Engine Bilge Pump Switch Replacement

 We’ve found the engine room bilge pump setup to be annoying. There is a float switch on one side of the bilge and the pump is on the other side. In the photo the float switch is towards to port and the pump is to starboard. There are two problems with the setup.

1. The float switches are unreliable over the long term. We’ve had them fail to turn on, even though they were floating. Their lifetime seems to be two to three years.

2. The float switch is on the opposite side of the bilge from the pump. When the boat is slightly heeled towards the switch it can activate, but the pump is not in the water. The alarm goes off repeatedly. 

Our previous boat, a Vagabond Westwind 38, had a pneumatic bilge pump switch that worked reliably for the 14 years we owned the boat. The sensor was zip-tied to the pump pickup. No false alarms. It was time to change the setup.

We quickly found the Jabsco Hydro Air 59400-0012 online. There are several different vendors of these types of switches and we selected the Jabsco for no particular reason.

Installation was simple. The black box on the bulkhead houses a terminal strip and it was easy to replace the float switch connections with the Hydro Air connections - see the picture. The pressure hose is routed from the switch housing to the pump, where we zip-tied it. It’s been reliable since then and we have dry engine compartment bilges.

We didn't replace the float switch in the hull bilges (yet) as they've not been the same type of problem.

  -Terry

Shifty, Shifty – Replacing Morse Control Cables

We had taken a cruise around the Chesapeake Bay and everything on Lux was working as it should. But as we were coming back to our dock, we discovered that the starboard engine throttle didn't work. After a few minutes of diagnosis, we discovered that the throttle cable had broken. Without throttle, we had limited engine thrust at idle speed. At least we could shift gears.

It’s finally time to replace the Morse control cables. The starboard engine shifter and throttle had not exhibited any stiffness, so it was interesting that the cable broke. The port shifter however, was stiff and we were apprehensive about replacing the long cables that needed to go through two conduits and several bends. It turned out to be easier than we anticipated.

What length should we order? We could remove the cables and measure them, but then we wouldn’t be able to use the old cable to pull the new cable through the twisty passages.

Internet research indicated that the cables should have a number stamped on them. Sure enough, we found numbers on the cables after removing the Morse shifter mechanism at the helm: TFX 032377-03 360.0 Further investigation on the Internet found that the last number, 360.0, is the length in inches. Blue tape labels were added to identify the cable functions: shifter, throttle, and stop. The cables were confirmed with Leopard Catamarans as model 33C (alternatively labeled 3300CC):

• Starboard shifter 21 ft (6.5m)

• Starboard throttle 21 ft (6.5m)

• Starboard stop 25ft (7.75m)

• Port shifter 27ft (8.5m)

• Port throttle 30ft (9.5m)

• Port stop         30ft (9.5m)

Replacement cables were ordered from Jamestown Distributors. They are reasonably priced and when they arrived, we found a significant improvement in the smoothness of operation. That was what many of the online posts had said, but it was nice to find out that it was true.

It is also easy to find the mechanical drawings for the Morse Control online (dual control in our case). Disassembly is straight forward. The picture below shows the starboard half of the shifter with the new black-covered cables in place. The red cables are original and go to the port engine. 

The next picture shows the internals of the shifter mechanism. Four screws hold the dual assembly into the fiberglass and two machine screws hold the two halves together. Note the extensive use of grease to keep corrosion at bay.

Installing the new cables

On the 2005 L40, running cables from the controls to the engines is pretty easy. They go down to the space behind the starboard-aft cabin access panel. The starboard cables then go into a blue conduit that connects to the engine compartment. Leave enough slack at the helm shifter to allow for servicing.

The cables to the port engine take a longer path through conduit across the bridge deck, then into another blue conduit that goes aft to the engine compartment. We found that it was easiest to use the old cable to pull the new cable. We removed the nuts from the cable ends and coupled the two cables together with a 1 ft long piece of duct tape wrapped lengthwise. The fibers in the duct tape provide strength while allowing flexibility. One person can pull the new cable in place if you don’t mind going back and forth from end to end. It was best to pull all the cable into the area behind the panel in the starboard aft cabin, then pull it into the area behind the port aft cabin, then into the port engine compartment.

During the process, we found a one of the port engine cables had a 2-ft diameter loop behind the electrical panel in the port-aft cabin. We eliminated this loop during the installation of the new cables, which helps make the operation smoother.

The ends of the cables are setup the same as with the original cables, so take pictures of the connections before disassembling them.

We’ve not had to replace the engine stop controls. The starboard stop cable can be installed by hand after removing the old cable. Either pull a pull-cord in place or cut off the helm end of the stop cable and use duct tape as with the shifter/throttle.

We had to spend a little time adjusting the linkages so that the throttle handles were even with each other at the same RPM. That’s no big deal.

