Today was the Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe, and we completely missed it. Which is a bummer because the locals really got into it. The plaza and cathedral were packed solid full of parents with their young children dressed up in traditional Mexican garb (which is why it is so surprising that we heard nothing about this—Ouest’s school dresses up for everything). Along one wall of the church were at least twenty photography stands, each with a different prop or background. In fact, this seemed to be the main attraction of the holiday—getting an adorable picture of the niños. Best part for us was that a hot dog stand opened up on the plaza. Hot dogs are usually only available after dark around here.
Oh, the engine? It’s broke. Still. We finished putting it back together yesterday and ran it for a couple of hours. It lost some coolant, but that could have been just some air in the system. We topped it off and went home for the night. When I got back this morning the expansion tank was empty. Coolant is pouring into the oil somewhere, and really the only answer remaining is the block. There has got to be a crack/hole in one of the cylinders. We’re pulling the block out, pumping each cylinder with air and seeing which one loses pressure. The solution, we think, will be to bore out that cylinder and install a sleeve. But until this thing is off the boat and in the shop we won’t really know what it needs.
Nice thing about this shop is that they charge by the job, not the hour. So this latest leak hunt they only charged me $40. Where the money is adding up is in oil and gaskets. These things aren’t cheap. Anyway, this was a big disappointment today. My gamble that the problem was a head gasket has been wrong all along. All this time and work has been for nothing at all. Boo hoo.
I went up the mast today to install the windex, replace the anchor light bulb, run a halyard that I accidentally let slip, and run the lazy jack lines back up. Along the way I also found a tennis ball wedged in the first spreader that I had completely forgotten about. Anything can happen on a boat.
Yes, yes that is a nightgown Ouest is wearing at the plaza. She received it as a birthday gift from a girl at school and insisted the teacher put it on right over her uniform. When she got home the uniform came off, the nightgown did not.
15 Comments on “Missed Holidays and Engines”
wow, a place that charges by the job, not by the hour…. I gotta find that for my 4runner! …. This post has some incredible pictures. Very high quality. Who is behind the camera most of the time? I am sure you both take great shots, but I am often impressed at the composition and choice of subject matter. Keep rocking, Bums. Thanks for sharing.
So beautiful! My daughter, age 11, and I read your blog together. When we grow up we want to be just like you! 🙂
Stopper knots on all lines..1st rule of a sailor..:)! well at least a rule.
Hil..the trick is NOT to grow up!!
Loving all of the festivals you get to be a pat of down there! What a treat! And those two baby girls in the straw all decked out… they are precious!
Sorry to hear about the engine. The assumption you have a crack in a cylinder wall might be a stretch, and actual cylinder crack is not that common. More likely in the webbing between the cylinders. Diagnostics begin before tearing the engine down and looking. While you still have the head on it is relatively simple to make up plugs (you can even use wooden dowels) to fit all the hoses and secure with hose clamps. Screw a standard Milton interchange into one and connect to a regulated compressor. Raise and support the engine and drop the pan. Start with less than 10 PSI and move up to 15-20 if necessary, you will find the leak.
All this is just to confirm the problem, as I wouldn’t advise anyone using a repaired block on the ocean. There’s a big difference between pinning and welding a tractor engine that you can just walk back to the house if there is a problem, and powering a ship on the sea. Hard to really say what you’ve got without seeing it, but I’ve been a certified master mechanic since ’89 and this is my guess.
BTW, I think someone owes you a pizza.
Happy Birthday Ouest! I am 53 today – and you are 4!!
Laurin Beardsley
Yeah…I owe that pizza. I’m glad to buy it, but truly bummed about the engine. I feel your pain.
The problem I have with all this talk about a leaking block is that I know just how resilient they are and can’t imagine that the block suddenly started leaking or cracked due to an overheat event unless it was severe. If it isn’t the head gasket, the next most common failure is a cracked manifold…and you’ve ruled that out. So…I guess I’m buying the Bums a pizza again. The last pizza I bought you guys was in Egypt many years ago.
I agree it would be unusual IF the block is indeed cracked. Usually only happens from abuse (hot rodding), freezing, or corrosion. This thing is all cast iron so the worst an overheat should cause is a leaky gasket. It is possible that there may have been a corrosion issue with how long this engine sat idle before purchased by the Bums. That’s still a very shaky possibility though. It’ll be interesting to see what the mechanics find. Hoping for the best and cheapest outcome.
