Hand Cranking A Diesel

[Greenman]

So, my starter just went on my 1975 SVE 8 Yanmar. I have received quotes from $150 for a fix to $1066 for a new OEM starter and everything in between. The problem is, that to get the starter fixed will take a couple weeks. This got me thinking about hand starting.

The little 1 lung Yanmar has a starting lugs on the crank shaft, and a decompression lever. I know the basics, decompress the cylinder, crank a few times to build up speed, then drop the lever.

Once I do get the parts to fix the starter, hand cranking could be a good alternative starting method when it's needed. Assuming I can do it on my little engine and don't hurt myself.

What I am concerned about is potential danger or damage I may do. Has anyone done this or have any other hints/tips?

Thanks

[Godot]

I understand it used to be quite common.  Do you have enough room to swing a handle?

[Greenman]

Yup, loads of room. When I get my handle finished and tryit out I will take some pics and video. Of course if I get hurt I will need time to regain my pride before posting a video of it  :D. Should be this weekend.

[AdriftAtSea]

Does your engine have decompression levers on it?? If not, the chances of hand starting it are very low.

[Godot]

The little 1 lung Yanmar has a starting lugs on the crank shaft, and a decompression lever.

;D

[ThistleCap]

I've never done this myself, but had a really neat experience one time seeing it done.  We met an elderly English couple on the Sassafras River, Chesapeake, in their 40ft. 1890 English pilot cutter.  The sound of the engine coming up river is what attracted me to the boat initially.  It had a one-lung engine with a cylinder the owner equated with a 35-gal barrel.  There was full standing headroom in the engine room, and the six-foot diameter flywheel went from between the deck beams to a cut-out in the sole that allowed it to reach down between the floor timbers.  He would swing the flywheel, give it a couple additional pushes, and throw the compression lever to fire the engine.  Even at running rpm, the engine gave a slow chuk-chuk-chuk sound.  He said it was the essence of reliability, with only one drawback.  Pier approaches had to be thought out well in advance, and usually done without any reverse.  He could stop the engine from on deck, but to get reverse, he had to go to the engine room, spin the flywheel in the opposite direction and fire it off again.  The engine, of course, was only a single aspect of the wonderful afternoon we spent with the couple.

[Allan]

These are not hard engines to start with a crank handle providing you have plenty of swinging room as you say.

The only damage that I can see you doing is braking you thumb if you don't hold the crank handle properly and it kicks back.

The handle on the crank should be able to turn if possible as it makes it a lot easier.

You need to make sure your thumb is on the same side of the crank handle as the rest of your fingers so if it kicks back it just swings out of the way and not take your thumb back with it.

Allan

[okawbow]

I've started my YSE8 Yanmar a few times, using the hand crank. Mine has a chain drive system that can't kick back. I have even started it without using the decompression lever. It helps to have an easy starting motor in the first place. Warm up, and stretch first. It can be hard on the back.

[Amgine]

I could, just barely, get my Lister (from before the merger with Petter) AC1W to hand start, using the factory manual handle. I've been completely unable to start my Yanmar 1GM with the factory handle (even though it has the gearing system.) Mind, I'm in rather cold waters which adds its mite to the problems to be overcome.

To reduce the risk of 'kick-back', if your shaft uses pins you can do the same thing as the factory handle: cut away the non-pushing side of the slot.

The old english cutter's engine is of a type called "direct reversing", where the engine will operate rotating in either direction.