
Clutch Fig 23.
In this case, a small gear on the input
shaft turns a larger gear on the layshaft.
Like the gears on the vertical shaft of the
MS2, this is free to spin around the
layshaft, but can be locked on to it by a
clutch. If the input shaft is turning clock-
wise and the clutch is engaged, the layshaft
turns anticlockwise and more slowly. At
the other end of the layshaft a smaller gear
Output shaft
meshes with a large gear on the output
shaft, driving the output shaft clockwise
and even more slowly.
Fig 22 Volvo MS2 gear train. Astern gear is achieved by a second
52
Gearboxes
turn. In effect, this means that the input

shaft, ring gear, planet holder and output
shaft are all locked together so the whole
assembly turns as though it were one
piece.
For astern gear, the ring gear is locked to
the casing, and the planet gears are left
free to rotate. If the input shaft turns
clockwise, this means that the inner plan-
MG-5061
ets have to turn anticlockwise, driving the
Power Train outer planets clockwise. In order to do
this, they have to run anticlockwise around
the inside of the ring gear, taking the
Fig 23 Layshaft gearbox. planet holder – and, of course, the output
shaft – around with them.
layshaft. It’s very similar to the first, with One major snag with this is that
two gearwheels, one of which has a clutch although it provides an ahead/astern
that can leave it free-spinning or lock it on facility, it can’t offer the reduction in shaft
to the shaft, while the other is constantly speed that is one of the main reasons for
in mesh with the output shaft. The key fea- wanting a gearbox in the first place. To do
ture about the second layshaft is that it is that requires a second gearbox in tandem
not driven directly by the input shaft, but with the first - adding to the cost, weight,
by the first layshaft. This means that it’s bulk and complexity of the whole unit. The
turning in the opposite direction – so if second gearbox is usually another epicyclic
one clutch is released and the other unit, but with the important difference that
engaged, the direction of the output shaft there are no clutches involved, and the
will be reversed. output shaft is connected to the ring gear
instead of to the planet holder.
Epicyclic gearboxes
Planet
The third alternative – renowned for its Ring gears
smooth operation, but now becoming less gear
popular – is known as the epicyclic gear-
box (Fig 24).
The central gearwheel – known as the
sun gear – is mounted on the input shaft,
driven by the engine. Around it are several
smaller planet gears mounted in a rigid
cage called the planet holder, while the
whole assembly is surrounded by a cylin-
drical ring gear that looks rather like the
Sun wheel
hub of a trailer wheel but with teeth
machined into its inner surface. The output Planet
shaft is coupled directly to the planet holder
holder.
For ahead operation, a clutch is used to
lock the planet gears so that they can’t Fig 24 Epicyclic gearbox.
53
In this case, the spinning input shaft

coming from the reversing gearbox drives
the sun wheel, which makes the planet
wheels turn, and they, in turn, drive the
ring gear.
Clutches
An important characteristic of all marine
gearboxes is that the gears of both drive
trains – ahead and astern – are in mesh all
the time, and that selection of ahead,
astern and neutral is achieved by using
clutches to disconnect whichever drive
train is not in use.
There are two main types of clutches:
the cone clutch used in the MS2, and the
plate clutch used in most of the others.
The plate clutch consists of a stack of
flat friction plates. Some of the plates have
internal splines which mesh with matching
splines on the shaft, so they have to turn
with it. Sandwiched between them are
similar plates which are free to spin
around the input shaft but have external
splines that mesh with splines on the inner
surface of the clutch casing – connected to
the output shaft. So long as the stack is Fig 25 Plate clutch.
loose, the two shafts are free to rotate
independently of each other. Compressing but bigger engines need more pressure to
the stack forces the plates into contact be applied. This calls for hydraulics, in
with each other so that they grip and force which a pump built into the gearbox cre-
the two shafts to turn together. ates hydraulic pressure to force the plates
For relatively small engines – up to together. All the gear lever has to do is
about 100 hp – a hand-operated lever may operate a valve, diverting the hydraulic
be enough to operate either sort of clutch, pressure to whichever clutch requires it.
54
Gearboxes
The additives that make modern oils better for

your gearbox make them worse for you. Take
care to avoid unnecessary or prolonged contact
with gearbox oil – new or used.
Only a few teeth of each gearwheel are in
mesh with each other at once, and yet the very
small surfaces in contact have to transmit the
entire power of the engine. When you think
about a gearbox in this way, it becomes obvious
that the loads involved are very large indeed,
and that good lubrication is essential.
Leaks aren’t always obvious, especially if they
occur between the engine and gearbox, but an
external visual inspection will often reveal minor
gearbox faults before they develop into major
problems. Look out for loose mounting bolts or
control cables, as well as for oil leaks around the
shaft, hoses and oil cooler.
a If the gearbox shares the engine’s oil, regular
oil changes are essential: the acidic by-products
of combustion in old engine oil will cause corro-
sion and rapid wear in the gearbox.
b If the gearbox uses its own oil, the level should
be checked regularly – ideally every day the
engine is used. Some types need the engine to
c
be run before the oil level is checked: consult the
manufacturer’s handbook for this, and to find out
whether the dipstick has to be screwed in to
ufacturer’s handbook to find out whether your
show the correct level. Gearboxes don’t ‘use’ oil
gearbox uses monograde engine oil, gear oil or
as an engine does, so if the oil level falls it is
automatic transmission fluid, and make sure you
almost certainly due to leakage.
keep the right stuff on board.
c Having dipped the oil, top up if necessary, Gearbox dipsticks are often rather awkward to
usually through the dipstick hole or through a get at, but it’s important to make sure that you
separate filler cap. put it back exactly the way it came out, or it may
come into contact with one of the spinning gears.
Different types of gearbox need different types of Ensure that it is pushed fully home or screwed
oil AND THEY DON’T MIX! Check with the man- right in.
55
Propeller and Stern
9 Glands
When you’re concentrating on the engine to the boat, engine and gearbox.
itself, it’s easy to forget that the object of The science of propellers is remarkably
the whole thing is to turn the propeller. complicated, but you can think of a pro-
Whilst it’s true that there is little that can peller in any of three ways:
go wrong with a propeller, apart from
physical damage such as bent, chipped or • asas aa pump,
screw
broken blades, it’s worth being sure that • as a foil or
you’ve got the right one for the job; a •
propeller needs to be carefully matched None of them tells the whole story, but
DIAMETER is the diameter of the

circle traced out by the blade tips
SLIP is the difference

between pitch and advance ADVANCE is the distance
the propeller really moves in
one revolution through water
PITCH is the distance the propeller would move in

one revolution if it were screwing through a solid
Fig 26 Propeller pitch, advance, slip and diameter.
56
Propeller and Stern Glands
between them they provide a working doesn’t work in a solid medium, but it
knowledge of a subject which could easily explains some of the terminology.
fill several books, each much bigger than Pitch is the distance the propeller would
this one. move in one revolution if it were screwing
its way through a solid. In practice it does
not move quite that far: the distance it
The propeller as a screw really moves is called the advance. The
One theory regards the propeller as a difference between pitch and advance is
screw, winding its way through the water called slip.
like a bolt winding its way into a nut. It’s The picture is complicated by the fact
not a very good theory, because a propeller that the advance isn’t quite the same as the
distance the boat moves: for one thing the
Fig 27 Water flow over the propeller. boat tends to drag some water along with
it, and for another, the water directly
affected by the propeller tends to move
astern compared with the water nearby.
This makes it very difficult to measure the
true slip. It’s very much easier to find the
apparent slip, which is the difference
between the boat’s movement and the
pitch. For high-performance motorboats,
the apparent slip may be as little as 10 per
cent of the pitch, but for a heavy motor-
sailer or workboat it
can be as much as 50
per cent.
Flow created by
boat’s movement
through the water The propeller
as a pump
Another theory treats
the propeller as a
pump, squirting water
backwards. Newton’s
third law of motion
Re the
by
su pr
says that for every

