OK, if I’m making you all crazy, think how it looks from my end.
My back is getting better. I finally got two nights of real sleep and through a day without any significant pain. I woke up this morning feeling like my brain was also starting to work properly again.
I decided it couldn’t hurt to start the engine briefly. Sure enough, no oil pressure after 4-5 seconds so I shut it down. I then poured in the half quart of oil recovered from the drip pan (no sign of water BTW) and the oil pressure alarm then just gave a brief chirp on startup. On restart, it just flashed the light for half a second as it always has.
I had another conversation with Rick at MBAP and then used my oil pump out rig to determine the oil level which was a bit over an inch below the end of the dipstick. At Rick’s suggestion, I walked up and got another quart of oil which I put in bringing the dipstick up to the 1/3 level. I cleaned out the drip pan and spread new oil pads under it. An hour later, there was not a drop visible. This pretty much confirms that it is not a gravity leak.
I then ran the engine at high idle and 2100 with the dipstick out. I couldn’t feel any flow from the tube or pressure when I put my thumb over it. That gave me the idea of putting a small square of Saran Wrap over the end of the tube, not wrapped tightly. Running the engine for a minute and right up to 2100, the wrap wasn’t dislodged or loosened. This is not a crankcase pressure issue.
The first guy I talked to about this then showed up to return my manuals and I invited him aboard for a talk. He had a good explanation for the delay in finding out about parts and has figured out a way to start pulling the engine out tomorrow and take care of the boat while I go to Maine and until it can be hauled. We bonded. I decided I like the cut of his jib and he’s got the job.
I think that he, Rick, and I are all sure now that there are no piston or cylinder issues. The current mystery is that there is still not a drop of oil under the engine after a few minutes running. So, tomorrow morning, he’s going to have his yard boat standing by and ready at the yard and we are going to take a long enough run out into the bay to get the oil good and hot. I’ll fill it to the normal level this afternoon. Unless the oil alarm comes on, we’ll then run it up to the yard and the engine should be out in a day or two. Since the pistons and cylinders appear to be sound, the chances of this engine going back in the boat have soared.
It’s clearly an oil pump pressure driven leak and not gravity or crankcase pressure. I think the scenario that created all the confusion is this:
I was pumping oil out the seal (or somewhere) all during previous day's long run. In one of life’s coincidences, I was probably minutes from having the oil alarm go off.
The next morning, when the oil was thick and cold, the marginal oil level and some air sucking into the sump intake was enough to cause the oil alarm chirp that prompted me to look in the drip pan. Rick says that, when the oil alarm goes off on these engines, they really are nearly out of oil, down to less than a quart.
My first reading of half on the dipstick was probably just an error caused by haste, panic, and the oil on the side of the tube. When I checked an hour later and the dipstick was dry, I assumed, and have been posting, that oil continued to run out. After looking at the manuals and collecting all this additional data and opinions, I think that unlikely.
I filled the engine to the normal level this afternoon and repeated my plastic wrap test. Running for a minute at 2100 the dimple I made of the wrap pushing it slightly down into the tube wasn't even blown out. There is zero crankcase pressure.
I’ve been in and out of the cockpit locker and engine space headfirst three times and spent quite a bit of time bent over the engine. My back feels good but just tight enough to tell me not to do any more today.
Things are looking up.
My back is getting better. I finally got two nights of real sleep and through a day without any significant pain. I woke up this morning feeling like my brain was also starting to work properly again.
I decided it couldn’t hurt to start the engine briefly. Sure enough, no oil pressure after 4-5 seconds so I shut it down. I then poured in the half quart of oil recovered from the drip pan (no sign of water BTW) and the oil pressure alarm then just gave a brief chirp on startup. On restart, it just flashed the light for half a second as it always has.
I had another conversation with Rick at MBAP and then used my oil pump out rig to determine the oil level which was a bit over an inch below the end of the dipstick. At Rick’s suggestion, I walked up and got another quart of oil which I put in bringing the dipstick up to the 1/3 level. I cleaned out the drip pan and spread new oil pads under it. An hour later, there was not a drop visible. This pretty much confirms that it is not a gravity leak.
I then ran the engine at high idle and 2100 with the dipstick out. I couldn’t feel any flow from the tube or pressure when I put my thumb over it. That gave me the idea of putting a small square of Saran Wrap over the end of the tube, not wrapped tightly. Running the engine for a minute and right up to 2100, the wrap wasn’t dislodged or loosened. This is not a crankcase pressure issue.
The first guy I talked to about this then showed up to return my manuals and I invited him aboard for a talk. He had a good explanation for the delay in finding out about parts and has figured out a way to start pulling the engine out tomorrow and take care of the boat while I go to Maine and until it can be hauled. We bonded. I decided I like the cut of his jib and he’s got the job.
I think that he, Rick, and I are all sure now that there are no piston or cylinder issues. The current mystery is that there is still not a drop of oil under the engine after a few minutes running. So, tomorrow morning, he’s going to have his yard boat standing by and ready at the yard and we are going to take a long enough run out into the bay to get the oil good and hot. I’ll fill it to the normal level this afternoon. Unless the oil alarm comes on, we’ll then run it up to the yard and the engine should be out in a day or two. Since the pistons and cylinders appear to be sound, the chances of this engine going back in the boat have soared.
It’s clearly an oil pump pressure driven leak and not gravity or crankcase pressure. I think the scenario that created all the confusion is this:
I was pumping oil out the seal (or somewhere) all during previous day's long run. In one of life’s coincidences, I was probably minutes from having the oil alarm go off.
The next morning, when the oil was thick and cold, the marginal oil level and some air sucking into the sump intake was enough to cause the oil alarm chirp that prompted me to look in the drip pan. Rick says that, when the oil alarm goes off on these engines, they really are nearly out of oil, down to less than a quart.
My first reading of half on the dipstick was probably just an error caused by haste, panic, and the oil on the side of the tube. When I checked an hour later and the dipstick was dry, I assumed, and have been posting, that oil continued to run out. After looking at the manuals and collecting all this additional data and opinions, I think that unlikely.
I filled the engine to the normal level this afternoon and repeated my plastic wrap test. Running for a minute at 2100 the dimple I made of the wrap pushing it slightly down into the tube wasn't even blown out. There is zero crankcase pressure.
I’ve been in and out of the cockpit locker and engine space headfirst three times and spent quite a bit of time bent over the engine. My back feels good but just tight enough to tell me not to do any more today.
Things are looking up.
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