Switch off the Engine

Very often, we couldn't switch off our Volvo TMD22 with the key. The
change of the solenoid brought help for a couple of days. A
definitive resolution of the problem was in fact very easy: There is
a gum on the solenoid which expands when the fuel gets hot. This is
especially the case, when the engine runs a lot in idle mode (for
ex. approaching a marina and manoeuvring the boat in a berth). The
expanded gum doesn't fit any more into the fuel pipe and can't stop
the flow. The conclusion for us was to take out the solenoid,
carefully sand the gum a little bit to reduce its diameter. Since
we've done this, no problems at all.


Black exhaust-smoke on the side of the hull

To get rid of almost all black material on our hull, we've installed
an Algae-x (http://algae-x.net/), a fuel conditioner, in our system.
Since 500 generator and engine hours we haven't change any diesel
fuel filters – because there are still clean and proper (even the
Racor pre-filter) – and we had no reason to clean the hull on the
exhaust side of the boat :-)). There are other advantages, for
example no need for cleaning the tank any more, etc. This great unit
is a real pleasure …

Hanspeter & Nathalie Wehrli
SM #158 on the way to Ecuador