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BMC 1500 what to look for and tips.


Calranthe

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On Thursday we are going to start up and have a motor around the marina/canal with our new purchase subject to seeing nothing bad.

It is a 20ft Buckingham powered by a BMC 1500 it was last serviced in 2016.

I have asked for a cold start so hopefully will be seeing it as is, I know it is a solid engine and if it has been looked after and well maintained should serve us well.

So the questions are What should I look out for, running temps, engine sounds or exhaust before we take on the boat (it is only costing £3300 so am not going with a survey)

I have already checked the boat out itself and it all looks solid.

Also once I have it (I do not mind getting my hands dirty and messing around) how should I best look after it, what are the quirks and long term issues.

Thank you for any advice given :)

Also a not too expensive tool kit suggestion

Edited by Calranthe
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Many older 1.5s produce white smoke for a short while after a cold start, as long as it starts easily from cold (say 30 seconds of heat) then I would say do not worry about the smoke. Blue smoke tends to indicate burning oil but carbon in the exhaust caused by injection problems can also LOOK blue.

I think that this will be a wet exhaust boat so make sure there is always plenty of water coming from the exhaust when running. Lots of steam from the exhaust will suggest a lack of raw water leading to potential overheating.

If this is a direct raw water cooled boat (not so likely but you never know) then I think it shoudl have something like  65C thermostats so expect it to run between 70 & 80C.

If its a heat exchanger (indirect raw water) boat then I may have an 82C stat in it, expect it to run around 85 to 90C.

Oil pressure be happy with anything in excess of about 40 psi hot.

How to look after it apart from regular oil & filter changes to INCLUDE the sediment trap and strainer that is usually under the domed cap on the lift pump.

Keep spare rubber heat exchanger caps, especially if it a Polar manifold/heat exchanger. Learn how to make Bowman ones fit.

Just once remove and check/clean the the injector pump drive oil jet and strainer that's located below the back of the manifold (see manual).

As long as its starting OK now next winter remove the glow plugs, ream the carbon out of the holes using a drill about half a mm larger than the glowplug tip, test on a 12V battery, when cool coat thread and tip in copper grease & refit. Repeat every two or three years.

Check the impeller in the raw water pump and replace when the wings develop flats on the tips or cracks in their roots. In any case I would replace every two or three years.

You need AF spanners for that engine not metric so unlikely that you will get them as an "Lidle special". maybe visit boot fairs and country show stands for second hand stuff.

 

Edited by Tony Brooks
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A BMC 1500 in a 20' GRP boat is going to be quite a fast boat I think!

If it is the one I have just found sales details for, note that whilst it says it has one starter and one leisure battery, it seems to suggest the latter is disconnected.  If so, you need to find out why, and quickly get back to a situation where there are two batteries, and there is no danger of depleting your starter battery by using it to run domestic services.  It is unlikely a BMC 1500 will have the facility to hand start, I think.

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1 hour ago, alan_fincher said:

A BMC 1500 in a 20' GRP boat is going to be quite a fast boat I think!

If it is the one I have just found sales details for, note that whilst it says it has one starter and one leisure battery, it seems to suggest the latter is disconnected.  If so, you need to find out why, and quickly get back to a situation where there are two batteries, and there is no danger of depleting your starter battery by using it to run domestic services.  It is unlikely a BMC 1500 will have the facility to hand start, I think.

Battery was disconnected over winter battery testing is happening on monday afternoon.

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10 minutes ago, Calranthe said:

Battery was disconnected over winter battery testing is happening on monday afternoon.

Fair enough - it's an odd thing to put in an advert, if it only needs reconnecting.

(There should be switches that can fully isolate every battery anyway, so why "disconnect over winter", I wonder?)

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Talked to sawley from what I can tell they feel isolator switches still on some boats let a little bleed still so disconnecting was just being sure but he is checking the boat out today.

As for tools I bought a compact draper set metric/AF combined and a 6 piece combined AF spanner set.

More good news they went and did an engine test and it started fine no problems. so the Thursday trial is on.

Edited by Calranthe
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1 hour ago, Calranthe said:

Talked to sawley from what I can tell they feel isolator switches still on some boats let a little bleed still so disconnecting was just being sure but he is checking the boat out today.

As for tools I bought a compact draper set metric/AF combined and a 6 piece combined AF spanner set.

More good news they went and did an engine test and it started fine no problems. so the Thursday trial is on.

Some circuits are allowed to bypass the master switches such as a car radio memory cable, solar charging and bilge pump. The car radio will present a very small permanent drain. Some alternators also bypass the master switch and they may "leak" a small amount. Even before I fitted some solar charging turning off the master switches was all I ever did when we left the boat and it was fine over the winter but I did visit once a month to carry out maintenance and charge the batteries.

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13 minutes ago, Calranthe said:

Does anyone know where I can get hold of or download a BMC 1500 operators Manual (I have the service manual)

A quick Google gets this:

  http://www.sckruger.dk/Operator's handbook BMC 1.5-Litre Diesel Engine.pdf

or:

  https://tinyurl.com/ybu35842

though its all very dated and perhaps only partially useful in a marine environment. It does look more like a 'service manual'!!

I think this website breaks links with spaces, or even double space, such you might have to use cut and paste or use the tinyurl link

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10 hours ago, Calranthe said:

Any idea how much it costs to have a bmc 1500 serviced?

