The Blue View - Annual Engine Maintenance

As the title suggests, it was time to spend a day doing all those engine tasks that have to be done at least once a year. This is certainly not my favorite way to spend the day, but I prefer to get them all out of the way at once. Adelaide was going through a heat wave and trying to work topsides in temperatures well over 110F/43C didn't seem like a good plan, so today was the day. I go through each system of the engine, starting with the cooling system. Nine of Cups has a Ford Lehman diesel engine, which is a marinized version of a Ford tractor engine. It has a freshwater cooling system, but instead of a radiator, it uses a heat exchanger to cool the freshwater coolant. There are actually three heat exchangers, one for the engine coolant, one to cool the motor oil and one to cool the transmission fluid. Raw seawater is pumped through a strainer by an impeller type pump, then through the three heat exchangers. The seawater is then mixed with the engine exhaust, which cools the exhaust gases and acts as a muffler.

These are the items on my cooling system checklist:

• Finger zinc. The first heat exchanger has an internal finger zinc to prevent corrosion. I usually check it quarterly.

• Raw water strainer. This occasionally gets clogged and is checked as needed, but I pull it out and inspect it for fouling and corrosion annually. While it is out, I open the thru-hull briefly to flush out anything in the intake line.

• Impeller. The impeller will usually last for years unless something finds it way through the strainer or the engine is run without water. This is what happened when I tried to start the engine before cleaning the thru-hull, and sure enough, it was damaged.

• Coolant heat exchanger. This heat exchanger has a tendency to clog up. I remove the end cap and run a small wooden dowel through each of the holes and clean any debris from the inlet side. I replace it every five years.

• Oil and transmission heat exchangers. I inspect these externally to check for corrosion and to make sure the oil lines feeding them are secure and in good shape. I replace these every three years.

• Hoses and clamps. All the hoses and clamps in the cooling system are checked and replaced as needed.

• Exhaust mixer. We have a monel exhaust mixer that cools the exhaust gases and acts as the muffler. This is inspected to check for corrosion and integrity.

• Exhaust hose. We have a 10 foot or so run of hose from the mixer to the transom, and this is inspected to check for aging or chafe.

Fuel System

The fuel system checks are next. Fuel is pumped out of either the port or starboard fuel tank, through a primary Racor filter, then to the day tank. From there, it is gravity fed to the secondary filters and on to the injector pump. These are the items on my fuel system checklist:

•  Fuel tanks. I Inspect each fuel tank to check for sediment or algae. Polish the fuel if necessary.

• Primary filter. I change the filter and clean the sediment bowl.

• Day Tank. The day tank is inspected to make sure it is secure and there is no evidence of leaking.

• Secondary filters. Both of the secondary filters are replaced.

• Hoses and clamps. All hoses and clamps are inspected and checked for aging, corrosion or wear.

• The fuel system is then bled and the engine is started and run until warm.

 Oil

• Normally the oil and filter is changed every 180-200 hours. Since the oil hadn't been changed in over a year, I changed it and the filter. All oil lines are inspected.

Transmission

• I change the transmission oil annually. The old oil is inspected for evidence of water or overheating. All the transmission lines are inspected. The engine is started and the transmission is put in gear, both forward and reverse to check operation and controls. Shaft vibration is checked for evidence of engine misalignment.

Coolant

• The coolant level is checked. I flush and replace it every two years.

Engine cables and controls

• The engine is controlled by cables that run from the cockpit to the engine room. These are checked for damage or corrosion. The fittings on each end are inspected.

Air filter

• The air filter is cleaned and checked.

General checks

• I give the engine a good once-over to check for the following:

• Motor mounts. All the motor mounts are checked for tightness. The port side aft motor mount has a tendency to work loose on Cups.

• Oil leaks. Any oil leaks are investigated.

• Valve cover bolts. The valve cover bolts are checked and tighten.

• Engine belts. Our engine has two belts and these are checked for aging and tightened or replaced, if necessary.

• Visual. I check the wiring, starter, solenoid, alternator, water pump, injector pump, etc. for any visual indication of problems.

 Clean Up

This is the home stretch.

• I wipe down the entire engine and touch up any paint that has worn away or is bad shape. It is much easier to find a future oil leak if the engine is clean.

• After changing the oil and fuel filters, bleeding the fuel lines, and flushing the raw water intake, the engine sump always has several inches of a melange of all the engine fluids. I sop up all the petroleum based liquids using oil absorbent pads and dispose of it properly. The remaining liquids are a combination of seawater, fresh water and possibly engine coolant. These are cleaned up and disposed of, and a fresh oil absorbent pad is placed in the sump. Our engine always leaks a small amount of oil from the various seals, and the pad collects it.