rotation of the propeller
lta op
nt el
action there is an
flo ler
equal but opposite

w bl
Flow created by
ex ad
reaction, so if the
pe e
rie
propeller pushes a
nc
ed
lump of water back-

wards, the water also
pushes the propeller
(together with the
boat to which it is
attached) forwards.
57
The amount of water the propeller can felt if the boat were stationary, and the
push in a given time depends mainly on ‘induced wind’ caused by its own move-
the power available: a 100 hp engine, for ment through the air. In the case of a
instance, can move about 50 cubic ft per propeller blade, the equivalent of the true
second. You can think of that 50 ft3 of wind is created by the rotation of the pro-
water as being in the shape of a cylinder, peller, while its ‘induced wind’ is caused by
whose diameter is roughly the same as that its movement through the water.
of the propeller, and whose length is That is why a propeller blade needs to
roughly the distance the prop has moved be twisted: ‘induced wind’ is much the
through the water in the time. For a slow same all over the propeller, but the ‘true
motor cruiser, moving at 10 ft/sec, that wind’ varies dramatically, because the tip
means the cylinder must have a cross-sec- of each blade sweeps around a much big-
tion of 5 ft2, or a diameter of about 30 in. ger circle than the sections of the blade
For a sportsboat doing 50 ft/sec with the that are nearer the shaft.
same engine, the cylinder’s cross-section It also suggests that the pitch of the pro-
must be reduced to 1 ft2, or about 13 in. peller needs to be carefully matched to the
This suggests – correctly – that the speed at which the water is moving
diameter of a propeller should vary through the propeller: a fast boat generally
depending on the power transmitted needs much more pitch than a slow one, in
(because that determines the volume of order to cope with the much greater
water it can move in one second) and the ‘induced wind’.
speed at which the boat is moving
(because that determines the length of
the cylinder).
Choosing a propeller
What all this boils down to is that the
choice of propeller depends on a mass of
The propeller as a foil interrelated variables that include:
A more recent, realistic and complicated
theory regards each blade of the propeller • the power available
as a foil, like a boat’s sail or an aircraft’s • the speed of the propeller through the
the shaft speed, and
wing. • water
Like a sail, the blade has to be at a slight
angle to the fluid flowing over it if it is to There are so many variables (even the tem-
generate any useful force. Unfortunately, perature and salinity of the water have a
increasing this angle of attack doesn’t just part to play) that trying to work out the
increase the useful thrust: it also increases pitch and diameter of the ideal propeller
the drag – which is one of the reasons why for a particular boat from pure theory is
over-sheeting a sail makes it less efficient. almost impossible: it is invariably better to
For a sail, the optimum angle between leave it to a specialist such as a propeller
the sail and the air flow is about 20–25°, manufacturer who will have access to a
but for a propeller blade in water it is mass of experience and information, and
much smaller – about 4°. can probably come up with the right
The analogy with sailing goes on if you answer simply by tapping a few vital
think about how the flow across the pro- statistics into a computer. It’s important
peller blade is created. The ‘apparent wind’ to do so, because the wrong propeller can
flowing across a sail is made up of two easily make a big difference to the boat’s
components: the ‘true wind’ that would be performance.
58
performance
400
300
Cruisers
Sailing
40
yachts
200 600
High
30 800
100 Slip (%)
80 1000
60 50 40 30 20 10
20
40
30
20 2000
10 50 50
10 40
3000 40
Pitch (inches)
Speed (knots)
6 30 30
6 4000 20 20
Propeller 5000
Power
(hp) diameter Shaft 10
(inches) 10
speed
(rpm) 6 6
500 1000 2000 4000

3000 5000
Fig 28a Propeller selection diagram. Lay a Shaft speed (rpm)
straight edge across the two known variables
to find the unknown.
Example: For 50 hp delivered through a
shaft turning at 2,800 rpm, the optimum Fig 28b Propeller pitch diagram. Estimate a
diameter is approximately 12 inches. likely value for slip. From that figure on the
top scale, drop vertically to meet the diago-
nal corresponding to your estimated speed.
From that intersection, draw a horizontal
If you want to do a quick check, howev- line to meet the vertical drawn upwards from
er, the diagram and formula (Fig 28 a and the shaft speed on the bottom scale. Where
b) provide a reasonably accurate estimate these two meet gives the optimum pitch.
of the appropriate diameter and pitch. Example: For a boat expected to achieve
15 knots with a 50 hp engine, and a shaft
speed of 2,800 rpm, the optimum pitch is
Cavitation and ventilation approximately 10 inches.
Although the words ‘cavitation’ and ‘venti-
lation’ are often used interchangeably, they
are really two quite different things. What
they have in common is that they can rob and suffers very little drag, so the engine
a propeller of almost all its grip on the speed increases while the boat slows down.
water. Cavitation is caused by the propeller itself.
Ventilation is most common on sports As it rotates, it creates thrust by increasing
boats and on sailing boats with outboard the pressure on the aft faces of its blades
motors mounted high on their transoms, and simultaneously reducing the pressure
because it is caused by air being sucked on their forward faces. As the pressure
into the propeller. A propeller designed to falls, the boiling point of water reduces,
operate in water obviously can’t work very eventually reaching the stage at which it
well in air: it generates very little thrust will boil, even at sea temperature. When
59
this happens, bubbles of water vapour form filled with rings of grease-soaked packing.
on the forward face of the propeller. The A sleeve around the shaft holds the pack-
immediate effect of severe cavitation is ing in place, and can be tightened down to
very much like ventilation: the engine compress the packing so that it forms an
races but the propeller ceases to generate almost watertight seal. A common refine-
much thrust. The long-term effect of even ment – essential for engines mounted on
minor cavitation is an erosion of the pro- modern ‘soft mounts’ – is a short length of
peller blades known as ‘cavitation burn’, flexible tube between the stern tube and
caused by the collapsing bubbles. the stuffing box, to allow the stuffing box
Cavitation can be caused by using the to move with the shaft as it vibrates.
wrong propeller for the boat, such as one Another is a reservoir of grease, so that
with too much pitch or not enough blade the packing can be re-greased without hav-
area, but can also be caused by damage to ing to dismantle the whole thing.
the propeller such as nicks in the leading Obviously this only works if you use it, so
edge of the blade. it makes sense to get into the habit of
tightening the greaser every time the
engine is used.
Stern glands Even with a good supply of fresh grease,
It may be stating the obvious to say that a an inevitable problem with a traditional
propeller works best in water, and that an stuffing box is that if the stuffing is com-
engine (generally) works in the air inside pressed tightly enough to make a perfect
the boat, but it’s an important point seal, there would be so much friction that
because it means that somehow the shaft the packing would get hot – drying out the
that turns the propeller has to pass out grease and wearing away both the packing
through a hole in the hull without letting and the shaft. For this reason, a stuffing
water in. The component responsible is a box should never be tightened down so
stern gland. much that it is completely dry: a slight leak
Engineers have faced this problem for helps cool and lubricate it without impos-
centuries, and one can imagine the joy of ing too much strain on the bilge pump.
some Egyptian farmer when he discovered This is so important that on planing boats,
that his slave-powered irrigation pump where the movement of the boat itself
worked better if he stuffed reeds around might suck water away from the stern
the handle to stop it leaking, or the relief gland, water is often pumped into the
felt by a Viking longship’s crew when they stuffing box by the cooling system.
found they got less wet if they used rags to
fill the gaps between their oars and the
row of shields.
Other shaft seals
Those simple discoveries were the direct This perceived ‘problem’ of essential leak-
ancestors of what is still the commonest age – and the rather fiddly job of
kind of stern gland – the ‘stuffing box’. re-packing – has led to the development of
several more modern alternatives.
Some use a synthetic rubber diaphragm
Stuffing boxes clamped to the shaft or stern tube to hold
A stuffing box is basically an extension of a ceramic or carbon sealing ring in firm
the boat’s stern tube – the tube that carries contact against a phosphor bronze or
the propeller shaft out through the hull – stainless steel seat. The virtue of this is that
enlarged to form an outer casing that is there’s nothing rubbing against the shaft,
60
from remote greaser