Alternatives

You may find articles that describe dripping oil into the control cables. We did this initially. It was a waste of time. The amount of time we spent trying to lubricate the cables was comparable to the time to replace them and the results were not as good as the replacement.

Results

We found a significant improvement in shifting and throttle operation after installing the new cables. The installation wasn’t as challenging as we had initially anticipated. One of us was able to do the entire job unassisted. The starboard engine controls took about an hour to replace while the port engine controls took about three hours.

Yikes! That's the Smoke Alarm!

BEEP!   BEEP!   BEEP!
BEEP!   BEEP!   BEEP!

It was one of our smoke/CO alarms! Which one? Is there a fire? There was no smoke in the cabins or salon. The genset wasn't running, so that was unlikely.

Both engines were running hard as we motored down the ICW from Charleston, SC.
A quick check of the port engine room shows steam. The starboard engine room was clear.
We quickly shut down the port engine and the steam cleared out. There was coolant on the inboard deck next to the engine. Briefly starting the port engine showed a leaky hose that was spraying coolant onto the hot alternator, which created the steam. About the time we had determined the port engine was the problem, the voice report from the other smoke alarms told us that it was the port engine compartment alarm.

The smoke alarm saved our engine from losing all its coolant and overheating! Installing those smoke detectors paid off! We had installed a set of communicating smoke and carbon monoxide detectors back in 2015, see Detecting Fire and CO. None of the alarms have notified us of an active alarm situation--until today.

Some of the units have failed over the years. When a unit fails, it says something like "Malfunction in Living Room, Please see manual." The room varies according to what we've programmed for each unit. The unit will then beep periodically to let us know that it has experienced a problem when we weren't around to hear the initial message. These units are build for residential use, so it isn't surprising that they occasionally fail in the marine environment. At about $50 each, they are affordable and provide an early warning system.

  -Terry

The Case of the Cracked Flywheel Housing

Damaged Engine Mount (Rubber bushing)

In late 2015, we were on LUX, heading down the ICW to south Georgia where we were leaving LUX for a few months. We had just made it into South Carolina and Gee reported a new grinding type sound from the port engine (behind her bunk) when under way. Sure enough, it was distinctly different than the sound from the port engine. We had made it to Georgetown, SC by this time. We lucked out - a diver was working on zincs on another boat on the dock, so we were able to get him to check out the saildrives. He reported that the port drive was loose. A little investigation in the engine compartment with a light showed the engine mount on the saildrive seemed to be heavily worn and should be replaced. (See Damaged Engine Mount)

We called around and found one that could be shipped to Charleston, SC, where we planned to replace it. We motored the rest of the way to Charleston using the starboard engine except for docking. Of course, shipping parts to any port is fraught with risk and this was no different. It took all of the first day in Charleston to get the part and make it back to LUX.

Next, we started looking at removing the existing engine mount. Imagine our surprise upon looking closer and finding a crack in the flywheel housing. A closer examination showed that the crack was all the way around the perimeter of the saidrive’s connection to the flywheel housing.

Cracked Housing - Outboard

Our reaction was a bit stronger than “Oh No!” Our immediate thought was that it was going to require professional help and cost several thousand dollars to fix. Time to break out the phone and start making calls. The soonest we could be helped was the following week. Not only would it cost a bunch to make the repair, we’d be stuck in Charleston at an expensive marina. It was time to go to dinner and think about the situation. 

Think, think, think

How did it happen? The last charter in the BVIs was a disaster. LUX drug anchor and ran aground. Damage was fairly minimal, but the port prop took a few hits and had to be straightened. We think that a crack started then and four years of working back and forth extended it around the saildrive.

Cracked Housing - Inboard

It's Cracked All the Way Around!

Our port engine wasn’t totally out of commission. It could be used for docking as long as we didn’t need much power. We had made it from Georgetown to Charleston on one engine. Waiting in Charleston for repairs didn’t seem useful. There were other service companies in Georgia. So we decided to continue south, primarily on one engine.

As we made our way south, we thought about the problem, looked the engine over, and studied the parts diagrams. We could just slide the engine back about four inches and replace the cracked housing. Hmmm. Really? We had many hours to think on it. Checking eBay, we found a used flywheel housing that was much less than a new housing. We ordered it with shipment to our destination marina in Georgia. 

We thought about how to support the engine so we could decouple it from the saildrive and replace the flywheel housing.  We started collecting parts we thought would be of use. The end result was that we decided that we could to the job.

Doing the Job

Supporting the Engine

Mike orchestrated the repair, using an oak board, lines, and turning blocks to support the engine. It took most of the day to replace the housing. The old housing was indeed cracked all the way around the saildrive mount.

The new housing arrived in great shape and was soon installed and the engine coupled back to the saildrive.

