Cat 3196 shuts down

bbrinks

bbrinks

Member
Jul 23, 2020
60
Spring Lake, Michigan
Boat Info
2006 52 Sundancer
Engines
Cummins QSM11 660’s
2000 510DA w/ 3196 Cats.

We were idling coming into harbor today and my port engine started running rough. I put it in neutral and it smoothed out and held 700 rpms. Engaged it in forward and throttled it up a bit and it ran rough again and rpms dropped down to 300, 200, then quit. Started it twice more and it did the same thing. I finally decided to let it be and backed in my slip on 1 engine. Not fun. Thoughts on where to focus my attention? Nothing obvious in the engine room. No issues with temp or pressure. Cat system monitor displayed “check engine soon”. Ran great up until harbor for 20 minutes at 1900 rpms. I’ve only put 25 hours on the boat since I took possession of it. Fuel issue? Racors? Something else? Thanks for any advice you can offer.
 
Dumb question, how much fuel are you showing. Our 500 seems to be close to empty showing around 1/4 tanks
 
Assuming no black smoke at all when this is happening then -
Another basic question is did you pull the Racor filter elements? Are they black and slimy? Looking through the Racor clear bowl, is there a layer of water or black gunk shown?

Another potential cause is an air leak in the fuel supply system; the fuel supply operates at below atm. pressure; it can suck air in if there is a leak...
 
Last edited:
ttmott said:
Assuming no black smoke at all when this is happening then -
Another basic question is did you pull the Racor filter elements? Are they black and slimy? Looking through the Racor clear bowl, is there a layer of water or black gunk shown?

Another potential cause is an air leak in the fuel supply system; the fuel supply operates at below atm. pressure; it can suck air in if there is a leak...
Click to expand...

Haven’t pulled the Racor’s yet. That’s my first plan of attack. That would be my hope for the issue. No black smoke. Thank you for the reply. Being this is my first diesel powered boat I’ve got a lot to learn.
 
Good advice on the Racors and air leak.

I'm not overly familiar with the 3196, but do you have a priming pump? On the smaller CAT 3100 series inline 6's there is a priming pump with on/off valve. Use it to prime the fuel system (basically push fuel in, and air out). You can reprime with this, but if you leave the valve in the wrong position, it can give similar symptoms.
 
bbrinks said:
2000 510DA w/ 3196 Cats.

We were idling coming into harbor today and my port engine started running rough. I put it in neutral and it smoothed out and held 700 rpms. Engaged it in forward and throttled it up a bit and it ran rough again and rpms dropped down to 300, 200, then quit. Started it twice more and it did the same thing. I finally decided to let it be and backed in my slip on 1 engine. Not fun. Thoughts on where to focus my attention? Nothing obvious in the engine room. No issues with temp or pressure. Cat system monitor displayed “check engine soon”. Ran great up until harbor for 20 minutes at 1900 rpms. I’ve only put 25 hours on the boat since I took possession of it. Fuel issue? Racors? Something else? Thanks for any advice you can offer.
Click to expand...

Hi I’m new here but I’m an engineer on boats
Here is what I would do. I’m probably repeating the other posts but I thought it might help.

1 pull racor and change!
Drain the housing check for water or diesel bug (black snot)
2 change the engine fuel filter.
Fill with fuel and prime the fuel system.
This can get messy use safe working practices.
Start engine, when at working temp ensure you are not in gear you can increase rpm slowly.
If definitely sounds like a fuel issue.
If you have “bad fuel” swap tanks. I just had water in the tank and resolved it within a few hours. Cat 3412
I was worried about the injectors but she’s running well.
But my advice is definitely change out the filters, check and clean the bowl and test.
Good luck.
 
Steven Whel said:
Hi I’m new here but I’m an engineer on boats
Here is what I would do. I’m probably repeating the other posts but I thought it might help.

1 pull racor and change!
Drain the housing check for water or diesel bug (black snot)
2 change the engine fuel filter.
Fill with fuel and prime the fuel system.
This can get messy use safe working practices.
Start engine, when at working temp ensure you are not in gear you can increase rpm slowly.
If definitely sounds like a fuel issue.
If you have “bad fuel” swap tanks. I just had water in the tank and resolved it within a few hours. Cat 3412
I was worried about the injectors but she’s running well.
But my advice is definitely change out the filters, check and clean the bowl and test.
Good luck.
Click to expand...

Thank you for sharing your knowledge! I’ll start with the Racor’s and engine fuel filters. Hoping to get out there this week to get it done. I’ll report back.
 
dtfeld said:
Good advice on the Racors and air leak.

I'm not overly familiar with the 3196, but do you have a priming pump? On the smaller CAT 3100 series inline 6's there is a priming pump with on/off valve. Use it to prime the fuel system (basically push fuel in, and air out). You can reprime with this, but if you leave the valve in the wrong position, it can give similar symptoms.
Click to expand...

I’ll look into this. Thank you.
 
I stopped out to the boat today to do a little troubleshooting. Marina general manager looked it over with me. He tightened up the secondary fuel filter, primed the engine and tightened the plunger down good. Problem solved. I’m still replacing all the Racor’s and secondary filters since I don’t know when they were changed last but this was the best solution I could ask for. Thanks everyone for your ideas!
 
ttmott said:
Assuming no black smoke at all when this is happening then -
Another basic question is did you pull the Racor filter elements? Are they black and slimy? Looking through the Racor clear bowl, is there a layer of water or black gunk shown?

Another potential cause is an air leak in the fuel supply system; the fuel supply operates at below atm. pressure; it can suck air in if there is a leak...
Click to expand...

Air leak it was!!
 
dtfeld said:
Good advice on the Racors and air leak.

I'm not overly familiar with the 3196, but do you have a priming pump? On the smaller CAT 3100 series inline 6's there is a priming pump with on/off valve. Use it to prime the fuel system (basically push fuel in, and air out). You can reprime with this, but if you leave the valve in the wrong position, it can give similar symptoms.
Click to expand...

You pretty much nailed it! Air leak either from the secondary fuel filter or the priming pump. Tightened both down and problem went away. Thanks!!
 
Great work,
Air in the fuel is the best contamination you can ask for!
Now you can take her out on the 4th july for a quite day out lol
 
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