flexible tube stuffing box
stern tube compression sleeve
shaft
gland packing
stern tube one-piece synthetic

rubber sleeve
shaft incorporating several
lip seals
from oil reservoir
stern tube
polished stainless
sleeve
shaft
flexible bellows
lip seals
stern tube water injection
flexible bellows
shaft
seat sealing ring
Fig 29 Stern glands.
and no need to mess about with grease: two parts sticking together if the boat is
the only maintenance required is occasion- left idle for any length of time.
ally to pull the diaphragm away from the Another consists of a hollow rubber
seat, to flush out any debris and stop the cone with a row of lip seals – similar to
61
Propellers c Tighten the propeller nut just sufficiently to grip

the propeller, then insert the split pin (if there was
It is a good idea to remove the propeller from one). Bend up one tab of the tab washer to hold
time to time, to stop it seizing solid on the shaft. the nut in place, or open the legs of the split pin
This is particularly important in the case of out- and bend them round the nut.
board and outdrive propellers, which usually
have either shear pins or flexible hubs that are Stern glands
designed to protect the engine and transmission
by slipping or breaking if the propeller hits 1 Greasing a stern gland
something. Unfortunately, after a period of time, If your stern gland is fitted with a greaser, routine
these protective devices break of their own greasing involves either turning the handle or
accord, so it’s important to make sure that the tightening the cap by one turn after every few
propeller can be taken off and replaced at sea. hours’ running: once every four hours is about
right. Eventually, this will use up all the grease,
Removing a propeller which will have to be replaced. Don’t use
a Straighten out the legs of the split pin and graphite grease: its carbon content causes
remove it, or flatten the lugs of the tab washer extremely rapid corrosion in the presence of salt
that holds the propeller nut in place. water.
b Use a block of wood to stop the propeller a Remove the top cap of the greaser. If yours is
turning, and undo the propeller nut. the type that uses a handle like that of a garden
tap to operate a plunger, ‘unscrew’ the handle to
c It should be possible to pull an outboard or return the plunger to its starting position.
sterndrive’s propeller off the shaft by hand. Make
a note of the order that any springs or washers b Invert the grease can, so that the hole in the
come off, and which way round they go. plastic disc is over the greaser.
d The best way to remove a stubborn propeller c Press the whole can downwards, so that the
is with a puller. Once the puller has been tight- plastic disc slides into the can and forces grease
ened, a few light taps with a hammer on the out. You may have to stop a few times, especially
puller should make the propeller slide off. when the greaser is nearly full, to allow trapped
air to escape.
e As a last resort, try warming the propeller boss
with a blow lamp. d Replace the cap of the greaser.
Repairing a propeller 2 Adjusting a stern gland

a With the engine stopped and out of gear, turn
If necessary, use a file to smooth any burrs or nicks
the shaft by hand to get a feel for how stiff it is.
from the edges of the propeller, but be careful not
to remove so much metal that there is a risk of the b Slacken off any lock-nuts holding the two parts
propeller becoming unbalanced. If it is badly dam- of the stern gland together. Tighten the clamping
aged, refer it to a propeller repair workshop. bolts that hold the two parts of the stern gland
together, or screw the sleeve into the outer casing.
Replacing a propeller Don’t tighten them by more than half a turn at a
time, and – if yours is the type that has two or
a Before replacing the propeller, grease the shaft
three bolts – make sure that you tighten them
with a non-graphite grease.
evenly.
b Slide the propeller back on, making sure that
c Turn the shaft by hand and check for drips: it
any keys, shear pins, springs or washers are
should turn freely and leak between one and six
replaced exactly as they were removed, but use
drips per minute. If it is leaking too quickly, tighten
a new tab washer (if there was one) to hold the
the clamping bolts further.
propeller nut in place.
62
those that prevent oil escaping from the

engine itself – moulded into its inner sur-
face. These need greasing once a season or
every 200 hours, and have to be ‘vented’ to
ensure that they are full of water each time
the boat is launched.
A third variety keeps water out by sur-
rounding the shaft by a tube filled with oil.
Lip seals keep the oil inside the tube, by
sealing against a polished stainless steel
sleeve fitted to the shaft.
2a
Outdrives and saildrives

