250 Hour Engine Service

Execute the following procedures in order...

1. Warm up the Engine
2. Extract Engine Oil
3. Change Engine Oil Filter
4. Add New Engine Oil
5. Change External (CAV) Fuel Filter Element
6. Change On-Engine Fuel Filter
7. Bleed the Engine Fuel Lines
8. Check Engine Bolts
9. Check Engine Alternator Belt
10. Check / Replace Raw Water Impeller
11. Clean Raw Water Strainer
12. Check / Adjust Engine Coolant Level
13. Check / Replace Engine Exhaust Anode

Check / Replace Engine Exhaust Anode

This is a holding post - this procedure needs work and better supplies.

Check / Adjust Engine Coolant Level

Parts / Tools

•  Coolant concentrate, if required.

Concentrate - needs diluting (best with ion-free water like from the watermaker.

Method

• Wait until the engine is cool.
• Open the coolant filler cap - check that the coolant level is at the top.



Coolant filler cap and reservoir.

Check the reservoir - level should be greater than 1/3rd full.

If either of these are low, make up a solution from the concentrate - at 50% - and top up.

Clean Raw Water Strainer

Parts / Tools

• None

Port strainer - the starboard one is a different model but the principle is the same.

 Method

• Close the raw water inlet sea cock.
• Unscrew the top of the strainer and remove the strainer insert.
• With a small paintbrush in running water, clean the strainer.
• Remove any debris from the strainer body.
• Replace the strainer insert and screw on the top.
• Open the raw water inlet sea cock.

Check / Replace Raw Water Impeller

Parts / Tools

• Screwdriver
• Replacement impeller
• Impeller body seals

Impeller cover plate.

Method

• Turn off the raw water inlet sea cock.
• Unscrew the raw water impeller plate.
• Prise the impeller out gently with a flat-head screwdriver.
• Inspect the impeller. If there is any damage, replace.



Damaged impeller - needs replacing.

• Clean and replace the front plate using a new paper seal.



New impeller with vanes in correct orientation.

• Open the raw water inlet sea cock.

Check Engine Alternator Belt

Parts / Tools

• Spanners / sockets to fit adjustment bolts.
• Replacement belt, if required. (See paper binder for part numbers).

Method

• Inspect belt for damage. Some wear is expected but, if it looks like it may fail, it needs replacing.
• Swing the alternator to adjust tension. It should be possible to just rotate the belt forward by 90' in the middle of its top span.



If you can just rotate this by 90', it is at the right tension.



Belt tension adjustment points.

• If the belt has stretched to the point where it can no longer be adjusted with the alternator, replace the belt.

Check Engine Bolts

Engine Mounts

• Check that corrosion has not damaged the integrity of the mount.
• Check that all nuts are tight.



Engine mount - these are the bolts that need to be checked.

Engine Bolts

• Inspect external bolts on the engine. Corrosion should be low and they should be tight.
• Stand back and do a visual inspection of the engine looking for out-of-place or missing parts, like fittings, excess corrosion.



Stand back and look over the engine.

Hose Clamps

• Tighten any loose engine-related hose clamps. These are mostly for fuel, water (raw and coolant), and exhaust.
• Replace any damaged clamps.

Bleed the Engine Fuel Lines

Parts / Tools

• Various scanners to crack the bleed screws.
• Rags for cleanup.

Method

• If any work has been done on the fuel lines, it s possible that air would have entered the lines. This needs to be removed; at best it will require excessive cranking to start the engine potentially draining or damaging the starter batteries, at worse the engine will not start at all.
• The principle is to use the bulb pump to push fuel from the tank to the high-pressure pump past 3 bleed points. There is a bleed point on each fuel filter, and also one on the engine itself.



Bulb pump.

• The method is to pump the bulb pump while holding each bleed screw slightly open in turn. Continue pumping while air or bubbles leak from the screw. As soon as liquid-only comes out if the screw, tighten it while maintaining pressure via the pump.
• External (CAV) filter. The bleed screw is the larger of the two on top of the filter.



CAV filter bleed screw.

• On-engine filter. The bleed screw is on top of the filter.



On-engine filter bleed screw.

• Engine high-pressure pump. The bleed screw secures a banjo fitting to the pump.



Engine high-pressure pump bleed fitting.

• If the engine does not start, or starts and then stops, repeat the purge - there are probably remaining pockets of air.

Change On-Engine Fuel Filter

Parts / Tools

• Replacement spin-on filter element.
• Oil filter wrench and socket wrench.
• Rags for cleanup.

New filter element and wrench.

Method

The filter.

• Pre-prepare the filter element by smearing a small amount of clean engine oil on the seal.
• Use the oil filter wrench to remove the old element. Keep this as level as possible to minimise fuel spillage and discard the fuel in the filter. The filter should unscrew fairly easily - if it seems to need a lot of force, check that the wrench hasn't bound on a fitting behind the filter.



