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New to Westerbeke, need help with a m4 determiining TDC for valve adjustment

wobbleman

New member
I'm a pretty good mechanic with a moderate amount of diesel experience, but marine diesel engines are completely new to me.



So when my friend asked me I said "Valve Adjusttment , no problem, I can do that"

Right

Im having trouble determining tdc for valve adjustment. It's an M4

I managed to find one timing mark on the flywheel which appears (from what I can see in the incredibly cramped position I have to squeeze into to see anything at all) to read 1*4 TC and some other marks nearby. Which seems to work TDC for cylinder #1 and #4. But How to determine for #2 and #3.

Is there another mark for #2 and #3? Or am I missing something obvious?

Of course, If I had done the valves before I re- installed the injectors I could have just looked. But I was afraid of debris falling in.

Big Dope Slap!

Any help much appreciated- he want to go sailing tommorow.
 
There should be "TC" marks and "FI" marks for each cylinder pairing (1 & 4 then 2 & 3).

the manuals are usually easy to find on the www...and they are factory products...
 
Thanks very much for your reply. I do have a copy of the manual and parts book. But I couldn't seem to find the 3 and 4 TDC marks, so got it "close enough" (I hope) by

feeling for the compression through the glow plug holes. But now I have another problem.


We took her out-( which was BTW the most fun I've had in quite a while- I may just get hooked on this sailing thing!).

We motored for a little while ,going out the channel , sailed by Coney Island and ran the motor coming in the channel again.


When I went to take final check of the engine there was a bit of a leak- a slow drip, coming from the top of the injection pump. Not , apparently from the F line

fitting but from the male fitting that threads into the top of the injection pump. I disassmbled the lines , re-tightened everything as much as

I dared and it seemed to be OK when I test ran it. But the owner called this AM it's still seeping a bit . O.K. , no big deal, I'm

a part time plumber as well- I can deal with that.


But now I have a more Serious Problem: My guy reports this morning that he barely managed to get it started,that it ran rough, smoked excessively and there's fuel coming out with the exhaust.

Now we just had the injectors serviced, and one had to be repaired, though it wasn't at a marine diesel shop . Usually I'd assume they must know what they were doing. But one thing give me pause to wonder.

When I went to re-install the injectors, I noticed that 3 of the aluminum washers that sit on top of the injector bodies were loose, so loose I could easily rotate them, though not pull them off. In our parts book it shows a solid washer, but ours had 2 holes in them. Looking at the diagram of the injector , I surmised that one these holes had to line up with the return hole coming out of the injector- otherwise no return fuel could get to the return nipple. So I used the back end of a small drill to line the holes up, marked them with a sharpie, and did my best to not disturb anything as I assembled the return lines.

So my question is, #1: Shouldn't all of the injectors have come back from the shop with the washers fixed in place with holes in the right place ?

I tried my best to keep them in the place, but if they slipped and blocked the return it could would cause problems including excess fuel.

Question#2: If so, do I need to get new washers and have them pressed on? Other solutions?

The only other thing I can think of is the injectors were not properly serviced.

The only other thing we did is adjust the valves. In 40+ years of being a semi professional mechanic ( also Plumber/Electrician/Carpenter/Pilot/Woodsman/Farmer) I've done plenty of manual valve adjustments on a variety of old vehicles,gas and diesel I've never had this many problems!

I don't mind so much having to out all that way to work for free as long as I get sailing lesson #2.

But it’s frustrating , embarrassing and it's hurts my rep as a mechanic. Plus, If I don't get this figured out soon I'm gonna have to wear this T-shirt to all my jobs: Professional t.jpg
 
the 2-3 marks should be 180 degrees from the 1-4 marks...and that's based off of looking at a picture of the crank (and the parts diagram shows the same.)

I can't comment on the injectors as I have never had to R&R them on that engine...I'd be inclined to check with a local shop that 'knows' those marine injectors and get their opinion...could be the shop doing the overhaul missed some of the details specific to the specific application...
 
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