Outdrives and saildrives circumvent the
need for a stern gland altogether by – in
effect – extending the gearbox right into
the water in the form of a drive leg. Of
course, this doesn’t make the problem go
away altogether: it just changes it a bit,
because instead of having to seal the gap
around a small rotating shaft, there’s a
2b
much bigger hole to plug between the hull
and the drive leg. Outdrives achieve this by
using flexible rubber bellows between the
transom and the leg, while saildrives use a
rubber diaphragm to seal the joint between
the drive unit and the bottom of the boat.
Servicing recommendations vary depend-
ing on the manufacturer and model, but
the importance of following them to the
letter is obvious.
2c
63
3 Repacking a stern gland
If the stern gland cannot be tightened enough to
reduce the leakage to an acceptable level without
making the shaft unduly stiff to turn, then the
packing needs to be replaced. THIS CAN ONLY
BE DONE WITH THE BOAT OUT OF THE WATER.
(Photos 3 a-b show the stern gland viewed from
above.)
a Remove the lock-nuts and nuts that hold the
3a
two parts together, or unscrew the two parts
completely. If necessary, use two large screw-
drivers or pinch-bars to prise the two parts
apart.
b Remove the old packing. This will probably
involve fashioning some home-made ‘tools’, such
as a small screwdriver filed to a point, or bent
coat-hanger wire.
c Use a degreasing agent (such as ‘Jizer’ or
‘Gunk’) to clean the shaft and stern gland.
d Check that the new packing is the right size: it
should just fit the gap between the shaft and the 3b
outer casing of the stern gland.
e Wrap the packing around the shaft, making
sure that it sits squarely on the shaft, and then
use a sharp craft knife to cut through the packing
along the line of the shaft so as to produce sever-
al short lengths of packing, each just long
enough to fit round the shaft. Use the stern
gland’s end cover to push each ring of packing
down into the stern gland case, making sure that
each one sits squarely on the shaft and that its
cut ends are not lined up with the cut ends of the
one before. 3c
f Reassemble the end cover and clamping bolts,
but leave them finger tight. Turn the shaft several
times by hand to help bed the packing rings
together.
g As soon as the boat is re-launched, adjust the
stern gland to the required slow drip.
3d
64
3e
3g
3h
65
10
1 Control Systems
A few small open workboats still have ‘standard’ arrangement: push-pull cables
engine and gearbox controls that can be are by far the commonest, but even these
operated directly by the helmsman, but are available in several different forms and
that simple system is becoming increas- face competition from hydraulic systems –
ingly rare on pleasure craft, where it is in which the remote control lever operates
very much more common to find some a pump connected by pipes to a hydraulic
kind of remote control system. ram that operates the engine controls –
As is often the case on boats, there is no and electronic systems that use wires to
carry control signals from the wheelhouse
to the engine room.
Cable systems
The cables that are used in most systems
are rather like those used to work the
brakes on a bicycle, with a central control
cable inside a tubular outer casing. The
casing is fixed at both ends, so that when
you pull one end of the inner cable, the
other end retracts.
Boats’ control cables are usually very
much bigger and more robust than those
on a push-bike, but the main difference is
that instead of using very flexible multi-
strand wire for the inner cable, marine
systems use a single strand of stiff wire that
enables them to push as well as pull.
Inner
cable
Control heads
It’s easy to see how cables can be used in a
Tubular
outer casing twin-lever system, where one lever controls
the engine and another operates the gear-
box. Pushing the top of the ‘throttle’ lever
Gear cable Throttle cable forwards, for instance, pulls on the cable,
which in turn pulls the lever on the
engine’s fuel pump.
Fig 30 Single lever control. Single-lever systems, in which engine
66
Control Systems
and gearbox are controlled by the same pulling or pushing on the other end of the
lever, are generally more popular – but are gear cable would have no effect whatsoev-
more complicated because they have to er. In a boat with only one control station,
achieve a positive gear shift between this is not a problem, but on boats such as
ahead, neutral and astern, but also offer motorsailers or flybridge motor cruisers,
progressive control of the engine speed. where the engine may have to be con-
This is achieved by connecting the trolled from two different places, it would
‘throttle’ cable directly to the control lever, make the whole system jam up if it were
while the gear cable is connected to a hori- not for a component called a Dual Station
zontal seesaw arrangement. A peg sticking (or DS) unit that isolates one control head
out of the throttle lever engages in a notch when the other is in use.
in the top edge of the seesaw, so that the A DS unit is based on a sheet metal
first few degrees of movement of the con- frame with two curved slots cut into it.
trol lever is enough to rock the seesaw so Bridging the gap between the two slots is a
that it pulls or pushes on the gear cable. metal bar connected to the incoming
The geometry of the arrangement is such cables from the two helm positions and the
that this first movement of the control outgoing cable to the engine. The bar is
lever has virtually no effect on the throttle held in place on the base plate by two
cable. Once the seesaw has been rocked metal pegs which pass through the slots.
far enough to engage gear, however, the The clever bit about this arrangement is
peg is clear of the slot, and the lever can that the pegs are slightly further apart than
move further, pulling on the throttle cable the slots: the only reason the pegs can fit
without having any more effect on the gear into both slots at once is that each slot has
control linkage. a semicircular cut-out. When one peg is
nestling in its cut-out, the other peg is free
to slide along the slot and vice versa.
Dual Station controls If, on a motorsailer, you move the saloon
One snag with this system is that it can control lever while the cockpit control is in
only be worked with the control lever: neutral, the cockpit cable’s peg drops into
Cable from
Flybridge
Cable to engine
Cable from
Wheelhouse
Fig 31 Dual station control.
67
its cut-out, allowing the saloon cable to ting in through splits in the outer cable,
move its end of the bar to push or pull the can jam the inner cable.
outgoing cable. When the saloon control is • Wear on the inner surfaces of the outer
cable allows the inner cable to slop from
in neutral, any movement of the cockpit
side to side, producing excessive back-
control is enough to move the bar so that
lash (free play) on the cable end: on a
its ‘saloon’ end drops into its cut-out, leav-
gear cable this may mean that there is
ing the ‘cockpit’ end free to move – with
not enough controlled movement to
the same effect on the outgoing cable. operate the gear lever properly.
Cables
• Bent or corroded end rods make opera-
tion stiff and may eventually lead to the
inner cable stretching: again, this is par-
Cable systems are generally reliable so long ticularly serious in the gear cable.
as they are properly installed in the first
place and then receive a certain minimal
• Worn, corroded or disconnected end fit-
tings. The split pins that secure the cable
level of maintenance. It’s worth doing, to the gearbox and fuel pump are so thin
because if your control system fails, you that they are particularly prone to corro-
will almost certainly look foolish sion, but look out too for the clamping
(bystanders never believe that a messed-up arrangements that hold the outer cable
manoeuvre was caused by mechanical in place.
problems), and you may well face serious
damage or injury.
• Poorly designed cable runs can make
controls stiff from the outset, and give
When problems do occur, control failure rise to a lot of backlash. Over time, this
is more often due to problems with the gets worse, as the bends cause increased
wear and tear inside the cable: ideally
cable, rather than to the control units
cables should be dead straight, with no
themselves:
long sweeping bends or bends tighter
• Internal corrosion, caused by water get- than about 8 in (20 cm) radius.
68
Control Systems
a Periodically – about once a season, but more
often in exposed locations – inspect the cable
end fittings for wear and corrosion. Replace split
pins with new ones if they are corroded, or if
they have been removed for any reason.
b With the inner cable in its fully extended posi-
tion, lightly grease the exposed part with a
non-graphite grease.
c Clean and re-grease the moving parts of con-
a trol heads and DS units. Inspect the cable run,
looking for splits or wear in the outer plastic
sheath – often given away by
rust streaks.
b c
69
Tools and Working
11 Practices
A lot of work on an engine involves If the differences between screw threads
removing and replacing components, so it seem subtle, the differences between their
involves dealing with a wide variety of fas- heads certainly are not: it is obvious that
tenings – literally, ‘getting down to the nuts you can’t use a spanner to undo a bolt
and bolts’. with a domed and slotted head intended
Bolts vary in length and diameter, but for a screwdriver! It’s surprising, though,
come in a number of standard sizes quoted how often DIY mechanics find themselves
in imperial or metric measurements. Metric trying to work with spanners or screw-
measurements are now used almost univer- drivers that don’t quite fit. It’s important to
sally on British, European and Japanese use the right tool for the job, because
equipment, while imperial sizes are found although a 13 mm spanner will just about
on old British equipment and on almost cope with a 1/2 in hexagon head, it is
anything intended primarily for the slightly too large. The difference is only
American market. This means that you are about a quarter of a millimetre, but that is
unlikely to come across a mixture of the
two on one engine, but doesn’t mean to
Whitworth
say that you won’t find imperial fastenings
on the engine and metric elsewhere on the
boat – or vice versa.
Even if you find two bolts of exactly the Unified Coarse
(UNC)
same diameter, they may not be inter-
changeable because there are a variety of
different ‘standard’ screw threads which British Standard
differ in cross-section as well as in the Fine (BSF)
number of threads per inch (Fig 32). It’s
important to make sure that you match the
right nut and bolt together and that you
screw bolts or studs back into the holes
they came out of, because although some
odd combinations are compatible, the vast Unified Fine
majority are not. Unless a nut or bolt is (UNF)
clearly in poor condition, it should turn
smoothly and easily until it reaches the
final tightening-up stage: if it starts easily Metric
but suddenly becomes stiff for no obvious
reason, or if it feels unusually floppy, it’s a
pretty safe bet that it’s the wrong one for
the job. Fig 32 Screw thread sizes.
70
Tools and Working Practices
Not only do you need the right kind of

