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Cummins 480 CE engine problem

Discussion in 'Engines' started by Dr. Ron, Oct 23, 2012.

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  1. Dr. Ron, Oct 23, 2012
    #1
    Dr. Ron

    Dr. Ron New Member

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    I just bought a 2004 Sea Ray 390 Motor yacht with twin diesel Cummins engines. I hired a captain and crew to bring it to Galveston, Texas from Stuart, Florida. The engines performed great for the 10 day trip and they twice changed the Racon fuel filters along the way. Saturday I took her to get fuel the next week and they ran great. We changed the racons Sunday morning and she started up great, and operated normally at clutch speed.
    When I tried to power up, the starboard enging did not respond and it stayed at idle. We came back to the slip and checked the linkage to the electrical actuator (?) and all look to be operational.
    Has anyone else had this occur?
    And if so, where should we check first?
    Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
  2. K1W1, Oct 23, 2012
    #2
    K1W1

    K1W1 Senior Member

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    Hi,

    Did you get all the air out of the Racors?

    Why are you changing them so often?
  3. Dr. Ron, Oct 23, 2012
    #3
    Dr. Ron

    Dr. Ron New Member

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    The Racon filters had to be changed because the boat had been setting for a while and had all sorts of growth in them. I did both (port and starboard) Racons the same and I believe that I did get all of the air out. I ordered new engine mounted fuel filters and plan on changing them this weekend.
  4. Capt Ralph, Oct 23, 2012
    #4
    Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    How fine of filters were you replacing on the Racors? 30, 10, 2 mic?
    Were the filters just stained or covered in mud? Bowls drained? Any color in the exhaust?
    It's air or fuel starvation from what evidence you have posted. It could be other things but no conclusions can be drawn from your notes.
    Also CYA; Any warranties? Dealer or Broker agreements to protect your assets with?
    It should be something simple after such a wonderful ride (you didn't call me), but document everything you have done and are doing, JIC.

    Please keep us up also,
    rc
  5. Pascal, Oct 23, 2012
    #5
    Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

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    If the engine remains at dead idle I d start with a control issue. Diesnt sound like an engine problem

    If electronic control shut them down (circuit breaker), turn off that engine battery switch too to reset everything
  6. dsharp, Oct 24, 2012
    #6
    dsharp

    dsharp Senior Member

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    You need to figure out if they are running the fuel through a factory filter before it goes through the Racor filter or the other way around. There shouldn't be any old fuel in the tanks if the boat was just delivered from Florida. Unless you got a load of water there shouldn't be any reason to change filters that often. A bad fuel problem should have cropped on the trip over if there was a problem. Have you talked to the delivery captain about fuel issues?
  7. Capt J, Oct 24, 2012
    #7
    Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    If the tanks have algae growing on the sides of the tanks, you will be changing filters that often. In a sea, the sloshing of the fuel generally dislodges the algae growing on the sides of the tanks. With the 2003 61' Viking SC I ran from Ft. Laud to Wisconsin, we had to change fuel filters (primaries) for every single tank of fuel we ran through the boat, for all 14 days of the trip. We started with chunks of algae the first day, but even towards the end of the trip the filters were totally black with algae. We got away not changing them through the Erie Canal for 3 days, because it was all idle speed and we went through about 300 gallons of fuel total for all 3 days.

    If you have changed the racor's 3 times and have never changed the secondary fuel filters you can bet that they are completely clogged with Algae. If you're running 30 micron racor's, you can only get away with changing the racors twice (maximum) without changing the secondaries....I usually change secondaries. I would start there.

    Cummins are finnicky about fuel filters and it is where I would look first, it's easy to change the secondaries and they need to be done anyways. See if that engine turns up rpm's in neutral, if that is that case, it's probably not in the engine controls. If it doesn't it's somewhere in the engine controls.
  8. Dr. Ron, Oct 25, 2012
    #8
    Dr. Ron

    Dr. Ron New Member

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    Secondary filters are next

    I will be changing the secondary fuel filters Sunday. However, I still think there must be something in the electronics that is preventing any response other than idle regardless of being in gear (forward or reverse) or in neutral.
  9. Pascal, Oct 25, 2012
    #9
    Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

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    Secondaries are indeed a good idea considering the boat is new to you but if you do not get any change in RPM at all, it has to be a control issue. I d solve that first.
  10. Dr. Ron, Oct 25, 2012
    #10
    Dr. Ron

    Dr. Ron New Member

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    Electronic Safeguard?

    I agree and do you know if the SmartCraft system has a guardian mode to protect the engine incase something is not right? That would make sense.
  11. Capt Doug, Oct 27, 2012
    #11
    Capt Doug

    Capt Doug New Member

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    Dr Ron
    Dont you just love electronics?? If the Cummins engine see's an active code it will decide if it is a critical (no oil presure, oil level, very high engine temp or no coolant) or non critical (all other headach problems). If it is a critical problem it will not allow any engine speed other than idle to rotate the prop or it will shut down the engine each time it is started. There is a "Data Link" wires that comunicate from sensors. This needs to be active and working( the green and yellow wires that are twisted together). Also if you had a lot of junk pumped into the system there might be pump damage, but an eratic engine speed. I think since the engine is holding the same speed its an electronic or data link issue.
    Doug:)
  12. Dr. Ron, Oct 27, 2012
    #12
    Dr. Ron

    Dr. Ron New Member

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    Lost signal?

    I have spoken with Cummins and they think the computer has lost its signal as well. He says it is a potentiometer that looks at travel and not throttle demand and if for some reason sometimes it looses where it is. The fix is to turn on the key, go from idle position to full throttle and back to idle and see if it recalibrates itself. The advance to full idle should take about 5 to 8 seconds and let it set there for 2 seconds and gently pull it back to idle. Than start the engine and see if it will respond. Sometimes this happens when people disconnect the wires there and it looses the memory. He also asked if we had any battery codes coming up on the SmartCraft. This is something I will check tomorrow.
    More to follow I am sure.
  13. CSkipR, Nov 11, 2012
    #13
    CSkipR

    CSkipR Member

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    I assume you filled the racor filters back up with fuel before replacing the tops back on. If it was me I would loosen top and make sure it has fuel all the way to top of racor before trying a bunch of other things. This exact thing has happened to me before.