Broken Flywheel Housing

New Flywheel Housing

The saildrive engine mount still had to be replaced. Just getting the old engine mount bushing out was a problem. It wouldn’t move. We had rented a car so we headed off to Tractor Supply, the source for all sorts of big parts. We returned with a 2-1/8 inch socket, a big wheel puller, all-thread rod, big washers, and a few other parts.

These parts did the job, allowing us to pull the old bushing and install the new bushing. We had to use heat on the saildrive mount to get the old bushing out and the new busing in (note the heatgun in the photo of installing the new bushing).

We were back to two fully functioning engines without having to spend too much time or money.

Removing the Engine Mount Bushing

Installing the New Engine Mount Bushing

FlexoFold Props

Original Fixed Blade Props

LUX has had the stock two-blade fixed props that are outfitted on the charter fleet.

We had spent some time buddy boating with Dave on 5thQuarter and he was able to make better speeds at lower RPM, even though he had the 30HP Volvo MD2030 engines (LUX has the 40HP MD2040 engines). We recorded measurements of the performance at different points in time, shown in the table below, including 5Q’s performance, just for reference.
It was clear that Flexofold props were better. But they make a two blade prop and a three blade prop. Which one should we get?

Description (both engines running)	RPM	Speed (kn)
Before 2014 Haulout	2500	6.5
	2800	7.1
After 2014 Haulout	2500	6.9
	2800	7.3
Three months after 2015 Haulout	2500	7.1
	2800	7.4
After 2016 Haulout (Flexofold props)	2500	7.4
	2800	7.7
	3000	7.9
	3400	8.3
5th Quarter	2500	7.3
	2800	7.6

Flexofold with PropSpeed

We asked Flexofold what they recommended for the MD2040 engines with the 130SR saildrdives (gear ratio 1:2.47). They responded that the three-blade 16x13 props would perform best. We agonized over the decision for a while and queried them about three-blade vs two-blade props, which 5Q and other Leopards we knew had. They told us that the extra blade helps with powering into seas and headwinds. The additional blade also provides better reverse performance. The pair of three blade props was $1000 USD more than the two blade props. We finally decided that the additional power was worth the money and ordered the three blade 16x13 props. They arrived within two weeks, nicely packaged. There was a small nominal charge from the shipper for entry into the US.

We have never had good luck with prop anti-fouling. It always seems to only last half the year. So we decided to try PropSpeed this year. It is an expensive anti-fouling for running gear. It has a tight timeline for application of multiple coats, so we had to be prepared and work quickly. We noted a number of boats being hauled had PropSpeed applied to the running gear and it seemed to be working for them. We’ll see…

We are happy with the performance of the Flexofolds. We can now motor on one engine at the same speed (in flat water) that we previously attained when motoring with two engines (6.6kn @ 2500rpm, 7.3kn @ 2700rpm). The motoring speed with two engines is improved (shown in the table above). Reverse performance seems about as good as with the fixed blade props. We did an informal quick stop test, similar to the one in the Yachting Monthly Folding and feathering propeller test magazine article of March 2015. The Yachting Monthly article reported stopping in 9.5 seconds, or 48 ft. In our test, we were able to go from 6kn to stopped in approximately one boat length (about 40ft). This is quite acceptable to us. Sailing performance also seems better, which we attribute to the folding props. The better motoring performance on one engine is also due to elimination of drag from the idle engine/prop. In summary, we’re quite happy with the Flexofold props.

Saildrive Bellows Replacement

Removing the Engines

LUX has Volvo MD2040 diesel engines with SR130 saildrives. To our knowledge, the bellows that seal out the sea water around the saildrives have never been replaced. The recommended replacement interval is 7 years and we are at 12 years. Next, the vibration dampener in the port engine needed to be replaced, something that didn’t get done when we replaced the cracked flywheel housing. We also had a clicking sound in the starboard engine controls that we’d like to investigate.

It started with removing the engines from their compartments. We’ve been hauling out at Jabin’s Yacht Yard in Annapolis. LUX’s 20’2” beam just fits their 21 ft beam 75 ton lift. They have a good crew and a convenient location for us. We disconnected everything from the engines, taking care to label everything. The lift crew then uses the forklift to hoist the engines out of the boat.

We placed the engines under LUX where we could work on them.

Servicing the Engines

Saildrive on its way home for servicing

The saildrives were removed and taken home to be serviced and prepared for installing the new bellows. The prop shafts and seals were checked and serviced so that they wouldn’t leak. The props have to be removed in order to get the saildrives out. It also helped to have someone below the boat, using a screwdriver to pry the external boot open around the bulge at the lower gear assembly. We also replaced the sea water valves since they were original equipment. They were operating correctly, but we've heard numerous stories about various valves on the Leopards. These were the last valves to be replaced.

We cleaned up the engine compartments. While doing gelcoat, we masked the area around the engine mounts and coated the existing green gelcoat with white gelcoat. We also filled in some of the pits in the old gelcoat that tended to collect oil and gunk.