screwdriver – flat-bladed for slotted heads,
and cross-point for cross-heads – but it
should also be the right size for the job. A
screwdriver that is too big won’t go into
the slot at all, but one that is too small will
tend to twist out of shape and damage the
edges of the slot. A flat-bladed screwdriver
should be ground to a fairly shallow taper,
Spanner too large
so that it doesn’t try to lever itself out of
the slot, and have a sharp-edged square tip
so that it doesn’t hit the bottom of the slot
before it makes contact with the sides.
The drive towards more compact engines
has made engine manufacturers turn
increasingly to fastenings with ‘unconven-
tional’ heads. Allen screws, in which the
head of the bolt has a hexagonal recess,
Spanner the correct size are now so common that they hardly rank
as unconventional. Dealing with these
requires either a screwdriver equipped with
Fig 33 Spanner sizes. a selection of appropriate ‘bits’ or a set of
Allen keys – bent pieces of hexagonal
enough to allow the nut to twist between hardened steel bar. You may need lots of
the jaws. Instead of the load being spread them: Allen screws come in a variety of
across the flats of the nut, it’s then concen- metric and imperial sizes, and a good fit
trated at the corners, so as soon as you try between the tool and the fastening is even
to apply any appreciable force to the span- more important than for a spanner – not
ner, the nut levers the jaws of the spanner least because if you damage the head of an
apart, while the spanner rounds off the Allen screw it can be exceedingly difficult
corners of the nut. to remove.
Similar comments apply to screwdrivers
– probably the most misused tools of all.
Pipe fittings
Pipe fittings also come in a variety of
shapes and sizes, designed to cope with
pipes of different materials and different
sizes, and with operating pressures ranging
from partial vacuum to several thousand
pounds per square inch. There are, how-
ever, only three main types that you are
likely to come across.
Pipe clips are bands of thin metal
designed to fit round flexible pipes. A bolt
or screw joins the ends of the band so that
it can be tightened to compress the pipe
Fig 34 Screwdriver shapes. against the rigid spigot to which it is
71
attached. They’re found in all sorts of pressure side of the fuel system, uses a
relatively low-pressure applications, from straight-ended pipe with a brass or plastic
marine toilets to engine cooling systems ring called an olive threaded on to it. The
and exhaust pipes. end of the pipe fits into a recess in the
Removing a hose clip is a simple matter spigot, but the olive rests on top. Then,
of unscrewing the clip until it is loose when the nut is tightened down on to the
enough to slide along the hose and then threaded spigot, the olive is compressed
pulling the hose off the spigot. In practice, between the ‘nut’ and the spigot, to grip
a common problem is that the hose may the pipe and form the seal.
have glued itself to the spigot, in which The only cause for concern when work-
case it may come free if you massage the ing with this type of pipe fitting is that
hose to loosen the bond, and then prise it over-tightening it can distort or split the
off with a screwdriver. As a last resort, a olive.
flexible pipe can always be cut, but do High-pressure pipes, such as injection
make sure you have a replacement avail- pipes, use a development of this principle
able before you do so. in which the pipe itself is shaped to form
Replacing a hose can be more difficult, the olive. Making the joint in the first place
because it may be such a tight fit on the requires special equipment, but once the
spigot that you wonder why it needs a pipe has been shaped it forms a secure and
hose clip at all. Dipping the end of the leak-proof joint that is as easy to do up or
hose in boiling water may help by soften- undo as a nut and bolt. Perhaps the biggest
ing it, and a smear of washing up liquid danger is the temptation to treat these
can be used to provide some gentle lubri- kinds of joint as though they are flexible:
cation. Whatever method you use, it’s they’re not, so don’t try to bend or move
worth threading the pipe clip on to the the pipe without slackening the unions
hose first, so that you don’t have to that hold it in place.
unscrew it completely in order to fit it on The third kind of pipe union is called a
to the pipe in situ. banjo bolt – so-called because one part of
Fitting the pipe on to the spigot is espe- it is supposed to look like a banjo. The
cially difficult if the spigot has a bulge or ‘banjo’ is a metal fitting that has to be
ridge around its end, but these things are brazed or soldered on to the pipe, and
not put there just to make life awkward: which then forms a hollow channel right
they are intended to provide extra security around the central bolt. The ‘bolt’ part
once the pipe is in place. They only work, looks exactly like a conventional bolt,
however, if you make sure that the hose except that its head is often rather larger
clip is on the right side of the ridge – near- and thinner than you might expect, and its
est the root of the spigot so that the pipe shaft is a hollow. A hole in the side of the
would have to drag the pipe clip over the bolt allows liquid to flow from the pipe,
ridge in order to pull itself free. around the circular channel formed by the
Compression fittings are used on rigid banjo, and down through the hollow bolt.
pipes, or occasionally on flexible pipes Brass, fibre or nylon washers form a seal
with a rigid insert. There are two types, but around the upper and lower edges of the
both look like an unusually deep nut with banjo to stop leaks: be careful not to lose
the pipe sticking out of the middle. them when undoing a banjo bolt, and
One kind, used mainly on relatively low- make sure that they go back when you
pressure applications such as domestic replace it.
plumbing and sometimes on the low-
72
Seals and Union

gaskets pipe
Other joints in an
engine, such as Compression nut
those between the
face plate and cas-
Olive
ing of a water
pump or between
the injectors and
the cylinder head,
are just as impor-
tant as the joints in
the ‘plumbing’ that Union
surrounds it. It’s
difficult to get a
good metal-to-
metal seal over a
wide area, especial- Top of
injector
ly as the parts
concerned may be
expanding and con-
tracting at different Fig 35 Pipe fittings.
rates when the
engine warms up and cools down. To over- gaskets used in places such as the joint
come the problem, these kinds of joint between the rocker box cover and the
usually include a gasket of more resilient cylinder head. There are no great stresses
material. involved here, but the rocker box cover is
Some gaskets, especially cylinder head so thin that it would easily distort if it had
gaskets, are quite sophisticated compo- to be bolted down very firmly to achieve a
nents in their own right, including layers of seal. The only snag with these is that the
different materials and inserts to withstand gasket almost invariably sticks to one or
particular stresses or to help them stay in the other of the two components: if part of
shape, but the majority of gaskets are rela- it sticks to one and the rest of it sticks to
tively simple sheets of steel, copper, cork, the other, you may need to peel it away
rubber or paper. very carefully with a thin knife to make
Copper gaskets are used in small, highly sure it comes away in one piece.
stressed joints such as between an injector Paper gaskets are less resilient than cork
and its seat, and usually look much like an or rubber, but they work well and are so
ordinary washer. Ideally, a copper gasket cheap that although it’s almost impossible
should only be used once, because it loses to salvage one once it’s been used, there’s
its resilience once it has been fitted. If nec- no excuse for not using a new one every
essary, though, it can be renovated by time. If you can’t get a ready-made replace-
heating it over a gas ring until it turns blue, ment, it’s easy to make your own from a
and then immediately dropping it into cold sheet of gasket paper. In a real emergency,
water. it’s even possible to use writing paper or a
At the other extreme are cork or rubber cornflake packet as a stopgap!
73
The first step in the process of replacing Stanley and Kamasa, which are nearly as
a gasket is to remove all traces of the old good as the front-runners but are a fraction
gasket from the surfaces. You may need to of the price.
use a scraper, but be careful not to scratch
the machined surfaces – if you must use a Tool kit
screwdriver for the job, file the corners off A set of open-ended spanners, of the right
first! Then, if you’re making a new paper sizes – imperial (AF) or metric – is essen-
gasket, smear one of the mating surfaces tial, and if you have a very old boat or
with a little oil, and press it down hard on engine, you may need the now obsolete
to the gasket paper so as to leave a clear Whitworth sizes, too.
picture of its shape and any holes that are Ring spanners are better if you need to
needed. use much force or work in an awkward
Once you’ve cut out the new gasket, use position, but can’t be used on pipe fittings
another smear of oil to stick it temporarily or lock-nuts. As you need two spanners of
to one surface, and make future separation the same size to undo a nut and bolt any-
of the joint easier. Then reassemble the way, it makes sense to have one set of
joint and tighten all the bolts evenly. rings and one of open-ended.
Combination spanners have a ring on
one end and open-ended jaws on the
Tools other, but as both ends are usually the
The standard advice about tools is ‘buy the same size, you will still need two sets!
best you can afford’. All too often that Socket spanners make life much easier,
advice goes with a list of ‘essential’ tools and are the only way of getting at some of
and spares that would not disgrace a pro- the less accessible fastenings on compact
fessional workshop, but would go a long modern engines, but it’s debatable whether
way towards sinking a small cruising yacht! they are essential for basic maintenance.
There’s no doubt that high-quality, high- They’re nice to have, but no substitute for
price tools such as those made by Britool, conventional spanners because there are
Gedore and Snap-On are virtually inde- some fastenings they can’t cope with.
structible and a pleasure to use, but Whitworth socket spanners are very hard
unfortunately they sink just as quickly as to come by, but a set of tubular box span-
any others if they get dropped overboard ners is a reasonable (and economical)
or in the bilges, rust nearly as quickly alternative.
once they’ve been exposed to salt water, Few professional mechanics would admit
and are exceptionally prone to being to using adjustable spanners on an engine,
‘borrowed’. because they are inevitably less rigid than
Very cheap tools, such as many of those proper spanners, and more likely to dam-
imported from India and China, will let age the nut or bolt as a result. Every boat,
you believe you’ve got a full tool kit until however, has at least one fastening some-
you try unscrewing a tough nut in an awk- where that is an odd size. When you find
ward spot. That’s when you find out that out which one it is, a good adjustable will
the reason they are cheaper is because they get you out of trouble. Anything less than
don’t fit as well in the first place, and that the best is a waste of space.
they get worse once they start to bend Much the same applies to Mole-Grips or
under the strain. Vise-Grips. Few mechanics will admit to
Fortunately there are plenty of mid- using them, but few would be without
range tools made by companies such as them!
74
The most useful pliers are the square- is not completely familiar to you, but if you
ended ‘general purpose’ type, about 6–8 in do find yourself working without a manual,
(15–20 cm) long. ‘Needle-nose’ pliers are don’t be afraid to make notes or sketches
less versatile, but are a cheap and worth- of the order in which things came apart or
while addition to a tool kit, especially if what went where. Look carefully at any
your boat has much electrical equipment component before you remove it, and try
on board. to figure out what it does, which bolts hold
You’ll inevitably need several screw- it on, and which hold something inside it.
drivers, including a couple of cross-point Seized fastenings make life difficult, but
screwdrivers and three or four flat-bladed are a common feature of many boat
ones, including a small ‘electrician’s’ and a engines. Before applying brute force, it’s
long-shafted ‘heavy duty’. Handle shapes important to bear in mind that conven-
are a matter of personal choice, though the tional spanners are designed to apply the
oval handles of ‘carpenter’s’ screwdrivers right amount of leverage for the fastenings
may allow you to exert more force than the they fit, and that if you lengthen a spanner
round handles of ‘mechanic’s’ screw- to unscrew a bolt that is already weakened
drivers. by corrosion, you may make it shear off
Allen keys (or a screwdriver with a completely.
selection of hexagonal bits) are becoming The first stage is to make sure that you
more and more important. are working efficiently:
A hammer is a nasty thing to threaten an
engine with, but a light ball-pein ‘engi- • Try to give yourself as much room and
light as you need by removing any covers
neer’s’ hammer is worth having, as is a
or hatches that are in the way.
soft-faced hammer with a weighted nylon
head instead of a lump of hardened steel. • Keep your hands and tools clean so that
you can get a good grip.
Finally, there are cutting tools: a small
hacksaw and some spare blades; a craft • Pull on the end of a spanner: you are
less likely to get hurt if the spanner slips
knife or large scalpel, and perhaps a small,
when you are pulling than pushing, and
flat-bladed scraper.
the end gives you more leverage.
Tricks of the trade