Me

• By now, I am a stinky, sweaty, oily mess. The best part of the entire job is taking a shower, changing clothes and updating my maintenance log with a cold, home brewed India Pale Ale.

The Blue View - Cleaning Her Bottom

 

Two days ago, I donned my snorkel and mask and dove into the chilly water here to check out Nine of Cups' bottom. There are times when I wish we had an underwater camera. I do not possess the verbal skills to describe what the bottom of Nine of Cups looked like.

From the surface it didn't look too bad. The waterline had a build-up of slime and algae, but not any worse than could be expected after sitting in one place, neglected, for almost eleven months. Visibility in the water here is limited to just a few feet, so we couldn't see that much of the hull below the waterline. What we could see obviously needed attention, but it didn't look that daunting.

It was a different story when I viewed it from underwater. I have never seen so much growth on a boat's bottom. We could have made our fortune selling snorkeling tours to view all the colorful flora and fauna living there. The leading edge and bottom of the keel sported long rubbery tentacle things, 2-3 feet long – some sort of kelp I would guess. There were large bush-like growths along the lower areas of the hull that resembled terrestrial tumbleweeds, ranging in size from 1 to 3 feet. Each of the thru-hulls sported long white tubular growths, and I half expected to see a moray eel peering out at me. The entire hull was covered in a thick slime with the occasional red or white gooey animal adhering to the anti-fouling.

The rudder and the cavity that houses the prop were the worst. Those rubbery tube things and the tumbleweed bushes seemed to thrive there. It was now home to number of colorful tropical fish. I could only assume that the prop was actually still there – it was so overgrown I couldn't see it.

I used a nylon scrubbing pad to clean the waterline, a six inch plastic putty knife to clean the hull, and a short section of old stainless lifeline as a snake to clean out the thru-hulls. I have a hookah aboard for serious underwater work, but I thought I could get the majority of the hull done using only a snorkel and mask. The water here is cool, but not too cold, so I wore dive skins rather than a wet suit.

It took about two hours to clean the starboard side. By then I was pretty cold and I quit for the day. Yesterday, I cleaned the port side and the prop. All in all, it went much more quickly than I expected. The scraper easily removed the growth. The anti-fouling was in pretty good shape, and I find using a plastic putty knife instead of a scrubbing pad leaves most of it on the hull after a cleaning. We used PropSpeed propeller coating on the prop during the last haul-out, and it is amazing stuff. It is a gold colored coating that makes the prop too slippery for anything to take hold. The prop, once I removed the forest surrounding it, wiped totally clean with very little effort. Normally, I would have needed to spend an hour or so just cleaning it.

Somewhere along the way we lost the prop anode. This is a sacrificial hunk of zinc that protects the propeller from electrolysis. Our anode screws onto the end of the prop shaft, and I was able to remove the old screw and mount a new anode without dropping the anode, screw, washers or allen wrench. A good day!

Now we can pump water in the forward head, and the thru-hull that feeds raw water to the engine is no longer clogged. The large reef-in-the-works that was attached to Cups's bottom is gone and she seems noticeably happier (and lighter) in her berth.

The Blue View - Refrigerator Done...Almost

 

A major goal was to complete the galley project by the time Marcie returned to Nine of Cups, and I'm happy to report that it is actually done. Well almost...

The rest of Cups has been converted from a construction zone and back to living quarters. The salon table is no longer my berth mate... Marcie was especially happy about that.

The newly varnished knife rack and tea box are mounted. I put the last coat of varnish on the trim at 10:00 last night and removed the last of the masking tape this morning.

The refrigeration system held pressure all the while I was gone, so I am reasonably confident that there are no leaks. I purged the system and soldered in a new dryer/filter a few days ago, and the freezer temperature is holding nicely at 28 degrees F while the fridge is at 45 degrees F.

I used double gaskets on all the opening hatches. One is a magnetic gasket like the ones used on a standard refrigerator and one is a closed cell foam type gasket. I'm happy with the results and will do a blog on this part of the project soon.

Now just a few things left to do:

A short section of stainless trim that attaches behind the stove no longer fits because of the new teak trim and will have to be shortened.

The refrigeration gases will have to be tweaked once it runs for a few days.

I still need to caulk around the counter top, but this has to wait until the varnish has cured a bit more.

The various brass hooks for hanging colanders, etc. and the brass paper towel holder have to be polished and remounted.

The foam gasket on the lower refrigerator door has to be installed. I wasn't able to find the size I needed here in Adelaide, so Marcie brought some back with her.

The aft cabin sole has to be stripped and re-varnished. The sole in the galley was redone, and since there is no break between it and the aft cabin, the aft cabin now looks pretty shabby.

Then, of course, we have to go buy some food to put into it.