Damaged Vibration Dampener

The old vibration dampeners were definitely damaged, as seen in this photo. Rubber parts were just lying inside. We've collected them in a small pile to the right of the main part of the dampener in this photo. They're black, so they are hard to see against the black tailgate lining. The metal parts tapping each other was probably the source of the metallic clicking sound that we had been hearing from the starboard engine.

New Vibration Dampener

The new vibration dampeners look very nice.

While we had the engines out, we replaced the oil pans. Salt water on the bottom of the pans over the past 12 years was causing pitting and the last thing we needed was to have one spring a leak.

Everything went back together as planned. All the labeling paid off. There were no left over parts and the engines started right up. The clicking noise in the starboard engine is no longer there, and after seeing the vibration dampener damage, we’re confident that it was the source of the noise.

CAPCA: Ten Problems Tips and Tricks for Captains

I did a presentation at the Chesapeake Area Professional Captain's Association titled Ten Problems, Tips, and Tricks for Captains. Over sixty people came out on a cold, windy, drizzly January night to spend some time thinking about boating instead of the weather. We had a great time talking about the set of problems I assembled with the assistance of Art Pine and Priscilla Travis of CAPCA. A PDF of the presentation is available at the link below. It is 23MB, but Google Drive seems to do a great job of compressing it for viewing. There is a video in the original presentation and I've included a link to it on the page where it appears. You might get something from the PDF, but I said a lot during the presentation that isn't in the slides.

  -Terry

Ten Problems, Tips, and Tricks for Captains

Fuel Tank Corrosion - Again

Fuel tank corrosion is a repeat topic on the Yahoo Leopard List. Some people have converted to plastic tanks. Others have stayed with aluminum. There isn't a great answer because both have had problems.

In our post Its Not Over Til Its Over - Port Engine Fuel Tank, we described what we thought was the last of the fuel tank problems. Well, we returned to Annapolis this summer (2014) and found another leak in the port fuel tank. We removed the starboard tank and check it. In both cases, we found salt under the tanks. The port tank had a leak along one of the seams and on the bottom of the sump that's built into the tank. We had cleaned up the water around the port tank before. If we can eliminate the salt water intrusion, we will eliminate the source of corrosion.

It took us two trips to the welder to get the port tank fixed. They had tested it after welding by putting about 6-10 lb of pressure in it and looking for the reading to change. But the weld was leaking. They also couldn't find it by spraying it with diluted dishwashing liquid. However, if it was checked with industrial leak detector, which makes industrial-strength bubbles, the leak was seen. Neither of us was happy about the second trip. We had suspected the original weld because it wasn't shiny all the way around. But they said it was good. We'll know better in the future when we see work that we don't trust and do something to double check it.

Water Stains at Hot Water Bulkhead Feed-Thru

We found a lot of orange staining around the engine cooling water loop that goes to the hot water heater where it comes through the bulkhead. Sure enough, the balsa core was wet when we removed the feed-thru fitting. We cleaned out the rotten balsa, filled with thickened epoxy, and bedded the fitting with butyl tape.























We also added drain holes to the low spots on the shelf that holds the fuel tank and the hot water tank. All holes were sealed with thickened epoxy. We'll be checking periodically to see if salt water is finding its way under the tanks.

Drain Holes Under Hot Water Heater

Drain Holes Under Fuel Tank

  -Terry

Rudder Post Bearing and Seal

Water has been getting into the engine compartments ever since we bought LUX. Last year we sealed the aft rail and the hull-to-deck seam. Much to our surprise and disappointment, we still had water coming in. The leak causes the engine compartment bilge pump to run about every 30 minutes. We've become accustomed to it, but would prefer that it only came on when there was a problem. So we needed to stop the water ingress.

Rudder Post and Thrust Bearing Before Grease

We identified the source as the rudder tube. LUX has the 40HP Volvo MD2040 engines, which weigh more than the Yanmar engines found on later models. This causes her to sit slightly stern-down in the water. When under way at 7kn, the stern is even lower. The water level is above the top of the rudder post tube and some of it leaks into the engine compartment. The lip seal at the top of the bearing was obviously not working well. There was some speculation that the rudder post was moving enough laterally to wear out the seal.

The rudder thrust bearing shows a lot of rusty color and we can see a steady flow of water when we're under way.  Ed Koplin on Esprit de Mar, had recommended filling the rudder post tube with grease as a way to avoid water ingress and to lubricate the lower rudder bearing. We decided that it was worth a try.

We obtained some stainless grease fittings from our local Ace Hardware. These fittings have a short threaded stud. We drilled and tapped a hole in the upper part of the rudder post for them - one per post and positioned so that it was easy to hold a grease gun on the fitting. We made two blocks to help support the rudder thrust bearing from the pressure of the grease, just as Ed did. Ken Pimentel, who was visiting us in Annapolis at the time, installed grease fittings without the aluminum blocks and it seems to be working fine for him. Everything was assembled with Tef Gel, to prevent corrosion between the stainless and aluminum components.