• Use a ring spanner if possible, rather
than an open-ended one.
The possibility that you might take an • Turn the nut rather than the bolt.
engine to pieces and not be able to put it If that doesn’t do the trick, it’s worth trying
back together again is probably the to tighten the offending fastening to break
mechanic’s worst nightmare. The best tip the bond between the threads, and pene-
for avoiding it is to be scrupulously and trating oil can work wonders so long as it
relentlessly methodical: lay the bits of your is left alone for long enough to penetrate.
engine down in the order they were More drastic measures include lengthen-
removed, and keep the fastenings with the ing the spanner with a length of pipe; and
relevant part – don’t tip all the nuts and shock treatment by tapping the spanner
bolts into one box, because it may then with a hammer while applying steady
take hours of trial and error to find the pressure by hand.
right one, and don’t complicate matters by For a really stubborn fastening, you may
taking things apart that you don’t have to. have to resort to more destructive methods
It almost goes without saying that you such as using a cold chisel or a gadget
should refer to the manual for any job that called a nut splitter (like an oversized ring
75
spanner, but with a blade which can be If the stud has broken off flush with the
screwed in to break a seized nut) to split casting, it should be possible to drill a hole
the nut, or a hacksaw to cut the side off it. down the centre of it in order to use a tool
Bolt heads that have rounded off can be called a stud extractor. This is a tapered
carefully filed down to take the next size of rod of hardened steel with a very coarse
spanner, or can have a slot hacksawed in. thread cut into it. The stud extractor’s
Most drastic of all, but often quickest, is to thread is in the opposite direction to that
cut through the bolt completely. of a conventional bolt, so as you screw the
Destroying a nut and bolt isn’t too fright- stud extractor into the stud, it first grips
ening because it can always be replaced, the side of the drilled hole, and then
but the idea of cutting or snapping a stud unscrews the stud.
or bolt that has seized into a casting is If this doesn’t work, it may be possible
more worrying. Even so, it’s not the end of to drill out the stud altogether, and then
the world. use a device called a tap to recut the
Once the load has been removed from thread in the hole. Taps, unfortunately, are
the broken stud, it may unscrew relatively quite expensive, so it’s hardly worth having
easily, particularly if it has been well a full set in hand to cope with the occa-
soaked with penetrating oil. This is where sional mishap, and it may be worth
mole-grips come in handy. Alternatively, referring the job to a professional.
you could try cutting a screwdriver slot in The ultimate sanction is definitely a pro-
the remains, or screwing two nuts down on fessional’s job because of the equipment
to it. Once the second nut has been tight- required, but it’s worth knowing that it is
ened down hard against the first, a spanner possible to drill out the hole oversize, and
applied to the lower nut can be used to put in a completely new thread known as a
unscrew the stud. helicoil insert.
76
12 Fault-finding
Even though the individual processes that day or more, so it’s important to establish
make a diesel engine run are basically sim- what is likely, as opposed to what is possible.
ple, there are so many of them, and so Assuming you haven’t done anything to
many individual components involved, that change the valve timing or fuel pump tim-
trying to trace a particular fault can seem ing, it’s most unlikely to be either of those.
an almost impossible task. It can be done, Suppose, however, that you shut the sea-
though! cock in order to check the raw water filter,
The first stage is to establish exactly what and the engine overheated quickly the next
the symptoms are, and how they developed. time you started it. In that case, it’s a fair
Was the engine OK the last time you used bet that you may have forgotten to open
it, but playing up now? Have you done the seacock again!
anything in between which may have Having narrowed down the possibilities,
caused the fault to develop? Did it develop it’s then time to work through them in a
suddenly, or gradually? logical order. Try to avoid making random
Armed with this information, the daunt- changes or adjustments to your engine:
ing-looking fault-finding lists that follow don’t do anything without a good reason,
can be whittled down to a more manage- and always remember (or write down) what
able size. you’ve done so that you can undo it if it
Suppose, for instance, that we’re faced doesn’t solve the problem or makes it worse.
with an engine overheating. The fault-find- Most important of all, though, remember
ing list offers a wide range of possiblities, that common, simple problems, such as a
ranging from a faulty gauge to wrong valve blocked fuel filter or leaky pipe, are much more
timing. Working through all of them could likely than more obscure or complicated
easily take a professional mechanic a full ones such as a sheared fuel pump drive.
Starting problems
The starter won’t turn the engine fast enough to start ... or at all:
• Battery charge low
• Electrical connections loose, dirty or defective
• Engine in gear
• Oil of wrong grade
• Starter faulty
• Starting procedure incorrect Cont
77
Starting problems
The engine turns over but will not start:

