Do Your Maintenance! (Please)

[S/V Honu]

The boat i bought in February had not had basic maintenance done for the entire tenure of the previous owner (10 years) it seems.There were numerous engine repairs (2QM20) and services required, such as new fuel and oil filters, oil change, pulling the aluminum fuel tank, draining sludge, and welding numerous holes; replacing the lift pump, and repairing the oil line to the head. I pulled the head to inspect the valves and cylinders; the cooling passages were completely plugged, with completely deteriorated zincs. The valves were ground and lapped, the head was descaled, and the cylinders lightly honed.
The engine ran like a champ after all that, but i was still missing one zinc that protects the block. When it arrived, as i was installing it into its plug, the threads broke completely away from the head of the plug! The plug was the original bronze plug and had suffered from depletion and had basically corroded in half. After nearly 3 weeks, the replacement, made from stainless steel, arrived and was installed with the zinc in short order. Hurray, I can motor off the dock again! Just goes to show that doing basic services is very important to ensuring the readiness of your vessel.

 

[odaydokay]

Doing proper maintenance is not just for the next owner, it's for the current one. For example it helps prevent finding one's self pushing against a swift current going up a river and losing power or at other maybe even more dangerous times. I learned to do it myself as it is so critical to me I will trust no one else's mistakes, sloppiness, forgetfulness (yes, on the part of the pros sometimes!)

 

[S/V Honu]

A good owner will always care more about their vessel than anyone else; I do all my own work also. I did have to teach myself to weld aluminum, the other stuff i did as part of my working life.

 

[BrianRobin]

A lot of problems also come from those who pay professionals for a service that aren't provided, this was the case on my boat. Educate yourself enough to identify where parts/service items are located.

 

[DayDreamer41]

Completing regular maintenance provides safety and security knowing the boat is ready, identifying any problems while performing inspections makes repairs less expensive. Simple things like checking oil and coolant prior to starting the engine could save you from a really bad experience.

 

[monocerosin]

cylinders; the cooling passages were completely plugged, with completely deteriorated zincs. The valves were ground and lapped, the head was descaled, and the cylinders lightly honed.
The engine ran like a champ after all that, but i was still missing one zinc that protects the block.

Do you happen to still have the part numbers for those zincs or remember where you purchased them from? I'm having a hard time describing it in search.

 

[Justin_NSA]

I like to do all possible maintenance to create a baseline for future items. I think I have posted most of the surprises I have found since I bought Bella.
I'd like to drain my diesel tank and get whatever gunk may be in there. I've always used a biocide and fuel treatment. We haven't been able to sail for 2 seasons now because of our drought !

 

[WayneH]

Do you happen to still have the part numbers for those zincs or remember where you purchased them from? I'm having a hard time describing it in search.

Try this
Pencil Sacrificial Anode

 

[WayneH]

I'd like to drain my diesel tank and get whatever gunk may be in there. I've always used a biocide and fuel treatment. We haven't been able to sail for 2 seasons now because of our drought !

After 2 years on the hard due to Hurricane Sally, I finally got around to replacing the fuel level sender in my tank. While I had the old unit out, I took a piece of sacrificial clear tubing and a old metal coat hanger and sampled the bottom of my tank via siphon. I was actually surprised that there was no second phase in the sample.

 

[Project_Mayhem]

There was an article about a guy that drove a million miles with his old Volvo. He preached about following the factory maintenance schedule. Nobody knows more about the inner workings of a mechanical device than the engineers that designed it. Long term testing in the field may reveal shortcomings that simply can't be found in short term lab testing however