Steve wrote in
:

I mostly sail and don't use the
motor all that much.

Steve



Us, too. The "newer" 4-108 we bought from a guy in NC off this newsgroup
was mated to the old hydraulic transmission so we can still run our shaft
alternator off the old engine.

This new engine survived a massive flooding back through the exhaust when
the stupid boatyard installed the wrong powerboat dripless bearing in the
hull. They connected up the bearing's primer powerboats need to the
Perkins' cooling water outlet....but the stupids didn't put in an anti-
siphon loop! Cap'n and some others sailed it from Charleston to Key West
offshore and had trouble starting it in Key West as it had water in the
cylinders but got it going. I joined the boat when they all deserted him
in West Palm Beach and we sailed offshore up to Ponce Inlet with a big
heel angle all night. At the inlet, it wouldn't turn over, hydrolocked
by seawater. Towboat US said we'd have to sail against the tide up the
inlet's ripping tide before he could tow us, so the two of us sailed it
up past the lighthouse on the genoa in traffic, just making it as the
wind dropped. He towed us to Daytona Marina/Boatyard and a very nice guy
from Cutter Doc (386-679-3414) deserted his family, on the weekend, to
come at once to Lionheart to save the Perkins. He pumped the tar balls
out of the crankcase, twice, and got the water out of the cylinders.
After a "few oil changes", one new injector and one injector mount that
had cracked trying to crank it (probably in Key West, he said), we got it
running and ran it into the night to boil out any remaining seawater.
More oil changes followed and the little tractor diesel runs like a top.

Leaving the hose off the waterbox muffler, water was seeping into the
system and he couldn't quite put his finger on why. He was really tired
so I insisted he go home and sleep, leaving the water trickling into the
bilge pumps late that night. After watching it for a while, I started
kinking hoses around the engine and the trickling stopped when I kinked
that new hose to the stupid dripless bearing. Before he got back Sunday
morning, I'd taken two hose barbs and a plastic valve and cut the line to
the engine to insert it. It's still in the line, today. If the boat
comes out of the water for service, you open the valve to blow the bubble
out of the bearing with engine power, then shut it back off to prevent it
from backflowing into the Perkins to prevent flooding. Works great that
way IF you make sure any stray mechanics going into the bilge are told to
NOT open that valve as they ignore my warning sign.

If anyone needs diesel service around Daytona Beach, I can't say enough
good things about the guy who owns Cutter Doc. He serviced our emergency
in spite of afterhours on weekend with a BROKEN FINGER from catching it
in a belt that was running earlier in the day the day we arrived. That's
real dedication to marine service. His motorcycle mechanic helpers with
the earrings and various hardware in their appendages look a little
strange, but they, too, were good mechanics. I'm suspicious when a
mechanic arrives looking like a boat broker, all clean in his Jimmy
Buffett dress beach clothes and big Panama hat w/Sperry Docksiders.
Diesel mechanics never get clean hands.

Larry
--
Democracy is when two wolves and a sheep vote on who's for dinner.
Liberty is when the sheep has his own gun.