The Engine Lives! EP#405
March 29, 2026 · 39 min · 46 views
Sailboat rides wave under moonlit sky, mountains afar
What this video covers
Jerome Rand, solo aboard the Westsail 32 Into Oblivion, diagnoses and fixes a recurring fuel-starvation problem on the boat's Perkins 4108 diesel after the engine sat dormant for nearly two months since December. Symptoms were slow starting in warm weather and the engine surging and cutting out after roughly two minutes of running — a pattern Rand had managed on previous passages, including a 20-mile stretch of the Intracoastal into Beaufort, South Carolina, by manually pumping the lift pump every minute from the helm.16:26 Suspecting the mechanical lift pump's internal lever had worn out, he ordered a replacement; when he pulled the old pump, the lever had a half-inch of play in every direction against the new part's near-zero tolerance.23:13 He installed the new lift pump, replaced fuel filters, bled the injectors by cracking them and cranking the starter in short five-to-six-second bursts to protect it, and after roughly 15 minutes of attempts the engine fired.25:06 He also notes dirty fuel tanks as a long-term concern and budgets around $20,000 for an eventual Beta 38 engine swap including a new prop and shaft.18:07 A worn lift-pump lever — detectable by the absence of rhythmic pulsing when the priming lever is depressed — can mimic air-leak symptoms and cause intermittent fuel starvation.
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