Upper Rudder Post Bearing

Upper Rudder Post Bearing Being Inserted

We also removed the upper rudder post bearings, cut out the balsa core, filled with thickened epoxy, and rebedded the bearing housings. Note that each bearing slips into and out of its fitting by turning it on its side. We added grease to the bearing so that it would more easily align with the rudder shaft and would provide some lubrication between the bearing and the shaft.

Final Rudder Post Grease Assembly

Sealed the Rudder Post Upper Bearing Holes

The rudder post thrust bearing was cleaned up and greased. The thrust bearing collar was installed and grease was pumped into the rudder tube until grease came out of the top. The final assembly is shown in this photo.

We've never experienced a lot of friction in the helm action, so the grease didn't change the amount of force that we need to use on the helm. But it has eliminated the source of water in the engine compartment. We now have dry engine compartments and when the bilge light comes on, we know to go investigate.

  -Terry

Emergency Engine Starting

I recommend learning how to hot-wire-start marine engines. Our old monohull, a WestWind38, we briefly had a bad starter button and I had to learn how to start the engine without it. Diesels are easier to start than gasoline engines because all they need are compression, fuel, and air while gasoline engines also need high voltage spark to the spark plugs. I'll focus on diesel engines in this post because that's what is normally used in modern auxiliary sailboats.

You will need a good starting battery to turn over the motor to get it started, but electricity is not needed for the engine to run (unless it has a shutoff solenoid that needs power to allow the engine to run). To turn over the motor, you need to power the starter motor. The starter motor will normally have a big solenoid mounted on its side ('Solenoid' in the photo). There will be a big red wire from the battery connected to a bolt on the solenoid ('Battery Wire' in the photo). There will sometimes be another big wire connected to the solenoid, which provides the connection to the starter motor ('Starter Wire' in the photo). In other cases, this connection is an internal connection between the solenoid and the starter motor. There is a third, smaller wire that is the connection from the ignition for activating the solenoid ('Activation Wire' that's yellow/brown in the photo). There is a second photo from 2carpros.com that shows a clear view of the back of the solenoid.

Volvo MD2040D Engine Starter and Solenoid Components

Starter Solenoid, courtesy of carpros.com

The ignition switch at the helm supplies 12v on the Activation Wire (Starter Trigger Terminal in the photo to the right), causing the solenoid to be activated. Contacts internal to the solenoid close, connecting the battery wire to the starter wire, and causing the starter motor to turn.

Of course, the diesel has to have the engine stop disengaged, because that stops the flow of fuel. The Volvo MD2040 engines on LUX use a mechanical stop cable that causes the high pressure pump to stop injecting fuel into the cylinders, causing the engine to stop. Newer engines that don't have stop knobs will typically use a stop solenoid that is electrically activated.  If your engine uses one of these solenoids, you will need to hot-wire it to allow the engine to run. Learn whether your solenoid is activated to allow the engine to run or if it is activated to stop the engine. In the first case, you'll need to hot-wire the solenoid to allow the engine to run. In the second case, you'll need to hot-wire it to stop the engine. Or you may be able to pull the stop lever by hand - it depends on how the stop solenoid operates.

There are two approaches you can use to starting an engine when the starting system at the helm doesn't work. In both approaches, you must have a good starting battery. Make sure that the stop cable or solenoid is not engaged. Make sure that the engine is not in gear and the throttle is at idle setting.

WARNING! WARNING!

When you hot-start an engine as I'm about to describe, you and your various body parts and clothing are very close to machinery that will soon be rotating. Getting a T-shirt caught in the alternator or water pump belt can yank you into the engine compartment and cause serious injury. Keep all body parts and clothing away from the engine. And watch out for the wire you're using to jumper the starter.

When you start the engine, your head is going to be close by a suddenly very noisy engine. Be prepared for the noise and don't react in a way that imperils you.

Method 1

If the starter solenoid is good, all you need to do is jumper from the Battery Wire to the Activation Wire on the solenoid. I use a good quality (16 gauge wire or greater) alligator clip jumper wire. Clip to the Battery Wire and touch it to the Activation Wire terminal on the starter solenoid. Make sure that you're clear of all rotating parts because the engine will turn over and should start. You'll also get a few sparks as you make contact. Note that the ignition does not have to be 'on' for the engine to start and run. This is like a lawn mower that can start unexpectedly when the blade is turned by hand. On LUX, the Activation Wire is an insulated terminal, so I have to remove it from the solenoid to gain access to the solenoid Activation Terminal.

Method 2

In some cases, you may have a dead solenoid. Either the coil in the solenoid has broken or the contactors are worn out and not passing the battery's power to the starter motor. In this case, you use a short, fat cable (#2 or larger) to jumper from the Battery wire to the Starter Wire. You're using the wire as a replacement for the big copper contactor that's in the solenoid. You may need two hands to properly hold the cable and make a firm contact between the two connectors on the solenoid. You'll get more sparks with this method, because there is a lot more current involved.

