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| Good thing this stuff doesn't go off. |
Lots of crouching and humming and a touch of swearing as tiny objects reminded me yet again how deep my bilges are aft of the engine. Today was the Filling of the Motor: ATF into the hydraulic shifter, which did not in fact wish to have its control cable
reversed as I had speculated...well, not without a lot of unbolting...and so it will remain as is for the moment. The single lever at the helm does what it's supposed to.
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| ATF filter casing. Good thing I bought touch-up paint. |
Following the actual directions for a change of pace, I ran down some of the engine commissioning details. such as checking the state of the transmission's fluid filter. Out came the metric Allen keys.
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| Looked fine, by which I mean wet. |
I moistened the O-rings with ATF and put it back together to the right torque.
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| Things are starting to seem real. Such is the magic of the word "Rotella". |
Next came the lubricating oil. I ordered the shallow sump on my Beta 60 (I didn't need to, as it turned out, but there were a lot of variables as to the height of the engine mounts/stringers and the final placement of the Aquadrive coupler) and this took about seven litres of pouring.
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| Hard to see here, but this is "just right". |
I've discovered that my block is not laid out precisely as my documentation might suggest. The Beta "marine conversions" of what is essentially a small Kubota diesel block found in street sweepers, forklifts and the more compact sort of backhoe or shovel thingie are known for having all the items that require changing or service at the front of the engine. I'm talking about water pumps, oil filters, dipsticks and the like. This is because most engines on boats live under a set of companionway stairs; one lifts or removes the stairs and hopes arms can reach the needful item. On my Beta, the water pump is about midway back on the starboard side, and I have yet to find what is called the "coolant drain cock". It's supposed to be slightly aft of the oil filter mount on the
Beta 1720 canal boat model of the Beta 60 engine I thought I more or less (shallow sump, double power takeoff, ZF 25 hydraulic trannie) had, but certain items differ and I can't quite lay my hands on it. The manual warns "make sure this is closed" and, if it exists, I can only assume it is in fact closed, as my bilges do not seem to have eight litres of coolant down them. The fuel pump lacks a priming knob, as well. I think I need to get out the dental mirrors and to scrutinize the schematics yet again.
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| It's clean down there. May it remain so. |
The engine's confusingly named "fresh water circuit", which is actually a closed circuit of glycol/alcohol, is filled via what we call a heat exchanger, and what the British call a "calorifier". Having had Latin in high school, I can live with either one, as long as it isn't exploding near me.
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| One of the few pieces I kept from the old engine. Why not? |
I filled the engine with coolant and then topped up the header or expansion tank to "middle". We shall see once fired up if I have too much or not. Next: cabling up the engine to the battery.
12 comments:
They may have NOT put a drain cock in and used a pipe plug instead.
I actually have one coming out of the block right beside my starter.
Good luck
Bill Kelleher
Yes, indeed, that might be the case, Bill. I have to examine this further. Of course, whatever I find is apparently closed, otherwise there'd be a lot of coolant outside of the block. Dental mirrors on sticks are handy things.
On the recommendation of Volvo-Penta, the positive cable to the diesel starter is fused at the battery end. We installed a Blue Seas fuse block with a 400 amp fuse in it, with a spare fuse hanging nearby on a hook. We've heard of engine fires caused by locked starter rotors, the unprotected cables supplying excess current to the starter burn up and melt right back to the battery switch!
Yes, I have that in hand, Ken. So you have a pos side 400 amp T fuse near the battery (the figure of "seven inches or less" crops up in the literature)going to the main switch, and then from the main switch to the engine's starter?
Thanks.
Correct. around 7 inches, then to the starter. Our diesel has one cable to the starter, which has a common jumper from starter terminal to the output terminal of the alternator. The starter circuit cable and alternator output cable are one and the same. The engine charges the 88 amp hr 12 volt starter battery full time. It's regulated by the alternator's internal regulator. When we want to charge the house battery with the diesel we switch the starter and house battery systems to parallel (all) mode.
Interesting. I just want to start the diesel, not involve the alternator at this point (no house bank aboard), so I guess I can just skip the jumper cable for the moment.
Now I just have to figure out the best way to ground this out. Straight back to the neg post, I guess, from the neg post on the block. I want to be careful about energizing the boat, however, so I may disconnect all shore power prior to hookup, and unhook the DC ground before I reconnect to shore. I'm referencing a book called "Metal Corrosion in Boats" by Nigel Warren, which is helping me understand the particularities of DC and AC aboard a steel boat. Thanks for your guidance here.
Correction....7 inches from 12 volt starter battery is a large fuse. Then to the main battery switch, then to the starter (and alternator.
Remember that the engine block terminal should be a direct run to the starter battery. Ours goes through the Link 10 shunt, then to the negative post on the battery.
Your AC shore power green safety wire should be grounded to the hull through a galvanic isolator to allow 110V AC faults to pass safely to the hull but blocking all low voltage DC leakage which causes galvanic corrosion.
AC generator and AC outputs from large inverters should have their green wires grounded to the hull as well.
http://www.yandina.com/galvanicIsolator.htm
Wiring diagram on page 34 shows the alternator to starter circuit.
http://www.betamarinenw.com/Engines/Resources/Manual%20-%20BD1005,%20BV13%23D8ECC.pdf
Thanks very much, Ken. Some of this stuff is new to me and it's clear one should be careful! I will peruse the diagram you've indicated and figure this out. We've just got back from four days down the lake...some great wind was found.
I'm also upping the cabling from 2 to 2/0 gauge...I was waiting on a new set of power lugs and they have arrived. It's only a Group 24 start battery, but go big or go home, I figure.
I have now a variety of different suitable fuses aboard. One of 'em should be fine. The "test fire/motor slowly around the basin" installation is not necessarily the finished product, more just a means to progress to the point when I have at least propulsion. The exhaust setup and possibly the raw water circuit will be enhanced over the winter, but for now, I'm just trying to get mobile and controlled. Thanks again for those links to the wiring setup. For some reason I didn't have them and that was annoying.
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