Westerbeke 18 hard starting

[westwinds]

Do you have a 120 volt block heater that is in use when at the dock? That would explain easy starting even without glow plugs. At anchor the cranking and then waiting and then cranking for an easy start might be glow plugs having enough time to heat the air in the combustion swirl chamber. How long do you wait for glow plugs to warm the engine on initial cranking while at anchor? There might also be some strange wiring issue where the relay for the glow plugs does not work when first cranking. Put a volt meter or test lamp on glow plug circuit to see what is happening when the glow plugs should be in operation when you first try to start the engine.

[Aloha_float]

Originally Posted by bmm32005

Similar issue for me. I found that the diesel was draining back into the tank. Installed a check valve and starts right up


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The pick up line should have a spring loaded ball valve to prevent fuel from returning to tank...I have this on my tank. This also prevents fuel from siphoning into the boat in any case that you have a fuel system failure.


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