I HAVE A C&C 30 MK I THAT HAS A BD 722 WITH 970 HRS (I GOT IT WITH 600 IN 2003), INSTALLED 2001. I REALLY LIKE IT. THE ONLY PROBLEM I HAVE HAD IS A BADLY CORRODED ENGINE FUSE THAT I MOVED UP TO THE FRONT OF THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT TO KEEP IT EASILY ACCESSIBLE AND KEEP ANTIFREEZE OFF IT (PRESUMABLY WHAT GOT ON IT AS NOTHING ELSE COULD HAVE). EXTENDED THE WIRES (THEY DON'T SEEM TO BE MARINE GRADE/TINNED) WITH WATERPROOF CONNECTORS AND GOT A FUSE HOLDER WITH TIGHT SEALING CAP TO SOLVE THAT PROBLEM. ADDING GUAGES TO THE BASIC PANEL I HAD WAS A NO-BRAINER AND IT IS HAS BEEN OTHERWISE FLAWLESS. STAN HAS BEEN VERY SUPPORTIVE WITH ANY QUESTIONS I'VE HAD- MUCH APPRECIATED.
HAVE SOME QUESTIONS FOR STAN / OTHER MEMBERS.
1) WHAT LEVEL OF FUEL FILTRATION ARE MOST USING FOR THE PRIMARY FILTER(I'M USING A RACOR 120 / 2 MICRON NOW)?
2) IS 10 MICRONS ADEQUATE FOR THE PRIMARY?
3) WHAT IS THE FILTRATION LEVEL OF THE BETA SECONDARY FILTER?
4) ARE MOST OWNERS USING THE RECOMMENDED 1000 HR MARK FOR CLEANING/TESTING INJECTORS AND CHECKING COMPRESSION OR DO YOU SUBSCRIBE TO THE NIGEL CALDER APPROACH OF, IF IT'S RUNNING WELL, DON'T MESS WITH IT BUT AS SOON AS SOMETHING CHANGES, JUMP ON IT IMMEDIATELY?
MINE STARTS INSTANTANEOUSLY WITHOUT FAIL, RUNS SMOOTHLY, IDLES FINE, AND NEVER MISSES A BEAT. IT GETS OIL/FILTER EVERY 6 MONTHS, PRIMARY FUEL FILTER EVERY YEAR (~125 HRS), SECONDARY FUEL AT 600 HRS, ANTIFREEZE ~ EVERY 24 MONTHS, ANNUAL ZINC (USUALLY AT 50 % LOSS THEN), AIR FILTER AT ~24-36 MONTHS, ANNUAL TRANS. OIL CHANGE, STACK CLEANING AND PUMP IMPELLER. I ADJUSTED THE VALVES AT 650 HRS (STRAIGHT FORWARD AFTER YOU ESTABLISH TDC AT THE BALANCER). I DO ALL THE WORK MYSELF AND I HAVE NEVER HAD THE ENGINE OIL ANALYZED, ALTHOUGH MIGHT BE A GOOD IDEA FOR ESTABLISHING A BASELINE SINCE IT IS RUNNING WELL .
I CAN'T SEE ANY REASON TO START PULLING INJECTORS NOW AS THERE HAS BEEN NO CHANGE IN FUNCTION SINCE I GOT IT A 600 HRS (OIL PRESSURE HAS REMAINED AT 40, OPERATING TEMP USUALLY 170). ANY THOUGHTS/EXPERIENCE?
Hello Andy, I'll answer your questions in point form for you.
1) A few years ago Beta Marine changed from the glass fuse holder to a blade type for reliability and last year the harness was changed to locate the fuse on the top of the flywheel housing. Now it is easy to see and thus to check.
2) The on engine filter is 10 micron and I suggest that you change your Racor to a 10 or a 30 micron element when you next service your fuel system.
3) If the engine is running fine I would not remove the injectors for a check. We have had commercial users with 5000 hours between injector service and it all comes down to being clean when you service the fuel filters and having good fuel. A few customers swear by different fuel system cleaners (additives) by Chevron but I have no personal experience with these products. I have used CRC diesel fuel therapy and Stanadyne all season diesel fuel conditioner and both of these are products that I can recommend.
It seems to me that you have a well thought out maintenance schedule and will reap the benefits of this when everything is running fine 5, 10 and 15 years from now.
Thanks for getting back to me. Have a friend in my marina with ~ 2 yr old 722 and will pass info along to him. As an afterthought, do you recommend changing motor mounts routinely (like ~5 yrs) or just when you have obvious deterioration, movement, vibration? Have there been changes in design in the last 5 yrs and are there upgrades that may smooth idling?
There is no reason to replace the mounts if there is no obvious deterioration. Your rough idle may stem from a number of reasons. Assuming that the rough idle is in neutral only then check the idle speed. It should be between 900 and 950 RPM. It also wont hurt to add one of the products that I mentioned before to your fuel. Be careful not to overdose the fuel. Also check that there are no loose bolts on the mounts.
If your rough idle is in gear then check the idle speed, engine alignment and condition of mounts etc.
There have been no real changes to these engines for a number of years. The only obvious change is that the fuel filter is now mounted on the front of the engine like our larger models. The combustion chambers on the latest engines are slightly different to meet the latest emission specs.