• Air in fuel system
• Air filter blocked
• Cold start aid (if fitted) faulty
• Compression poor
• Engine in gear
• Fuel contaminated by water (or ice)
• Fuel filter blocked
• Fuel lift pump faulty (or sucking air through leak on suction side)
• Fuel of wrong grade or quality
• Fuel pipes blocked or leaking
• Fuel tank empty (or nearly so)
• Fuel tap shut
• Fuel ‘waxing’ (caused by using ‘summer’ fuel in low temperatures)
• Injection pump drive broken
• Injection pump faulty
• Injection pump timing wrong
• Injector(s) faulty
• Starting procedure incorrect
• Stop control faulty
The engine is hard to start:

• Compression poor (see page 84)
• Exhaust pipe blocked
• Fuel contaminated by water (or ice)
• Fuel tank vent blocked
• Fuel tap shut Cont
78
Fault-finding
Starting problems
The engine is hard to start:

• Starting procedure incorrect
Problems shown up by the gauges
The engine overheats:

• Cooling water low
• Cylinder head gasket faulty
• Gauge faulty
• Heat exchanger blocked
• Raw water filter blocked
• Raw water pump faulty (eg impeller worn or broken)
• Raw water system blocked or seacock shut
• Thermostat faulty
• Valve timing incorrect
• Valves leaking
• Vee-belt on water pump broken, loose or greasy
The oil pressure is unusually low:

• Bearings worn
• Gauge faulty Cont
79
Problems shown up by the gauges
• Oil cooler clogged

• Oil filter clogged
• Oil level low
• Oil pressure valve faulty
• Oil pump faulty
The oil pressure is unusually high:

• Gauge faulty
• Oil pressure valve faulty
Smoke
The engine produces black or grey exhaust smoke:

• Aftercooler clogged
• Excessive load caused by dirty hull or too much weight on board
• Excessive power losses due to internal friction in engine or transmission
• Inlet manifold leaking
• Leak-off pipe blocked
• Propeller damaged or wrong size
• Turbocharger faulty
• Ventilation to engine room inadequate Cont
80
Fault-finding
Smoke
The engine produces blue or white exhaust smoke:

• Crankcase breathers clogged
• Oil level too high
• Turbocharger oil seals worn
Unusual noises or behaviour
The engine misfires:

• Injector pipe(s) distorted or broken
• Injector pipe(s) leaking
• Overheating
Engine is unusually noisy, with a hammering or knocking sound:

• Bearings worn
• Cold start aid (if fitted) faulty Cont
81
• Engine mountings loose or broken

• Oil level low
• Overheating
• Piston rings or cylinder bores worn
• Shaft coupling loose
• Valve clearances incorrect
• Valve spring broken
• Valves sticking
Engine runs unevenly, ‘hunts’ or surges:

• Control system faulty
• Fuel tank empty (or nearly so)
The engine vibrates excessively:

• Engine and shaft out of alignment Cont
82
Fault-finding
• Engine mountings loose or broken

• Propeller or shaft bent, broken or unbalanced
• Shaft coupling loose
• Shaft misaligned
The engine lacks power:

• Overheating
• Ventilation to engine compartment inadequate
Cont
83
The engine uses more fuel than usual:

• Compression poor (see below)
• Leak-off pipe blocked
Compression poor
• Cylinder head gasket faulty

• Piston rings or cylinder bores worn
• Valve clearances incorrect
• Valve guides in cylinder head worn
• Valve spring broken
• Valves leaking
• Valves sticking
84
13 Winterizing
A few months of idleness over the winter system, to crack the engine block or
can do far more harm to an engine than cylinder head.
any amount of hard work. Winterization, then, is primarily about
Oil that has done its cleaning job protecting the engine against corrosion
throughout the season lies in the engine, and cold. It’s also an opportunity to do a
contaminated by the acidic by-products of lot of routine maintenance jobs.
combustion, while the upper part of the It’s important to plan what you’re going
engine, now dry of oil, is exposed to the to do, and when and how you’re going to
damp and possibly salty atmosphere. do it: some jobs are best done afloat; oth-
Things that are supposed to be flexible, ers can only be done with the boat ashore,
such as vee-belts and pump impellers, may and although some can be left until spring,
become stiff; mice and spiders hibernate in others should really be done in the
air filters and exhaust pipes; and if you’re autumn. The exact process will vary
unlucky, the air temperature may fall low between different boats and circumstances,
enough to freeze the water in the cooling but the following routine is fairly typical:
Autumn: before lifting out
• If possible, fill the fuel tank to reduce the air space in which condensation can
form (but check that this won’t take the boat over the weight limit for the crane
or boat-lift).
• Drain the fresh water cooling system. It’s often easiest to do this by disconnecting
a hose from the circulating pump. Then shut any taps or drains or reconnect any
hoses, and refill with a strong solution of fresh antifreeze.
• Drain off any water and sludge from the fuel pre-filter, and change the fuel
filter(s).
• Run the engine to operating temperature.
• Change the oil and oil filter while the engine is warm.
85
Autumn: after lifting out
• Clean the raw water filter.

• Flush the raw water system. There are various methods, but this is one of the
most widely recommended:
• Remove the thermostat.
• Disconnect the raw water inlet hose from the skin fitting or sea cock, and
extend it with an additional length of hose if necessary so that the end can be
immersed in a bucket of water. Support the bucket at or near the boat’s
normal waterline, and arrange for it to be kept topped up by a constant
supply of fresh water from a hose.
• Start the engine and let it run for a few minutes to flush the system. Tip anti-
freeze solution into the bucket, turn off the hose, and switch off the engine just
before it empties the bucket.
• Re-connect the hose to the skin fitting.
• Remove the raw water pump impeller. (Put it in a plastic bag and hang it on the
engine controls or tie it to the keys so that you don’t start the engine without it!)
• Remove alternator and water pump drive belts.
• Change the air filter, and seal the air intake with oiled rags and/or a plastic
bag.
• Seal the exhaust pipe with oiled rags or a plastic bag.
• Inspect the gearbox/saildrive/outdrive oil, and replace it if it looks grey or
milky.
• Remove the propeller and grease the shaft (not necessary for shaft-drive boats).
• Either remove the batteries to storage ashore or clean and grease their terminals
and arrange for them to be charged once every 6 weeks or so. All lead acid
batteries lose their charge over time, and a flat battery can then be irreparably
damaged by freezing.
• Spray the backs of switchboards, instrument panels, and other electrical
connections with water-repellent oil.
86
Winterizing
Spring: before launching
• For Saildrives: inspect the rubber seal around the drive leg, and replace in
accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions (eg every 5–7 years).
• For outdrives inspect the bellows between the drive leg and transom shield, and
replace in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions (eg every 2 years).
• Test and re-fit the thermostat.
• If your raw water cooling system includes zinc anodes, inspect them and replace
if necessary.
• Check that all plugs and drain cocks in the cooling system are shut.
• Re-fit the raw water pump impeller with a new pump gasket.
• Inspect all hoses: replace any that are visibly cracked or which do not feel
pliable.
• Check hose clamps for security: tighten any that are loose, and replace any that
are corroded.
• Re-fit the alternator and water pump drive belts, and adjust them.
• Unblock the air filter and exhaust.
• Check the oil level in the gearbox/saildrive/outdrive.
• Grease the propeller shaft and re-fit the propeller.
• Reconnect the batteries.
Spring: after launching
• Inspect for leaks.

