Engine Questions (Universal 5424)

[Rick Robinson]

A few people on the board know about my trip south. For those that don't know, I am taking Ananda (CD33) from Minnesota down the Mississippi to the Ohio, to the Tennessee, to Kentucky Lake. After a short break, I'll be heading down the Tenn-Tom to Mobile Bay and the Keys and beyond. I'm still a working stiff (until January), so for now the boat has been shuttled a little further south every weekend (Fri, Sat and Sun). After 553 miles Ananda is in the St Louis area.

The boat has performed very well so far but is starting to give me small signs that there may be problems. This weekend the injector on the middle cylinder is developing a deposit of an oily sludge where it screws into the engine header. Giving it a closer look I noticed a slight bubbling of the "oil" from a very small hole in the injector housing just above the engine. Can this be remedied by just tightening the injector, or is this a symptom of something more serious?

I also noticed a stronger exhaust smell on the last day this weekend, but I am attributing that to an apparent wind blowing forward off the stern for a couple of hours with the turtle hatch and lee boards open. After a wind shift, a turn of the river and the opening of the forward hatch the smell almost went away.

I have been running the engine, on average, about 11 hours a day. Using the glow plugs (for up to full minute when it was 29 degrees out one morning) the engine starts right up. I usually let it warm up for around 20 minutes before leaving for the day's trip. I try to cruise at around 2200 - 2300 RPM. This weekend there were a couple of prolonged periods, 1 - 2 hours each, of 2600 RPM. I have been changing the oil and filter every 90 - 100 hours (its time again before next weekend's trip). I have been burning about 10 - 12 gal of diesel for every 150 miles (30 hours engine time) per weekend. I am willing to share details of the river trip if there is interest.

I am looking for input on the injector issue and any other engine related tips you may have.

THANKS!



Rick@citycom.com

[Tom]

A few people on the board know about my trip south. For those that don't know, I am taking Ananda (CD33) from Minnesota down the Mississippi to the Ohio, to the Tennessee, to Kentucky Lake. After a short break, I'll be heading down the Tenn-Tom to Mobile Bay and the Keys and beyond. I'm still a working stiff (until January), so for now the boat has been shuttled a little further south every weekend (Fri, Sat and Sun). After 553 miles Ananda is in the St Louis area.

The boat has performed very well so far but is starting to give me small signs that there may be problems. This weekend the injector on the middle cylinder is developing a deposit of an oily sludge where it screws into the engine header. Giving it a closer look I noticed a slight bubbling of the "oil" from a very small hole in the injector housing just above the engine. Can this be remedied by just tightening the injector, or is this a symptom of something more serious?

I also noticed a stronger exhaust smell on the last day this weekend, but I am attributing that to an apparent wind blowing forward off the stern for a couple of hours with the turtle hatch and lee boards open. After a wind shift, a turn of the river and the opening of the forward hatch the smell almost went away.

I have been running the engine, on average, about 11 hours a day. Using the glow plugs (for up to full minute when it was 29 degrees out one morning) the engine starts right up. I usually let it warm up for around 20 minutes before leaving for the day's trip. I try to cruise at around 2200 - 2300 RPM. This weekend there were a couple of prolonged periods, 1 - 2 hours each, of 2600 RPM. I have been changing the oil and filter every 90 - 100 hours (its time again before next weekend's trip). I have been burning about 10 - 12 gal of diesel for every 150 miles (30 hours engine time) per weekend. I am willing to share details of the river trip if there is interest.

I am looking for input on the injector issue and any other engine related tips you may have.

THANKS!

Rick, I've been waiting for the engine experts to jump in here but so far they haven't so let me give you my input and maybe that will prime the pump. If it's leaking around the base I think tightening the injector might work, but if there is an actual hole in the side of the injector I think the injector will have to be replaced or repaired.

The 5424, I believe, is the three cylinder engine which is the same as I have. According to the manual the top of the power curve is around 1800 RPM so I cruise mine around 1900. "They" say you can cruise an engine at 80% of it's rated rpm, but I find at that RPM she really vibrates and jumps around and seems to be working hard, so when I'm really anxious I go up to 2200. 2600 sounds a little high for extended periods in my experience, but you didn't mention prop type. You shouldn't be getting any black smoke out of the exhaust, but you do get smell when the wind is right. Everything else you're doing sounds exactly right. They're underpowered.

I don't pretend to be an engine expert, just giving you my experience, FWIW.



TomCambmria@mindspring.com