Throttle lever on injector pump seized.....

[Allure2sail]

Throttle lever seized this weekend in the full throttle position. Was a wild ride to my sailing overnight rendezvous (no wind). I was pouring out so much black smoke out the exhaust they thought I had a fire onboard. Once into the anchorage I pick my spot spun the boat around into a spot and killed the engine. Once the boat drifted to a stop I hit the winless to put the anchor on the bottom, slowly let out the road (all chain) until I had about 85 to 90 feet out. Problems that resulted was:

1: I could not set the anchor. If started the motor up I would have to start it in reverse. At 2,500 hundred rpms if you started in neutral and put it in gear you would bust the trans or perhaps break the coupling. I choose to leave things (anchor 22lb delta fastest) as is. During the night the wind did a 180 degree shift and I keep my fingers crossed. It did drag for a short distance but managed to reset (lucky). My chart plotter drag alarm screen looked like two "echasketch" patterns side by side by morning (very little sleep that night).

2: Problem was easy to find and fix. Disconnected the throttle cable at the injector pump lever and it moved freely at the pedestal. That meant the problem was in the linkage at the injector pump itself. The bell crank lever on the pump was seized up from years of rust. Sprayed it down with a product called "PDQ" which is a penetrating oil spray. tapped it lightly with a small plastic mallet I keep onboard, got it moving back and fourth again. Applied the spray a number of times to get it moving freely. Once the cable and lever was put back together I went topside and worked the throttle lever back and forth a number of times. Started the engine and everything was working great. SUCH AND EASY FIX......wish they were all that simple.
Moral of the story, if your levers are getting stiff to move spray the linkage system below with some penetrating oil (not WD40) and hope it is not the cables themselves binding up.

Bruce
S/V Allure
Swansea, MA

[Tom L.]

Good to hear everything worked out. Hate that rust thing.

I cruised for five years from The North Channel to The Bahamas and always used a Delta. For the very reason you describe. It always sets, even when the wind goes in circles through the night and will reset without attention. I only dragged twice in very soupy mud. I had a fortress for that stuff but I had to watch wind shifts or tidal changes with the fortess. They hold very well but will also foul easily when you swing in circles.

Tom L.

[Allure2sail]

Hi:
I've had good luck with it as well. I'm sure the all chain helps as as well (thank goodness for my Maxwell windlass). I purposely did not put the snubber on it because I thought it would help it set. Need to put a second anchor and rode on board (been meaning to that all this season). I have a 22 pound Danforth with 15 feet of heavy chain and 150 feet of rode, time to store it on the boat instead of in my garage. All I have on board now is a 15 pound river anchor which would be pretty useless in a jam.
Bruce
S/V Allure
Swansea, MA

[relamb]

I haven't looked closely at it, is there a way to apply friction to the throttle mechanism?  I have the opposite problem, I set the throttle and am cruising at 2500 rpm, next thing you know it's 2000, 1800.  Never seems to want to stay set.  I presume there must be a spring pulling it back down.

[wes]

Friction is adjustable inside the pedestal - there are set screws on the throttle and shift levers for this purpose. "Some disassembly required."

I lubed my cables this winter, per the Don Casey technique. Taped a Baggie full of engine oil to the top of each cable, let them hang vertically for a few days. Gravity pulls the oil down through the cable and eventually it drips out the bottom. Good insurance against stuck cables if you do this every five years or so.

Wes

[deisher6]

kHey Bruce:  Thanks for your post.  It is always good to learn how and what other folk do stuff.

Windrunner came with 240 ft of very heavy chain, a CQR and a Quick windlass.  I had saved a 25 lb Bruce from our first '27 and had had great success using it, 20 ft of chain and a 150 foot rode in all types of conditions.  After two years it dawns on me that using the winch is easier than pulling up the rode till the chain engages. So for the Albemarle trip I put the CQR with 120 ft of chain back on as primary and stowed the Bruce in the cockpit locker.    So far it is much easier to manage solo.  Should have done it sooner.

regards charlie

[Allure2sail]

Hi Charlie:
My Maxwell windlass works great 99% of the time. I switched to an all chain for two reasons, one obviously holds you better and the other reason the rode didn't like to drop into the locker all the time. It kept getting caught in the transition and would end up bunching up in the gypsy (would actually start to chew up the line) I went from 75 feet with rode to 125 feet all chain with a welded link for the splice point.
Bruce

[Allure2sail]

Friction is adjustable inside the pedestal - there are set screws on the throttle and shift levers for this purpose. "Some disassembly required."

I lubed my cables this winter, per the Don Casey technique. Taped a Baggie full of engine oil to the top of each cable, let them hang vertically for a few days. Gravity pulls the oil down through the cable and eventually it drips out the bottom. Good insurance against stuck cables if you do this every five years or so.

Wes

Check the screw in the center of the bellcrank it may have loosend over the years a tiny bit.