With both methods, don't leave the jumper wire connected for long. It should only be used long enough to get the engine started. The alternator should be charging if it wasn't damaged in whatever caused the starter solenoid to fail.

If you have an engine that has a compression release lever, and there is little battery power left, you can activate the compression release, start the engine turning over with the battery power you have, then release the compression release to get the engine started. This procedure would be useful where the alternators are also damaged and are not able to charge the batteries.

By learning how to hot-start an engine, you are a safer mariner, able to make landfall with engine power even if something like lightning takes out most of the electrical system.

  -Terry

Vic's DC Electric Service: Alternator or Starter Repair

We were on our way down the ICW, just a few days from jumping off from Ft. Pierce to go to Marsh Harbor, Abaco, Bahamas, when the alternator on the port engine died. (Its death is another story...) I ordered a replacement from Marine Parts Express, a reputable Volvo Penta dealer that we've used before. I requested express shipping, which they said they could do directly from Volvo Penta, to be delivered to Ft. Pierce, where we were to arrive in 3 days.

When we arrive at HarborTown Marina in Ft. Pierce, there was no package there. A quick call to MPE and they found that the alternator was still sitting at Volvo. Not even a shipping label on it. We've heard that this is a common occurrence. Someone at Volvo Penta should pay attention to customer service.

Time for Plan B. I called one of the local marine service companies and asked about alternator service companies. I was given the name of Vic's DC Electric Service in Stuart, FL, south of Ft. Pierce. I called Vic and talked with him a bit. He had a Volvo alternator on the shelf, left over from another customer's repair. It was possible that we could buy it and he would be open til 5pm. Off to the car rental place, then to Vic's.

Vic's place is a single bay in an industrial building. There are hundreds of old alternators and starters throughout the space. A small space is reserved for "current projects". Vic was very helpful. The owner of the Volvo 60A alternator hadn't returned Vic's call, so he couldn't sell it to us. Parts were no longer available for the 90A Leece Neville alternator we had. After rummaging around in his stock, he came up with all the new parts needed to make a new 90A alternator. It would be ready about noon the next day. And the price was less than half of what MPE wanted for the 60A Volvo alternator. Yea! I had to pick up Tom & Linda at West Palm Beach, just south of Stuart, so it worked out. I cancelled the order with MPE.

Tom, Linda, and I arrive at Vic's about 1pm the next day and there is the new alternator, complete with the pulley removed from the old alternator, which means that the tachometer will indicate the correct RPM. Vic goes over the connections, we pay him for the work, and we head back to LUX. The installation goes smoothly and the new alternator works great.

If you're in Florida and need an alternator or starter serviced, Vic is the person to see. He also does work for racing cars and boats. He is friendly, knowledgeable, and prompt. He doesn't take credit cards, so be prepared to pay cash for his service.

http://vicsdc.com/   772-220-8952 Stuart, FL

  -Terry

Keeping Those Engines Cool

Ed on Esprit de Mer reminded me as we departed Annapolis that we should be checking the engine mixing elbows where the engine cooling water is mixed with the exhaust gas to keep the exhaust cool. The combination of salt water with hot, corrosive exhaust gas creates an environment that eventually corrodes and clogs the exhaust mixing elbow.

I thought about the possibility and decided that there was a simple experiment that could be done to test whether there was a problem with the water flow through an engine. We took a bucket and held it under the exhaust to collect all the water that came out in a 15 second interval and measured the volume. The stbd engine volume was 1 gallon in 15 seconds, or 4 GPM. The port engine was 1/2 gallon in 15 seconds, or 2 GPM. Quite a difference!

At the next stop, we tore into the cooling system. The raw water impeller was in good shape. We found a couple of old impeller blades in the heat exchanger. The heat exchanger core looked good. The core is easy to remove on the Volvo Penta MD2040D engines, making it easy to check it.

We had not found enough to cause the difference in water flow. What about the water supply? I removed the hose from the sea cock and opened the sea cock. I expected to see a solid flow of water about 2 inches high. But there was a weak flow only about 1/2 inch high. I took a piece of solid house wire and probed through the sea cock. Out popped several large pieces of barnacle shell and the flow increased significantly - to the volume I expected. The photo shows the volume we had after the probing. The volume before was about a half inch high.

[Note: Lengths of house wire is great stuff to use for probing various areas of a boat or to retrieve items from narrow passages - I keep a couple of lengths on board in the tool bag.]

We reassembled everything and the engine now pumps 4 GPM, the same as the stbd engine. So now we have a baseline measurement on the performance of the raw water pumps and mixer elbows on both engines.

