Winter maintenance - And so it starts

[MartynG]

I have a few bits missing off my port engine at the moment. A slight oil leak was diagnosed as being from the turbocharger. Oil has entered the intercooler which has been removed for cleaning. The turbocharger is being delivered to specialist today for inspection. I hope it will prove to be a simple rebuild required as a replacement exchange turbo is very expensive.
Easter will be caravanning on the water .



Normally looks like this

[shibbs]

Look on the bright side, caravanning on the water is still much better than caravanning on the land!!!
And, you can sit and admire just how shiny those bilges are, a job well done!!
Hope it's a quick turnaround for you.

[MartynG]

We will still enjoy being on the boat over Easter.

I don't think it should take long to rebuild the turbo.
The engineer is very good , but that means he is also very busy. Getting a date out of him to put it all back together is the difficult bit.
Paying for it will be the painful bit.

I do like to keep a clean engine bay but I am not obsessive about it. Once clean the bilges don't take much effort to keep that way. The gelcoat finish on the liner makes it easy - just a wipe over now and again.

[ColinR]

The engineer is very good , but that means he is also very busy. Getting a date out of him to put it all back together is the difficult bit.

This is a real problem at this time of year. All of the decent engineers are up to their ears in work because everyone wants their pride and joy readied for the new season.

[BruceK]

Those bilges are pure bling! Mine are driving me nuts. I managed to drop about a cup of diesel into mine doing a racor filter change. (Fliters too low to get a decent sized bucket / tray under them) As there is always about a half inch of fresh water in them from the radar arch which the bilge pump cant lift the oil spreads everywhere. Keeping my bilges dry and clean is a job on it's own with ribs and stringers making access nigh on impossible to clean it all in a single go. Cleaning becomes a war of attrition. Goodluck with the turbos.

[NickT]

Steering has been a problem with Hot Property since I bought her so I have bitten the bullet and installed hydraulic steering.

Not a 5 minute job!

few pics below that show various stages of the installation, I had to open up the clamshell casing on the engine to install the vital bolt that holds the ram onto the engine.

All I have left to do is secure the pipes in the rear engine well so that they don't pull the fittings when hard to port or starboard.

The end result is brilliant - about 1/3rd of the effort required to turn the engine and smooth to boot.

Just a bit of cleaning, quick lick of antifoul and then she's ready to launch.

Whose going to Brixham then?

[NickT]

2 more pics..

[MartynG]

Goodluck with the turbos.

I sent an email to the engineer today asking for any news on the turbo. He replied saying he only took it in yesterday (Tuesday) . This was after having removed it last Friday morning.

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[MartynG]

Pleased to say my turbo was refitted today . The shaft had worn - pretty much as expected. It was a matter of rebuilding in the existing casing which should prove to be less expensive than had been thought possible....... but no invoice received yet. Anyway engine bay is back to normal.

A brief test run seems to run okay - not that it was running badly before , just spitting out oil. Seems like I have caught the problem before it could deteriorate further.


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[MartynG]

With the turbo sorted White Angel is now ashore for some more routine maintenance.

The bow thruster is faulty and i hope it proves to be something simple.There should be a shear pin behind the prop.

A bit of prop damage - I expect it can be repaired