This past Sunday after a lovely sail in NY Harbor, I noticed a strong smell of fuel in the cockpit and engine compartment. We had been motoring hard (about 2500 rpm) for the last 30 minutes or so as we were fighting a very strong ebb current to get back to our marina.
The engine is a Westerbeke 27A, from 1987.
Yesterday I went to the boat to see if I could find the source of the smell/leak… the odor had subsided after almost 24 hours. After checking every fuel line/system connection, and all seemed to be dry/fine giving no indication of a leak, and no evidence of a leak under/around the fuel tank or floor of the engine compartment.
I did find what seems to be a very very slow seepage of fuel at one of the fuel injector’s banjo bolt… after wiping away the very slight amount of fuel on this injector, I ran the engine for a few minutes at idle, then increased the rpms to around 1500 for a few minutes… there seemed to be the slightest hint of fuel at the banjo bolt but it barely shows on a piece of paper towel..
Thoughts?
If I try to tighten this banjo bolt a bit, if it isn’t already properly snug, do I risk something - i.e. changing the fuel flow into the injector?
Or does the banjo bolt just hold the injector assembly together?
Photos attached -
All knowledgeable input appreciated!
Thank you,
Peter Grabow
S/V CAKE WALK III
1987 30U 430
Jersey City, NJ
What you don’t want to do is to score those flat surfaces so use a scrubby of some type. Also, be careful of getting material/dirt in the line or injectors. Since that engine has en electric lift pump, place the fitting on a rag and turn the key on for a second to flush out any debris.
Joe Valinoti
S/V iL Gatto NS30U #221
Sea Harbour YC
Oriental, NC USA
Thank you all for your input.
Sounds fairly straight forward as long as the parts come apart easily.
Should I replace the banjo bolt as well as the washers while I am at it?
I am assuming that the washers are ‘self-sealing’ and no gasket paste, etc should be used as this may get inside the injector and foul things up, correct?
Peter
S/V CAKE WALK III
1987 30U 430
Jersey City, NJ
