How old is the diesel in the tank, and have you ever had the tank polished?

When I recently rebuilt our Yanmar 3qm30, I changed every hose and rebuilt
or replaced all fuel and water pumps.

I also had a guy come out and polish the 30 gal tank. That process was cool
and involved him pumping out the fuel to a filter pump and then shooting it
back in the tank aiming at the corners, etc. At the end, I had him
completely pump out everything and dispose of it. (Cost of about $325) When
I added the fresh diesel I also put a can of Seafoam from the auto parts
store which is great stuff for diesels. Then, priming and bleeding took a
while. But after I bled the air at the big fuel filter and then the small
filter on the engine, I disconnected the three fuel jets going directly
into the head. Then I cranked it until fuel squirted out of each jet. Be
sure to put a bunch of paper towels in front of each jet. That will help
you know that fuel is coming out without making a big mess. She runs like a
champ now.

I've read the old diesel can grow fungus and of course gunk or water in the
fuel can make the engine stall or sputter.

Brian
S/V Nina
1980 Landfall 38SL


On Sun, Oct 4, 2020, 5:45 PM Josh Muckley <muckl...@gmail.com> wrote:

> It is unlikely that fuel line down stream of the lift/priming pump is
> leaking to the extent that air is getting in since this section is under
> pressure.  I would look upstream of the lift pump.  This section is under
> vacuum.  The upstream fuel filter (not the one mounted on the engine -
> often made by and referred to as "the racor") is very likely to be the
> problem.  The rest of the fittings and connections rarely get disturbed but
> the racor does.  Some racors are difficult to fully bleed and ALL of the
> interfaces which are disturbed during filter changes should be suspect.
>
> Rule that out and then we can talk more.
>
> In the mean time check out these videos for fuel bleeding and racor mods.
>
> https://youtu.be/F7KD1_EZmU4
>
> https://youtu.be/H-GI38vE4hQ
>
> Josh Muckley
> S/V Sea Hawk
> 1989 C&C 37+
> Solomons, MD
>
> On Sun, Oct 4, 2020, 17:24 General Gao <general.z....@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Hi everyone,
>>
>> Again, looking for advice from experienced sailors.
>>
>> Today on my trip, my Diesel engine stopped frequently. The last time it
>> stopped by itself was because air in the fuel line. I did do some more than
>> “usual” heeling today but the engine ran about 2 hours after that without
>> issue before this fuel line issue started. I checked the bleed valve, could
>> see that after a few seconds the fuel came out, so there was air. The
>> problem was that even after this, the engine still stopped working due to
>> fuel supply issue like every 5-30 minutes randomly. Each time I did the
>> bleeding there was air.
>>
>> How can this be? Where should I look?
>>
>> Thank you in advance.
>>
>> Bo
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