Pickling an Engine

Well I have been working my normal job this week, so I haven't been able to make any progress on the boat. I did think you may like to hear a little about my success in bring my diesel back to life after being underwater for 3 weeks.

I'll heard of many other salvaged diesel being saved by the process of "pickling". The key is you get on it as soon as possible and not let the engine sit. In my case the boat was refloated on Friday at around 3:00. I would have loved to start immediately at the owners dock but at his request waited until the following day when we were out of his creek. The first part is actually pretty clean. You suck out the water and old oil and fill the engine with diesel fuel. And I do mean fill - right up to the top of the valve lifter cover. You also remove the injectors and pour diesel into the top of each cylinder. Then you let it sit overnight. The starter is removed - washed in fresh water and dried - some use an oven -- I used a hair dryer.

The next day the fun begins. You disconnect all fuel line and purge the lines with fresh diesel -- I used a yellow fuel container as my new tank. Don't forget to run the recirc lines back to the container. I didn't at first and had diesel returning to the already filled fuel tanks on the boat and out the vent.

You drain the diesel fuel from the oil pan and spin the engine with the injectors out - to get the fuel out of the cylinders. Next to add new oil and bleed the injectors. And then you pray......

I wish it was as simple as I made it sound but it wasn't. Injectors put in had to be pulled back out -- the starter overheated so I pulled it off to check it. It almost ran --- spinning but never catching for about an hour of tries. It was not bleeding well enough and during this time unburnt diesel ended up in the water.
I used detergents to clean up the mess but felt a little like BP.

Finally it happened it really started to fire -- and it ran -- and it ran well! It was pumping cooling water, the exhaust was smoke free and it sounded like pure music to my ears. Here is the motor running for the first time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=su16L-HsUbs

Ok - I was a little punchy after working many hours on that engine but I was one happy camper!

So since then I have started the engine almost every time I visit the boat - even on the hard. I have changed all the fluids several times and have bathed the engine in WD40.

While I will need a new alternator, control panel, and wiring -- not having to pull and disassemble the engine is a big plus.