On a boat something is broken; you just don't know it yet.
After
years of being alone Second Star was beginning to feel a little neglected.
In fact if this boat were a person she would be downright pissed.
We knew that there would be issues when we returned. Despite having
come in and tried to do preventative maintenance three to four times
a year, and replacing bilge pumps twice a year, there is just no keeping up
with everything when the boat sits for months at a time. Four weeks out
of fifty two just doesn't cut it.
So when
it came time to fire up the GenSet did we expect it to work on the first try?
Yep. Did it? Nope. Go figure. It cranked
over but wouldn't catch. OK, no problem, like with any other engine
ether will do the trick and she'll fire right up. Good thought, totally
wrong. Turns out you never, and I mean never, put ether in a diesel
engine. It causes engine lock. We confer with a friend that's a
former diesel mechanic and find out while not good; but it isn't the end of the
world.
After
several hours of waiting and trying she finally began to turn over again, but
again wouldn't catch. But the captain thought that it sounded like it
wanted to. He bled the injectors, confirmed there was fuel and did a few other
small things and tried cranking again. It was turning over but he now felt it
was trying to hit, it would start any minute. Unfortunately that
"hitting" sound was in fact something hitting, after a while it
stuck. Now this baby is good and seized
Since
we are made of more time than money El Capitan decided that we would attempt to
rebuild this beast ourselves. Day one was spent cleaning out the cooling
system. Sometime over the course of the previous three years salt
crystals, or something resembling them, began building up inside the exhaust
manifold and all of the corresponding hoses and valves. Not pretty
and not sure why it happened, but after three hours of cleaning and carefully
flushing it into a container, it appears to be all out.


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Engine block on the left, everything else on the right. |
Now we wait. With any luck
we will have a few strapping lads, or at least some still pretty strong older
gentlemen, around in the next day or so to help with the heavy lifting. We need to get this puppy out of the engine
room and into the cockpit for the big work.
I’m praying that it’s not something too major or costly.
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