Wrench in place.

• Screw in the new filter making it hand-tight.
• The fuel lines will need to be bled of air before the engine can be started.

Change External (CAV) Fuel Filter Element

Parts / Tools

• Replacement filter element with seals.
• Medium-size shifter.
• Waste container for spilled fuel.

The filter.

Method

• Holding a container under the filter glass, undo the water drain screw. Catch and dispose of fuel as it runs out.



Water drain screw.

• Remove the water-drain bolt from the base of the filter.
• Loosen the vent screw at the top of the filter, drain fuel currently in filter, and discard.
• Remove complete filter / glass assembly.
• Discard the old filter and seals.
• Clean the parts that will be refitted - glass, base, screws.
• Reassemble filter with new element and seals.



Cleaned ready for reassembly.

• Refit assembly to the filter body.
• Air will need to be bled from the fuel lines before starting the engine.

Add New Engine Oil

Parts / Tools

• Funnel
• Marker pen
• Rags for cleanup.
• Engine Oil. 15W40 rated for diesels. Most usefully, this comes in a 5l container, there is a transparent section to estimate oil remaining, and has a pouring spout.

Parts.

Method

• The engine takes 3 1/2 litres of oil. If the container has a sight window, mark the level of oil which should remain after this has been delivered - usually 1 1/2l.



Mark on can. 3.5l will be delivered from a 5l can. The mark is at 1.5l.

• Unscrew the engine oil filler cap and insert the funnel (this is useful even if the oil can has a pouring spout).
• Pour in oil until the can mark is reached. If there is no window, estimate the amount delivered erring on the low side.
• Wait 5 minutes (to allow the oil to run into the dump) and check the level with the dipstick.
• Add more / check the level until the dipstick indicates that it is at 80% of the top of its range.



Dipstick. The flat area indicates the acceptable range.

• Replace the oil filler cap and warm up the engine. During warmup, check the oil pressure light and engine sound. If there is a hint of a problem, stop the engine and diagnose. If a mistake was made, an engine without oil will destroy itself very quickly.
• When the engine is warm, recheck / adjust the oil level to 100% of the dipstick range.

Extract Engine Oil

Parts

• Waste oil container. e.g. An empty 10l drinking water container from the supermarket.
• Clear hose. i.d. 8mm, length 600mm
• Small shifter
• Rag for cleanup

5l water container.

Method

• Warm up engine.
• Remove cap at top of oil drain pump.




Oil drain pump.

• Push hose over oil drain pump outlet and feed the other end into the waste oil container. The wast oil container Inlet should be below the height of the pump outlet.



With hose fitted.

• Remove the engine oil-filler cap. This allows air to displace the oil as it's removed.



Oil filler cap.

• Pump out the old oil. Oil is removed on the up-stroke.
• If any oil leaks from the pump, wipe it with the rag.
• Keep pumping until no more oil exits the pump.
• Wait 5 minutes to let any excess oil drain into the sump and pump out again.
• There should be about 3 1/2 litres of waste oil.
• Remove the hose.
• Replace the pump cap and tighten.

Waste oil. Hose secure with a rag plug to minimise spillage.

Change Engine Oil Filter

Parts / Tools

• Oil filter removal tools. The filter could be mounted anywhere between hand tight and needing an oil filter wrench plus socket wrench. Possibly a long flat-head screwdriver.
• Rags for cleanup.
• Heavy duty plastic bags for disposal.
• Clean engine oil. Just a smear on the new seals so use a finger on the cap of a new oil container.
• New oil filter. See binder for part numbers.

Filter and wrench.

Method

Location on the engine - below the alternator.

• Clean the old filter with a rag. It is likely covered in rubber dust from the alternator belt. Clean this up so that none gets in the engine.
• Prepare the new filter by smearing clean engine oil on its rubber seal.
• As the filter comes off, oil will drip from the filter and the engine. Prepare the space with plastic and /or rags to contain the mess.
• The next stage depends on how tight the old filter is.
• If hand tight, unscrew by hand.
• If tighter, connect the oil filter removal tool to the socket wrench and unscrew.
• If proving difficult, it is possible to hammer a screwdriver through the filter to provide torque. This is messy but it does the job.
• Quickly screw the new filter into the engine (to minimise spillage) and make hand tight only.
• Dispose of the old filter and other materials.

Warm up the engine

There are two scenarios where this should be done:

• Before motoring. This ensures the engine is up to operating temperature and that thermal expansion is optimal. This leads to longer life for the engine.
• Before an oil change. This heats up the oil making it less viscous. It is easier to drain from the engine and more oil is likely to run out if the oil-ways and into the sump.

Turn in the engine and run at idle for about 10 minutes. While running, do a visual to make sure it is running as it should (belt runs smooth, no excess vibration) and listen to make sure it sounds as it should.

Start the engine and warm it up for 10 minutes.