I got "stuck rings" one year after I stored the boat in the water. The theory being that when the engine stops the nature of the intake and exhaust valves is to stop in a manner in which one or two of the cylinders have both intake and exhaust not fully seated. As the boat rocks in the water the wet muffler creates a water lock that pushes and pulls air through the engine via the open intake and exhaust valves. Eventually enough humid air condenses and collects on the cylinder walls and runs into the gap between the piston and wall - thus the piston ring sees all the water collection. Enough time and leak by and the second and third ring may see water too. More time passes and the years of soot, carbon, motor oil, wear products, corrosion products, and now water all mix to gum up the rings and stick them in their current position. Well the first time you roll the engine in the spring the piston rocks slightly as the angle of the connecting rod changes around the crankshaft. This rocking motion jams the stuck rings in tight on one side and then rocks to jam them in tight on the other side. The end result is that the cylinder has low compression. Since all diesels require the heat of compression to create the combustion, the diesel doesn't run.
With glow plugs checking the compression is as easy as changing spark plugs. At first I was getting a very poor running engine and tons of blow by. Eventually the engine died and could not be restarted. The solution was to every day drip about 15ml of penetrating oil into each cylinder and roll the engine. Roll it by hand and the oil doesn't get shot all over the place. Roll it with the starter and the oil might make it to nooks and crannies better. Compression for a diesel should be upwards of 400 psi. Two of my cylinders were at 145-ish and the third was at 350. Once I was done and got the engine running all the cylinders were 450+. So... - I'm not sure if the universals have decompression levers but if it does, double check they are not set to decompress. - Check that fuel is making it to the injectors by bleeding each injector fitting while someone cranks the engine. Cone wrench is advised. - Check for intake suction by covering the intake air snout on the air cleaner. - As others have said, check all the glow plugs are heating the cylinders. I think it is the universals that have the old trailer harnesses, these are notorious for losing connection and should be replaced with a terminal board. In addition to the terminal board the glow plugs pull too much current for the push button in the cockpit and a solenoid should be added so that the current it carried there instead. With the terminal board and solenoid you'll get hotter and more consistent glow on your plugs. Of course a resistance check of the plug will verify functionality. Remember to disconnect the plug terminal first. - Once those options are exhausted there is little left than to do a compression check All the best, Josh Muckley S/V Sea Hawk 1989 C&C 37+ Yanmar 3HM35F Solomons, MD May 17, 2024 22:19:32 Todd Williams via CnC-List <cnc-list@cnc-list.com>: > Looking for some input on my non starting Universal / Westerbeke diesel 5416 > on my 1980 C& C 34. It was running great at the end of last year but no go > from the start this year. > > It turns over great but no sounds of combustion. Battery is brand new. Oil > and transmission fluids are at proper levels and fresh. It sounds like the > glow plugs are working because the blower changes pitch with the increased > current draw. Fuel looks good, checked pickup for debris, changed fuel > filter, bled lines. I did have some electrical work done at the wiring > harness but I don’t think that would affect it. > > I am thinking either I need to look at the injectors and injector pump or I > need to do a compression test. I’ve read about both in online forums but > haven’t had the “opportunity” to dig this far into engine troubles. Any input > from the group on other diagnostic tests or possible sources of the issue? > Thanks in advance. > > TODD > Indigo Out We Go > 1980 C&C 34 > Saco, ME
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