Marine Diesel Engines: Maintenance, Troubleshooting, and Repair

I've never read anything from Nigel Calder and have obviously missed this timely author on a subject most all of us sailors need more assistance. Hardbound by McGraw-Hill it is an enduring and sharp looking production. Replete with fine line drawings and sharp photographs, it is attractive to thumb through and simple to find data with a well stepped-out and rational Contents section and a helpful Index to balance the book's intent of helping the Sailor do his or her maintenance correctly. His attention to marshaling detail in an accessible manual simplifies the complexities and gives the reader confidence to attend to the things needed for sustaining our old diesel engines aboard.

Nigel Calder is not only a genius, but his thorough explanations make complex concepts understandable to the novice boat owner.

This book has helped me understand the workings of diesel engines and how, in simple language, to repair them

If you have a diesel engine you need this book

Better than most self-help books on boat diesels, I always reference it before troubleshooting. But there are some points it fails to make. One of the biggest problems I see with boat diesels is lack of compression. When an engine has shown it is getting fuel and cranks over sharply and doesn't even attempt to start, its almost always the lack of compression. The book barely touches the subject. It should go more into trouble shooting this type of issue. It should talk about taking a compression check. You can buy a decent diesel compression tester with adapters for about $50. If the compression is less than 300 PSI, good luck starting your engine. Also you can combine the adapters from the diesel compression checker with a leak down tester (also about $50) and see if the engine is losing compression through one of the valves, past the rings (or cylinder scoring) or through the swirl chamber. Can use a normal portable air compressor for testing. Problem can be normal carbon build up around the valves, corrosion or just legitimate wear. The other thing the book misses is what it takes to actually fix a boat diesel. Things like pulling the head(s) and getting the engine into the air so you can pull pistons from underneath. Doesn't really cover repairs. and most importantly, it says nothing about securing a shop or service manual for your engine. This is perhaps the most important point to make for people attempting to work on their diesels. A service manual is not an operations manual. It goes into the tools and techniques to actually dig into your engine. I'm guessing the book is more focused on telling a user when they need to find a diesel mechanic.

After working on and depending on gas engines for years I just recently bought a cruiser with Cat diesels with the idea that they will last forever. I was certainly surprised to find out how difficult and expensive it was to hire a diesel mechanic. I searched for self help books and articles so I could tackle the jobs myself and found this on Amazon. I've been impressed with the detail of how the diesel's work and what to look for with certain conditions. I've always been one to do things by myself and this book is building my confidence to get me there again. My opinion; this is a great resource for novices ... because that is what I classify myself with diesel engines.

Just got this book and a week later, while stuck in a windless bay, my engine suddenly died. Of course this only happens when you are anchorless, motoring through islands and shoals with a nice hunk of shore that is covered in rocks, and half a dozen icons on the navigation chart of sunken boats. (Somehow the fates know when you are trying to sneak by unnoticed.)Luckily we happened to start drifting through a cargo channel that was blessedly void of any cargo ships, or anyone at all except a small pod of porpoise. We had a good thirty minutes to break open this book and trouble shoot the engine. This book gave us the guide lines we needed to quickly and successfully diagnose our problem and get the engine back to limping. Not only that but this book has guided us through the month of repairing all sorts of things, fixing the starter, along with recognizing a few things that previous owners have jerry-rigged. In a month this book has already paid for itself many times over and now our old crusty engine sounds better and runs better. This book is a must, without it, my first mate and I would have never been able to turn a potentially deadly trip into just a few minutes of stress.

Great book with plenty of pictures to guide you throw any project. Well written for the professional mechanic or an experienced do it yourself type of individual. I bought the book for trouble shooting projects and the import things to do to keep your diesel running right. It has plenty of tips and examples with pictures of what can go wrong if you don't maintain your engine properly. It gives great trouble shooting techniques so if the job is too big or too time consuming to do yourself, the mechanic you chose will understand you know your way around diesel engines and should not pump up the bill with unneeded repairs.