Over the past year, River Canal Rescue, says it’s witnessed an uncharacteristic peak in fuel-related component breakdowns due to a new problem callled ‘sticky fuel’. RCR said its marine engineers now respond to two-three cases per week on the inland waterways and managing director, Stephanie Horton, is keen to alert the wider marine community to the issue.
“We first became aware of sticky fuel when we had two identical jobs where fuel injectors were diagnosed as needing an overhaul, yet their replacements stopped working within a week, and the injection pumps were found to have failed even though the diesel was clear and bright,” she said.
The engineers found in both cases, the injector pump racks had seized solid and the nozzles were blocked and when replacing the plunger filter head, they found the fuel had a sticky, syrup-like substance. Alongside stuck injection pump racks, injectors and filter head plunger failures, there was also cases of fuel filters blocking with wax inside them.
Following discussions with several leading fuel analysis companies, RCR is now working with a university lab to use IR spectrum analysers and a range of samples/treatments to see if the cause of sticky fuel can be identified.
RCR has been approached by owners of sea-going vessels, many reporting similar issues.
Andy and Lindsay Reeves have owned their boat Jiggers, a Bruce Roberts Mauritius 43ft steel ketch, for 13 years. Moored in Cardiff Bay, the vessel has a Volvo Penta MD22 60hp diesel engine and carries 1000L of diesel in two 500L tanks, built into the hull. They’d never had an isue with their engine before last summer, it was always regularly serviced and whenever the tanks were filled, half a small bottle of diesel treatment was added to each one. Whilst on a trip from Cardiff to Guernsey, they noticed the engine needed some throttle to start and then a few days later it stalled and wouldn’t run. The pump was found to have a yellow sticky substance throughout which was very difficult to remove and the fuel had a very odd smell similar to turps or paint brush cleaner.
Andy said: ”Fortunately the didn’t happen at an entrance into a rocky channel and we didn’t require assistance from others. Whatever this problem is, it needs urgent action to find the cause. An engine failure is not only extremely costly, it could potentially impact safety.”
