bmc diesel engines from 60's 70's

[V_King]

Hi,

from electric cars/bikes of the future to the dirty old diesels of the past.

I might need to revive an old bmc 1500 diesel, which was under water for a bit due to flood damage until I get it under it's own power to the garage. Anybody have experience spannering them?
Would changing oil, diesel, filters and checking for water in combustion chambers be sufficient to try to get it going for a day? As I understand the starter and alternator might be shot as well.

Also do they need/have any electronics apart from starter motor and alternator hooking up to the battery?

Found the bmc engine rebuild manual online, so will go through it tonight to see whats it made of.

thanks

[Earwig]

Wouldn't a mate with a car and tow rope (or trailer) be an easier option. You could do additional damage to the engine if its not been completely dried out

[Tonibe63]

Old skill diesel with mechanical feul pump, mechanical injection pump and mechanical engine/feul shut off valve.
All you need is a battery to power the glow plugs and starter motor. Once it's running you don't need any electrics at all.
Usefully (but poorly lit) YouTube vid of how to bleed feul system which also gives a visual understanding of where the components are located

[diggermanbob]

That old diesel was also used in a lot of boats , if you take the injectors out , drain fuel and change filter , drain oil and change filter , fill with new oil , see if it will turn over with the injectors out , if it does refit the injectors bleed the fuel system and you should be good to go , some of the Bmc engines were fitted with heat start plugs in the inlet manifold to assist in cold starting , you might need to change that as well , I used to work on these A Lot !!! Early London taxis also had Bmc units. (thumbs)

[hotbulb]

That old diesel was also used in a lot of boats , if you take the injectors out , drain fuel and change filter , drain oil and change filter , fill with new oil , see if it will turn over with the injectors out , if it does refit the injectors bleed the fuel system and you should be good to go , some of the Bmc engines were fitted with heat start plugs in the inlet manifold to assist in cold starting , you might need to change that as well , I used to work on these A Lot !!! Early London taxis also had Bmc units. (thumbs)

That sounds like good advice - once you've been through that, good old EasyStart might help (not liked by the purists, but as a one-off, it could be helpful, particularly if the electrical cold-start equipment isn't good).
A manual is available at http://www.internalfire.com/
(You'll probably need to register before you can download the manual)

[92kk k100lt 193214]

I know nothing about them in cars but had to deal with plenty of them in boats.

Some of them had no electrics at all, crank handle starter and a decompression lever, 'cotton wool' in the intake to help it start from cold as many had no heater plugs or unconnected ones, stopping was by decompression lever again. Actually very reliable and would go forever.

Lots of these got immersed in sea water and would run again BUT needed very careful clean out. Stuff can block some oil ways so if you do take the advice about firing up check slowly that it will in fact run over and that you are getting oil pressure. Always injectors out so you get no risk of a hydraulic lock. Piston rings can get stuck to bores and break if a heavy handed attempt is made to turn if over. Make sure you clean it all the way through and turn it over by hand to get oil every where.

[V_King]

Thanks everybody for the responses. The engine is indeed a marine version of BMC 1500 and I am a happy owner of my first narrow boat B) 4mph speed limit is not for fainthearted

The engine was unfortunately under water, but the whole engine compartment looks reasonably good and engine looks in good nick from outside. Tomorrow will drain the oil and see what comes out, will get injectors and starter motor/alternator out. The only deviation I noticed from the workshop manual is that the oil filter is not cartridge type, but with metal casing. Also I was recommended to use morris sae 30 oil, but wonder if I could use some cheaper diesel oil and do a few oil changes every few hours to get the crap out.

92kk k100lt 193214 would it be a good idea to pour some diesel into the combustion chambers with injectors out to loosen up the compression rings and turn the engine for bit on starter to get the shit out if there is any?
Also, do I need to dust off my imperial spanners for the beast?

Cheers

[92kk k100lt 193214]

Having in recent years tried to resurrect a CX500 DONT turn it over on the starter until you know for certain it will turn over freely. I would put new oil in and turn it over only by hand. You need to be sure the oil ways are clear. Let the diesel soak in for a good few days but you have to get it out again to avoid hydraulic lock

What about camshaft drive as in timing chain? Cant be in a good state. Never been inside one of these engines but the absence of electrics made it theft proof. No one could start them unless they knew how.

[Mike101]

Pop over to a website called www.ybw.com

On there you will see a forum and a motorboat page. You will get every answer you want to know on you engine.

Mike

[V_King]

Well got the engine going Runs quite sweet. A bit of smoke, but they all seem to be smoking a bit and all the shit has to burn out anyways. Got a few bits and bobs to sort out, but my main worry at the moment is oil pressure. Does anybody know the part number for oil pressure switch? As the current one is dead.

Also anybody could recommend the classic car electronics wiring books? Need to wire the new alternator and the rest of the engine controls.