[C320-list] Perkins M30 Lift Pump, or ....

[mmellon at cruzio.com]

Mark, I have experienced air leakage problems with the Racor primary
filter priming pump.  The seals on the piston pump can fail.  Teflon
tape proved a temporary fix, but it needs to be replaced or rebuilt. 
Until we discovered this problem, the engine (Westerbeke 30B) would
start momentarily but not run due to air in the fuel lines.  And as
mentioned below, the electric fuel pump will not operate to clear the
air out if the oil pressure switch is indicating low pressure - the
solution to that is to have a separatel switch to activate the electric
fuel pump when needed. 

Mike 

LaVida #324 1996

On 2018-10-28 04:26, Elizabeth Schwartz wrote:

> Ahoy.... Had similar issues on #245, with westerbeke......lift pump wired thru oil pressure switch...and thru key switch in glow plug on position......my fixes involved changing pressure switch on engine, and solenoid and electric breaker......good luck on Perkins......Joe
> 
> On Sun, Oct 28, 2018 at 12:15 AM, Mark Seyler wrote:
> 
>> The Perkins M30 on my 1995 #232 has started stalling at idle, running rough up to around 1500rpm, and blowing light gray or white smoke out of the exhaust. My first thought was to change the Racor and secondary filters, but that didn't help. And when I was bleeding the system after changing the filters, it didn't seem as though the manual lever on the mechanical lift pump was moving as much fuel as I expected. (I used the piston pump on top of the racor instead.)
>> I'm wondering if the lift pump could be the source of the stalling and smoke. The engine starts quickly if I give it a little throttle, even after a stall. So I'm assuming it's not loss of compression from the valves or rings. Does anyone have any other suggestions about diagnosing the possible cause, or advice about changing the lift pump? I never had a Diesel engine until I bought my C320.
>> Mark Seyler
>> S/V Reality
>> 
>> Sent from my iPhone