Why not book a personal maintenance course with River Canal Rescue. £170 plus parts, so the same or less as getting someone to service it and you learn how to do it in the future.

http://www.rivercanalrescue.co.uk/rcr-courses/personal-engine-maintenance/

 

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My BMC starts after 3-4 seconds heat runs evenly and smokes for about 2 minutes,  its in a 32 foot broads cruiser and is very quick I would book the course as cuthound has said above, otherwise you will always be paying top dollar, good luck hope all goes well

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Will look into the course, Boat is now ours! Yay!

Engine started after a few seconds of heat, small amount of white smoke to start with then ran clean and clear for the 20 minute  run round the Marina, only thing that does not work is the RPM gauge.

Here are some pics of the engine, will be cleaning it up this next week, replacing oil (what is best oil for the BMC 1500? ) 

 

IMG_20170601_110718.jpg

IMG_20170601_110719_1.jpg

IMG_20170601_110723.jpg

IMG_20170601_110727.jpg

IMG_20170601_110729.jpg

IMG_20170601_110737.jpg

Hmm wondered what the white on the pipe (next to last picture was).

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3 minutes ago, Calranthe said:

Hmm wondered what the white on the pipe (next to last picture was).

Evidence of a persistent leak, I'd say. 

The engine otherwise looks well looked after. Belts and injectors look as though they've been recently replaced. 

A similar white residue suggests the coolant pressure cap has been passing water on a long term basis too. You might need to add a collection bottle. There is a recent thread here on that exact subject.

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I notice the alternator LOOKS like an old Lucas ACR with the plastic back cover missing. This is not so good because if I am right there are a number exposed positive points just waiting for a screwdriver/spanner to short them out. As far as I can recall most/all  ACRs did not have a W connection to drive an electronic revcounter. Maybe someone took the cover off to look for a W connection or to fit a phase tap. If there is no lead that looks a sif it has been randomly soldered to the alternator parts then this could be why the revcounter is not working.

Some BMCs had a mechanical (cable driven) revcounter and if this boat started life with a petrol engine then the revcounter may well be unsuitable for use on a diesel.

Anyway revcounters are not vital equipment for canal use.

I would appreciate a photo of the back of the alternator because if it is an ACR then funds permitting you would probably do better with a 70 amp Lucas A127 which is a direct replacement and can be had with a W terminal. There is no way of knowing but ACRs may only have a 35 to 45 amp output AND old ones had a horrible habit of drilling a hole through the slip ring causing failure.

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It all looks clean and tidy. I put 20/50 in my 1500 when I serviced it, working on the assumption that when it was made it was the only multigrade available! I know that petrol A series engines now use 15/40 [my moggie uses this] but again when the engine was designed 20/50 was what was used. Without looking on line I cant give you the handbook answer but I am sure it will be 20/50

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54 minutes ago, peterboat said:

It all looks clean and tidy. I put 20/50 in my 1500 when I serviced it, working on the assumption that when it was made it was the only multigrade available! I know that petrol A series engines now use 15/40 [my moggie uses this] but again when the engine was designed 20/50 was what was used. Without looking on line I cant give you the handbook answer but I am sure it will be 20/50

Probably SAE 30 in summer and SAE 20 in winter but we ran the whole fleet on 20W50 so that will be fine. However 15W40 may be easier to get hold of, that will also be fine unless the engine is very worn and nothing suggests its is, the opposite in fact.

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3 hours ago, Tony Brooks said:

I notice the alternator LOOKS like an old Lucas ACR with the plastic back cover missing. This is not so good because if I am right there are a number exposed positive points just waiting for a screwdriver/spanner to short them out. As far as I can recall most/all  ACRs did not have a W connection to drive an electronic revcounter. Maybe someone took the cover off to look for a W connection or to fit a phase tap. If there is no lead that looks a sif it has been randomly soldered to the alternator parts then this could be why the revcounter is not working.

Some BMCs had a mechanical (cable driven) revcounter and if this boat started life with a petrol engine then the revcounter may well be unsuitable for use on a diesel.

Anyway revcounters are not vital equipment for canal use.

I would appreciate a photo of the back of the alternator because if it is an ACR then funds permitting you would probably do better with a 70 amp Lucas A127 which is a direct replacement and can be had with a W terminal. There is no way of knowing but ACRs may only have a 35 to 45 amp output AND old ones had a horrible habit of drilling a hole through the slip ring causing failure.

We are going down on Sunday I will try to get you a picture :).

Is this the replacement 

https://www.autoelectricsupplies.co.uk/product/909

Edited by Calranthe
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12 hours ago, Calranthe said:

We are going down on Sunday I will try to get you a picture :).

Is this the replacement 

https://www.autoelectricsupplies.co.uk/product/909

That alternator in that picture on the AES site is a lefthand mount, which is wrong for your engine. You need a righthand mount one.

Edited by bizzard
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I would use this or something of the same spec:

https://www.limekilnchandlers.co.uk/morris-golden-film-sae-10w/40-5ltr.html

(I wouldn't buy from there though! Cheaper elsewhere)

The important thing is that the oil is mineral oil rather than synthetic, and the API spec is CC - I.e. API CC. 

Modern oils have all kinds of additives and frills that you don't need and could do your engine more harm than good.

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1 hour ago, FadeToScarlet said:

I would use this or something of the same spec:

https://www.limekilnchandlers.co.uk/morris-golden-film-sae-10w/40-5ltr.html

(I wouldn't buy from there though! Cheaper elsewhere)

The important thing is that the oil is mineral oil rather than synthetic, and the API spec is CC - I.e. API CC. 

Modern oils have all kinds of additives and frills that you don't need and could do your engine more harm than good.

I used basic 20/50 from Bullseye £9.00 a gallon which was exacrly the right amount

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