NL Genny cylinders full of oil.

[Olly75]

So Ive finally got round to connecting up my Northern lights generator but when I tried to start it she wouldnt turn over. With a sinking heart I bled the fuel system again, then tried jumping from the house bank with no luck.

She wouldn't crank by hand so I pulled the injectors and found the first two cylinders full of oil. With no compression she now turns easily by hand and with the starter (not much oil is being blown out of the injectors though) but I cnat tell if its pure oil in there or a mix of oil and water.

So Im wondering how the oil has got in and any advice on what my next steps should be?

[a64pilot]

Check the oil level, if it’s way high it may actually be full of water, oil floats.

[Olly75]

I filled it from empty (it had been sitting out if the boat for a few months with the sump drain open) and it took three litres as per the owners manual, so assume it's oil only.

But will drain it all down again and let it settle overnight to double check for water.

If it is just oil what would you suggest I do next?

[a64pilot]

Was it preserved by someone maybe? Cause a smart guy will put lots of oil into a cylinder for preservation.
I just don’t see how oil can get into the cylinder of a non running engine unless way overserviced, or it was put there intentionally.

[model 10]

For sure. Lots of guys put oil in the cylinder or inlet and crank it over before storage. I got a good deal on an engine once because, they take a while to stop smoking, so the guy just dumped the engine.

[RaymondR]

Stored upside down??

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by RaymondR

Stored upside down??

Ok you got me

[Olly75]

I'm new to this but I definitely didn't store it upside down!

So speaking to neighbours the thinking is that the valves leaked oil into the cylinders when I filled it up.

Took the rocker cover off and discovered that the gasket separating the air intake from the valves was mis seated, replaced the gasket and put it all back together and tried starting. She fired briefly (with a certain amount of smoke out the back) so think I didn't bleed all the air out the fuel system

Will rebleed tomorrow and fire her again to see what happens.

[seabreez]

Originally Posted by Olly75

I'm new to this but I definitely didn't store it upside down!

So speaking to neighbours the thinking is that the valves leaked oil into the cylinders when I filled it up.

Took the rocker cover off and discovered that the gasket separating the air intake from the valves was mis seated, replaced the gasket and put it all back together and tried starting. She fired briefly (with a certain amount of smoke out the back) so think I didn't bleed all the air out the fuel system

Will rebleed tomorrow and fire her again to see what happens.

Now the story is trying to make sense... but who placed the gasket...?

[a64pilot]

No, it doesn’t.
Intake gasket is outside of the valve cover on any engine I have ever seen.
The valves have valve seals, who’s specific purpose is to seal the oil from the head area from getting into the combustion chamber. On old engines you can tell when these seals are leaking cause an engine will smoke on start up, and then stop.
But you can’t get oil into a cylinder from adding oil to the crankcase, even if there are no seals you could only get a tiny amount.

[Olly75]

It was replaced before my time so no way to tell who did it. Allegedly the genny had never had any work done other than servicing but i realised sometime ago to take everything i was told about the boat with a grain of salt.....

Other than bad maintenance, how would the misaligned valve cover gasket allow oil into the cylinders?

[Olly75]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

No, it doesn’t.
I take gasket is outside of the valve cover on any engine I have ever seen.
The valves have valve seals, who’s specific purpose is to seal the oil from the head area from getting into the combustion chamber. On old engines you can tell when these seals are leaking cause an engine will smoke on start up, and then stop.
But you can’t get oil into a cylinder from adding oil to the crankcase, even if there are no seals you could only get a tiny amount.

When you say old, is that in the number of years or the number of hours?
It was installed in 2000 and allegedly has 340 hours on the clock, and hadnt been run (before I bought it) in at least 4 years. So could the lack of running allowed the valve seals to have withered? (Im assuming that the are rubber of some sort.....)

[seabreez]

Originally Posted by Olly75

When you say old, is that in the number of years or the number of hours?
It was installed in 2000 and allegedly has 340 hours on the clock, and hadnt been run (before I bought it) in at least 4 years. So could the lack of running allowed the valve seals to have withered? (Im assuming that the are rubber of some sort.....)

I just rebuilt a 250 cu in chevy 6 cylinder that was stopped for 9 years and the valve seals were still good

[seabreez]

Originally Posted by Olly75

It was replaced before my time so no way to tell who did it. Allegedly the genny had never had any work done other than servicing but i realised sometime ago to take everything i was told about the boat with a grain of salt.....

Other than bad maintenance, how would the misaligned valve cover gasket allow oil into the cylinders?

I have no clue... there are mis te ry (s) out there and some owners cannot explain them...

[a64pilot]

My 4JHE is 30 years old and near as I can tell the seals don’t leak.
I bet they are as hard as a rock, but don’t seem to leak.

I suspicion that someone placed your generator into long term storage and put oil into the cylinders.
I see this as a good thing, not bad, cause if that is what happened it seems to point to good preventative maintenance.

A lot of people just seem to turn one off, then three years later complain when the motor won’t turn over.