crank-starting a diesel engine- Safe or Unsafe

[roblanford]

I had a 1 cyl BMW diesel in a 27' Nichole trimaran. It's e-starter/generetor did not work so I had to hand start it every time. It had a compression release that would allow 3 turns of the crank handle to get up to speed, then automatically close the valves. Worked 1st time every time.

This one might be a challenge to turn over:

Each cyl. has it's own comp release, and each injector had it's own fuel cutout.

[roverhi]

I hand cranked a Volvo MD2B for more than 5 years. The Dynamotor fell off because of broken bolts in the block. Would've had to pull the engine to get at the bolts which wasn't in the cards in the Marquesas. Started hand cranking it and found it so easy, never bothered to fix the starter/dynamotor.

All I had to do was pop the compression releases, push down the cold start button, set the throttle a little above idle, then crank the engine up to as many rpm as I could get. Once I had the engine was up to speed, drop the compression lever on one cylinder, and then the other after the first had caught on. Almost always started the first try. Hand started an MD3B once. It was doable but took a lot more strength to get that third cylinder rotating. The secret, I'm sure, with the Volvo's was the very large flywheel. The engine had enough inertia that you didn't have to crank it while you dropped the compression release.

If I was going to do some serious cruising would try and find a SABB engine. They are dead simple to maintain, designed for hand starting and the variable pitch prop allows a relatively low hp engine to push a farily large boat.

Aloha
Peter O.

[cooper]

The engine can't kick the start lever backwards as there is a one way notch in the lever that engages a cross pin on the engine pulley in one direction only.

this is exactly the reason why it can get you if it spins backwards.