• Check the engine oil level.
• Grease or bleed the stern gland as appropriate.
• Run the engine to operating temperature, inspect for leaks, and check oil and
water levels.
87
The RYA Diesel
Appendix 1 Engine Course
Aim of Course 5 The air systems
• The airway in
To give an awareness of the main systems
of a marine diesel engine so that the
• The airway out
yachtsman can take simple measures to 6 Engine electrical systems

prevent mechanical breakdown at sea and • The basic system
rectify defects which do not require work- • Drive belts
Battery capacity and care
shop support. No pre-course knowledge is • The alternator
required. •
7 Spares and tool requirements
Course Syllabus • Basic spares and tools
1 Introduction 8 Importance of winterisation and
Principles of the diesel engine servicing
• Engine lubrication
2 The four stroke cycle • Winterisation lubrication
Transmission
• Naturally aspirated engines • Service scheduleand servicing
• lntercooling/aftercooling
Turbocharging • Winterisation
• •
3 The fuel system 9 Fault-finding
• The basic system
• The tank
• The water separating pre-filter Course Requirements
• Fuel lift pump
• The engine fine filter The minimum duration of the course is six
• Injection pump hours. A diesel engine (not necessarily in
• Injectors working condition) will be provided for
• Bleeding the system practical sessions. (No more that six stu-
dents to one engine.) Instructors will have
4 The Cooling System attended an RYA Training Course.
• Seawater cooling
• Temperaturecooling
Freshwater Enquiries to: Royal Yachting Association,
• The thermostatcontrol RYA House, Ensign Way, Hamble,
• The seawater impeller pump Southampton SO31 4YA. Tel: 023 8060
• 4100 Website: www.rya.org.uk
88
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Index
Air filters 20, 25 dual station controls 67-8
air system 21-5 dynamos 42-3
Allen screws and keys 71-2 dynastarts 44
alternating current (AC) 42, 43
alternators 43, 44 Electrical problems 50
anodes 30 electrical systems 40-50
replacing internal 34 circuits 41
safety 48
Batteries 44-8 electricity, generating 40-2
care of 49 electromagnets 42
bevel gears 52 electronic control 16-17
black smoke 25 engine lacks power 83
bleeding the fuel system 19-20 engine oil, changing 39
engine running unevenly 82
Cable control systems 66-8 engine using more fuel 84
maintenance 68,. 69 engine vibrating 82
camshaft 3 epicyclic gearboxes 53
cartridge filters 19 exhaust systems 21-2
cavitation 59-60
charge air cooler 24-5 Fault-finding 77-84
circuit breakers 46 filters 8-9, 18-19
circulating pump 31 fine filter, replacing 18-19
clutches 54 flywheel 3
combustion chamber 5 four-stroke cycle 2
common rail injection 17 fresh-water circuit 29
compression 2, 3, 5 fuel system 8-20
poor 84 bleeding 19-20
connecting rods 3 tank 8
control cable maintenance 68, 69 fuses 46
control heads 66
control systems 66-9 Gaskets 73-4
cooling system 26-34 gauges, faults shown by 79-80
crankshaft 3 gearboxes 51-5
cylinders 2 oil 55
generator 42
Decompression levers 40 governor 14
direct current (DC) 42
drive belts, checking or replacing 48 Header tank, checking 32
89
heat exchanger 30 raw water filter, clearing 32

raw water pump 29-30
Indirect cooling 29-30 impeller, replacing 32-3
induction 2, 5 rectifier 43
injection, direct and indirect 5, 6 regulator 42-3
injection pump 9-12 repacking a stern gland 64
single element 10 rockers 3
injectors 9, 12, 15-16 rotary injection pump 12-3
in-line fuel injection pump 11-12 RYA Diesel Course syllabus 88
Jerk pump 10 Safety 18, 32, 38, 48, 55

seals 73-4
Layshaft gearboxes 52-3 screw thread sizes 70
lift pump 8 seacocks 26
lubrication 35 shaft seals 60-1
smoke 80-1
Oil solenoids 46-7
changing 39 spanners 70-1
circuit 36 spin-on filters 18
cooling 31, 34, 35 starting problems 77-9
filter changing 38 starter motors 44
grades 37 stern glands 60-4
level, checking 38 adjusting 62
pressure 79-80 greasing 62
oil system 35-9 repacking 64
outdrives 63 stuffing boxes 60
supercharger 5
Pipe fittings 71-3
pistons 3 Tappets 4
pre-filter, draining 18 thermostat 27-8
pressurised oil systems 35-7 tool kit 74-5
priming lever 8 tools 70-1, 74-6
propellers 51, 56-60 turbocharger 23-5
advance 56 two-stroke cycle 4-5
diameter 56
choosing 58 Unusual noises 81-2
pitch 56 unit in sectors 17
removing 62
repairing 62 Valve gear 4
slip 56 valves 3-4
water flow over 57 valve/rocker clearances, checking 6-7
pushrods 4 ventilation (on propellers) 59-60
Raw water cooling 26-30 Water trap filters 17
90
Published by Adlard Coles Nautical
an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
50 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3DP
www.adlardcoles.com
Copyright © Amberley Marine 1998, 2002, 2005, 2011
First published as The RYA Book of Diesel Engines 1998

Reprinted 2000, 2002
Second edition 2002
Third edition 2005
Fourth edition 2011
This electronic edition published in 2013
ISBN 978-1-4081-3116-9
ePub ISBN 978-1-4081-5604-9
ePDF ISBN 978-1-4081-4635-4
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form
or by any means – graphic, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording, taping or information storage and retrieval systems – without the
prior permission in writing of the publishers.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Typeset in 10/11 Concorde Regular by Margaret Brain.
Note: While all reasonable care has been taken in the publication of this book,
the publisher takes no responsibility for the use of the methods or products
described in the book.
The photographs in this book were provided PPL Media Ltd, Arundel, West
Sussex with the assistance of Arun Craft Ltd, Littlehampton, West Sussex and
Motortech Marine Engineering, Birdham, Chichester, West Sussex.
There is also a DVD available to complement

this book available from the RYA or, if in
difficulty, direct from Amberley Marine on
Tel: 01628 826104, Fax: 01628 828322 or
e-mail [email protected]

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ADLARD COLES NAUTICAL

8 • Gearboxes 51 11 • Tools and Working Practices 70

Appendix 1 • The RYA Diesel

Foreword to the First

Fig 1 The four-stroke cycle.

INDUCTION COMPRESSION POWER EXHAUST

Fig 2 Valve gear.

Push rod Valve spring

Fig 3 The two-stroke cycle.

INDUCTION COMPRESSION POWER EXHAUST

Fine Injection pump

Fig 5 General layout of fuel system.

Principle of the jerk pump

Fig 6 Jerk pump.

In-line injection pump

Fig 7 An in-line fuel injection pump.

Key F Control lever connected by cable to the helm

Rotary injection pump

Fig 8 Rotary injection pump.

The principle of a mechanical governor

From cockpit To fuel

Fig 8a The principle of the mechanical governor.

Nozzle cap-nut Spring

Feed hole Inlet

b Smear the sealing ring with

Water trap filters

Fig 10 The exhaust system.

Fig 11 Working principle and parts of the turbocharger.

Fig 12 Charge air cooler.

Gearbox oil cooler Engine oil cooler

Fig 13 Raw-water circuit.

through a hole in the topsides. Nowadays, The thermostat

Gearbox oil cooler

Engine oil cooler

Fig 14 Fresh-water circuit.

has to bend to get past the bulge. This Body

raw-water system, because the raw-water

1 Clearing the raw water filter

because the impeller will very quickly be damaged

••• Things to do Oil cooling

Fig 16 The engine lubricating oil circuit.

through the filler cap – usually on top of the

2 Changing the oil filter

3 Changing engine oil

e Remove the cartridge, and replace it, making

Basic electrical circuit

Fig 17 Basic electrical circuit.

collect the electricity, and wires take it A

interrupts the power supplied to the field

Power is generated by the alternator.

Mechanically, an alternator can be 7

Fig 20 The Lucas M50 starter.

Safety may be used to drive the water pump, so if it is

then up to the alternator. Guide it into place as