  -Terry

Update July 29, 2015: While talking with Alain, I realized that I had not recorded the engine RPM when we measured the water volume. It was while we were under way at cruising speed in the ICW, which is normally 2500-2800RPM.

It's Deja Vu All Over Again

We recently had renewed problems with the port engine. The symptoms were the same: when running at about 2500 RPM, the engine would lose RPM, dropping to about 1100, then resume 2500 RPM, with a cycle time of about 15 seconds. The trip down the Chesapeake had us pitching up and down with following seas. Crossing Port Royal Sound was the same, only we were going into the wind and waves. Then we went out the Savannah River and down the coast, coming in at St. Catherine's Sound. The wind and waves were from the west and it caused a lot of rolling, which causes fuel to slosh between the three partitions in the tank. This was the test that we were waiting for.

So it was time to open the inspection port and see what was going on in the tank. We pulled into St. Augustine, FL with the port tank about 1/4 full (10 gal). We found that the tank had a few pieces of bio scum in the bottom that had migrated from the sides into the center partition. We also found that the Racor 10 micron filter was black, filled with filtered scum. We suspect that the electric fuel pump filter is also clogged from the time when it was in the line between the tank and the Racor. In preparation for this trip, we moved the electric fuel pump to the output side of the Racor, where is now resides, pulling fuel through the Racor and feeding the low pressure pump. Our setup is shown in this photo. There is also a valve that allows us to select the fuel pickup source, which can be either the main pickup or the fuel priming bulb pickup (or both, if we put the valve in the mid-way position). The other advantage of this setup is that we can use the priming bulb to pump fuel back into the main pickup, just to convince ourselves that there is nothing blocking it.

The filtering system is working as designed and desired. We moved the fuel into the stbd tank using a drill pump, pulling through the Racor filter - basically polishing the fuel as we pumped it from one tank to the other. We cleaned out the bottom of the tank, replaced the electric fuel pump filter (100 micron) with a straight through fitting (relying on the Racor to filter the fuel prior to getting to the electric fuel pump), and we should be back in business. We refueled this morning and are under way with no problems so far, but then again, we've not had any pitching and rolling. We don't really expect any more fuel system problems.

The summary of our fuel system problems is that the tank had about 1/4 inch of gunk in the bottom, which clogged the fuel pickups. The gunk was thick enough that it didn't get pulled into the filter. Cutting a 5-inch inspection port in the top of the tank was the best thing we've done. We're planning to do the same thing on the starboard tank in the spring.

Here is a useful link about the sources of diesel fuel gunk from Marsh Marine:
http://www.marshmarine.net/index_8.htm


  -Terry

The Light At The End of The Tunnel

Is that a light at the end of the tunnel? Or is that a train headlight? After the heat exchanger is reassembled, I head off to West Marine, on foot, with a planned stop in Sailor's Exchange (worth the stop) and another stop in AutoZone for an electric fuel pump. I return with some parts from each location, including 36ft of fuel supply hose, four 3-way valves, and various other parts. Back at LUX, the system takes a few hours to implement. We replace all the fuel supply hoses on the port engine. The hand pump bulb and the main feed lines are connected to a 3-way valve, allowing us to select either supply feed and to also use the hand pump to prime all the lines. The intermediate setting of the valve connects all three lines together, allowing us to pump fuel down the main supply line as well as through the primary filter and into the fuel lines to the engine. The engine runs fine with the new system! We're finally ready to leave St. Augustine. We take a break for lunch at the local Greek/Polish restaurant and walk around the shops for an hour or so. It is a nice break from engine work. We all agree that St. Augustine is a neat town, with a lot of museums and galleries that warrant a future stop with more time to spend.

We depart St. Augustine on June 3, heading up the coast towards Charleston. The port engine exhibits some periods of rough running. We now have the option of choosing a pickup and of pumping fuel with the hand pump. The periods of smooth water coincide with a smoothly running engine. Periods of rough water, particularly when the seas make LUX roll, coincide with rough engine running. Since we've not been able to run the engine much, we have 7/8 of a tank of fuel (45 gal tank). At 3/4 gal to 1 gal per hour of fuel consumption, we will need to run a few hours to get the tank near empty so that we can inspect it. The tank does not have an inspection port and the fuel gauge sensor will require some investigation to determine how to get it out of the tank. So far, we've not determined how to remove it so that we have the whole access port for inspection - a port that's only about 1.5 inches in diameter.

We're north of Charleston, SC on June 7, and the port engine started with its problematic operation. We quickly went to the hand pump bulb and found that it was soft. The fuel level is down to 1/4 tank and the bulb feels like it is sucking air. We have been wondering how long its pickup is and whether it goes as deep as the main fuel pickup. There seems to be a sump in the bottom of the fuel tank under the main fuel pickup. We installed the electric fuel pump and it pumped air. Do we have an air leak or is the tank empty. The fuel gauge reads 1/4 tank, but we've not used LUX enough yet to know if it is accurate.