Have to agree with Jack. Probably a void or break in the oil/coolant galleries well within the block. His description of the pressure test sounds good. Not even close to being an expert on anything but have worked on many different types of engines for many years. Short block time?
Paul T
I may have missed something but I can’t recall you doing or having done any non-destructive tests called ‘die penetrate spray or magna-fluxing, These tests have been around for years and are much more conclusive then any pressure testing. I hope the best for you.
Jerry
This engine thing is driving me crazy, which is funny because I don’t know anything about engines, much less diesel engines. For me the best part of your blog is reading about your solutions to mystifying boat problems. So nothing I’m about to blather about is remotely intelligent or useful (except for what it may say about my impulse control issues). I have often fiddled with things in ignorance that experts find so inconceivably unlikely to have been done that it never occurs to them to check on when I finally throw in the towel.
Going back to at least June, you got into the engine and found the raw water strainer disintegrating, which you fixed with epoxy. At the same time you had those two bolt holes in the fuel injection pump but only one bolt(and I forget, what was the the answer to that puzzle?) Then you started having an overheating issue. Then coolant in the oil. Now two sets of mechanics are stumped. Do they know the strainer is glued up? The other bolt hole? You also had broken motor mounts, plus some misalignment issues. Do they know about that?
It sounds like you don’t lose much coolant running the engine for hours, and then overnight it all drains out. And you can’t find a leak when the engine is apart even with pressure. Could it be something that happens after the warm engine stops and cools? Some sort of suction, like through some vent hose? Some siphoning action, like coolant getting pushed to some other addon that is mounted too high or too low and then going some unexpected place? Maybe some place that bits of raw water strainer could get to? There has been such intense focus on that head gasket.
All I want for Christmas is to read your engine is working!
Pat,
I sent Mexican Pizza for 10 people. Let me know what toppings you get on that thing. Send pictures of you and the mechanics eating it with grease covered hands while working on the engine as that is what it was intended for…cheers from Australia.
Pat, Jack,
In order of likely sources of leak resulting in coolant in oil, this is my take purely based on my 25+ years working with this 2701 Lehman engine:
1) Head Gasket
2) Manifold Gasket
3) Manifold Elbow Gasket
4) Cracked or warped manifold elbow
5) Manifold crack due to over heat event or corrosion crack or prior repair
6) Head warp due to severe thermal event and it being hit with cold water while severely overheated (very common mistake by owners is to try and cool the engine as quickly as possible with cold water while is it overheated. The sudden cooling of the surface of the cast iron causes sudden massive stress gradient that induces distortion and cracking).
7) Cracked head due to same severe overheat event and rapid cool.
8) Cracked, corroded internal cooling passage. (lowest likelihood)
The circulation pump will only leak to the outside of the engine. So, your leak source is either coming from a failed gasket or a failed cast iron part in order for coolant to arrive in the oil.
Now, looking at the pistons and seeing that they are black with carbon tells me that water is not getting into the pistons. If coolant were to be getting into the combustion process, it will steam clean the piston involved and it will be cleaned of carbon in the process. So, the leak is not accessing the intake or exhaust passages where it would be sucked into the pistons in small quantities during operation as steam. Therefore, the leak is not coming from the manifold, manifold elbow or associated gaskets.
The coolant appears to have direct access to the oil which can only happen in the head, failed head gasket or block. The coolant is leaking into the oil during operation and as the engine cools and does so with a small head pressure. Based on what I’ve read, there isn’t any exhaust gas getting into the coolant and there isn’t any coolant getting into the exhaust. Therefore the communication of coolant is directly to oil or oil passage.
So, based on a logical fault analysis, one can arrive at the following conclusions based on the evidence at hand in order of likelihood:
1) head gasket
2) head is warped or cracked
3) block has internal crack or passage corrosion leak.
A failed block is still the least likely failure mode. If the engine was severely mistreated or neglected, I would expect more obvious external signs of corrosion. Thermal shock failure due to a severe overheat event followed by cold water quench will cause warping or cracking of the head before it would effect the block.
Some information of concern is the fact that there was a failed engine mount or two. In an extreme situation, this could cause fatigue stress crack growth in the block, but this failure mode would be extremely rare.
I would focus on the head first before I put too much time into the block.
I’m going to go with a small spot of corrosion that will only be visible after something odd is removed like a bracket or fresh water pump. Just my gut instinct here.
Haha, very funny. No placing the bet after the game has been played.