Friday, June 17, 2016

Routine Engine Maintenance

Graham from Dockside Marine Repair (http://www.docksidemarinerepair.com) came over and allowed me to watch as he did a bunch of routine maintenance on my Detroits:
  • Replaced the engine oil (18 quarts of Delo 100). The exchange pump was slow, but worked well.
  • Replaced the oil filters. Note: use the paper gasket rather than the (smaller) rubber one.
  • Replaced both secondary fuel filters. Trick: fill the filter with ATF before reattaching. Priming/starting is easier, and it helps to clean the injectors.
  • Replaced the impellers.
  • Replaced the heat exchanger anodes.
  • Tightened the belts for the water pumps.
  • Checked the transmission fluid in the TwinDiscs (full, and looked great).

Filters: Napa Gold

  • Oil – 1133
  • Fuel – 3512
  • Fuel – 3552

Saturday, June 11, 2016

Temp Upgrade

Replaced the old wired dual thermometer that was missing a bunch of LCDs with a new wireless one. Nice and clean look. Sometimes it's the little things...


Saturday, May 14, 2016

Fresh Water System Simplification

The previous owner was cowing over the fresh water pump, a 20lb pully-driven monstrosity that seemed to work about 75% of the time. The rest of the time it would cycle on and off annoyingly, and no adjusting or cajoling would get it right. Not to mention the system included an accumulator tank, which I believed to be flat, and a water filter, which I believed to be 'full'. All in all, too much stuff. So instead of trying to fix it, I tore it all out and simplified.

The pump was on a homemade shelf half-bolted to the engine room wall. And that shelf was going to get gone. So out came the pump, accumulator tank, water filter and this set of Groco electronics designed to turn off the water pump if it runs continuously for 5 minutes. All gone.

Then I disconnected the bilge pump hose, threaded it through the hole in the shelf, and removed the shelf. There, all clean. :-)

We don't have a whole lot of water demand, so the replacement pump was a ShurFlo Aqua King II 3gpm (model 4138), along with a compatible strainer for the supply side. On it went to the wall, hooked up, and worked like a champ with no leaks.

All in all, a necessary repair, and a great simplification.

Before
 
 




During


 


After