Muck in the Port Tank

We decide to open the port fuel tank while under way to see how much fuel is in the tank. The gauge reads 1/4 tank. How much fuel do we need to pump out so that we can see the bottom of the tank? Mike is able to get the fuel gauge sensor removed from the tank and we're able to look inside. A dip stick shows about 1/4-inch of fuel. There is a thin layer of bio muck in the bottom of the tank.  A baffle prevents us from viewing the fuel pickup area. While there is a sump in the bottom of the tank, there is no drain in it and it does not coincide with the location of the pickups, either the main pickup or the priming bulb pickup. So it seems that our problem is likely due to bio-muck. We had recently purchased bio-cide to treat the diesel and we add some to the tank to kill whatever is living in the the small amount of fuel that remains.

The Starboard Tank Is Much Cleaner!

On our first leg, we had run the port tank down to 1/4 tank, which is where it is currently reading on an empty tank! So perhaps part of the problem was picking up bio-muck from the bottom of the tank, plus stirring up the muck when the tank ran down to a really low level.

We calibrate the sensor so that the fuel gauge reads full and empty at the two extremes of motion, also checking that the half reading is also correct. It has a float that can be adjusted, so we make the adjustments so that the fuel gauge reads correctly. It will read full when the tanks are about 5 gal from being 100% full. Leaving that much space at the top of the tank is probably a good idea anyway. With the port tank now calibrated, we had to do the same to the starboard tank. We found that it was much cleaner in the bottom.

For other Leopard owners, the fuel tank breather hose on both tanks has sagged and tends to collect fuel in the dip. When adding fuel to the tank, the fuel in the breather tube is pushed out and winds up in the water if we're not careful. Supporting the hose so that a dip doesn't exist will take care of the problem.

To Be Continued...

Time for a Beer

The over temp alarm had not sounded, so we think we're safe. Checking the hoses is ok. The raw water filter is empty. Grrr. Another problem to troubleshoot. Off comes the raw water impeller cover. The impeller only has half of one blade attached. Several blades are wedged in the impeller housing and exit port. Sigh. The raw water system will need to be disassembled to find all the blades so that they don't block the cooling water flow. We start the disassembly and find a couple of blades in the hose that feeds the heat exchanger and can feel one of the blades in the heat exchanger end cap. The antifreeze is still hot, the engine is hot, so it is time to take a break and let everything cool. It's dinner time, so we break for the night, get cleaned up, and go to 1A1 restaurant for dinner. It is a micro-brewery and a beer is definitely on our list of refreshments.

June 2 starts with the continued disassembly of the heat exchanger, starting with draining the antifreeze into a container. Fortunately, we've been keeping the gallon water jugs and are able to recycle them for diesel and antifreeze catch basins. Cutting them up allows us to make funnels that fit into weird places, such as under the end of the heat exchanger, where the antifreeze comes out. The engine parts diagram shows a potential drain on the side of the engine, but ours doesn't have one.

Make sure all the impeller parts have been found

With the heat exchanger end cap off, we find the remaining impeller fins, checking them on the hub to make sure we've found them all. The heat exchanger core looks ok; no rubber parts wedged in any of the tubes. To make sure, we take a piece of flexible wire and run the length of each tube in the core, which is tedious, but goes reasonably quickly. Everything checks out ok and the heat exchanger is soon reassembled. We had two spare impellers on board as part of our engine spares kit. The impeller is installed and antifreeze poured back into the engine. Success! The engine now runs and pumps water. We think we're getting to the point where there aren't many more things to disassemble and repair on this engine.

By the way, the starboard engine continues to run fine. It is on a separate fuel tank and we keep reminding ourselves that we won't touch it until we have a reliable port engine.

Our new fuel system plumbing design

Now that we've demonstrated that the bulb hand pump pickup runs fine, it is time to devise a revision to the fuel system. Georgiana talks with Anthony, her brother, an ex-USCG Chief Engineer. He says that the plastic core of fuel lines tends to deteriorate over time and may collapse under pumping vacuum, causing fuel starvation. He also told of various sources of paper and towels in the fuel system. We'll let him comment on his experiences. So we decide to create a valve system that allows us to select either of the two pickups using a 3-way valve. We also consider an electric fuel pump to augment the mechanical pump. We've thought about more valves to allow connecting the port engine to the starboard fuel tank or to pump fuel from one tank into the other (going through a filter so that any contamination doesn't migrate). But we've not gone that far yet. If we do that, we'll probably also configure a fuel polishing system using the small electric fuel pump.

We've run out of time today to do any more. We had planned to eat on board tonight, but after all the engine work, bending upside down over the engine and contorting myself into the compartment, I declared that I wanted to go ashore for dinner and a beer. So we walked to Santa Maria restaurant, adjacent to the marina.

To Be Continued...