Week Eight

Last week went quite well but was a short one. I logged only 27.37 hours for a grand total of 244.33 hours. I started my week on Tuesday by doing coolant flushes on two Detroits. The rest of the week consisted mostly of general engine and drive services and some seawater circulation pump diagnostics. The issue we were facing was a Koler genset was throwing a low coolant (seawater) code. I got some direction pointers from two veteran mechanics but started from the bottom up anyways checking to make sure there was good flow at the thru hull, sea strainer, and all the way up to the circ pump. There was good flow up to that point. I found out the restriction was inside the fuel pump cooler. It was completely corroded shut. I learned that usually it is most efficient (and cheaper) to go through the proper diagnostics steps rather than jump to a conclusion and still have to back track in the end.

Pump bucket used for the Detroit coolant changes. Each engine had roughly seven and a half gallons of capacity.

Bad picture of the Koler genset I diagnosed.

Fuel pump cooler that was corroded shut. You can see the corrosion coming out of the barbed hose nipple.

After I drilled some of the corrosion out to create flow, I hooked up an electronic circ pump and flushed it with Barnacle Buster for a couple hours which completely dissolved all corrosion and left us observing cast aluminum that was corroded almost all the way through under the threads.

Big brother stopped by last week to get his boat launched....

Week Seven

Last week was quite exciting in many ways. I started the week with finishing the Ford Lehman install. That consisted of shaft alignment (got it under 0.003"), some simple fabrication, and assembly of the engine. Later in the week on a Bayliner with a V8, a fellow mechanic and I removed the outdrive and slid the engine forward to replace the flywheel that was just installed (there was bad vibration). It turned out the original flywheel and the new one had slightly different balancing. Along with the flywheel replacement, we also installed a new coupling. This week I learned how to align an engine for an outdrive shaft setup. It is much easier and less tedious than aligning a conventional shaft setup like I did earlier in the week. I logged a total of 31.44 hours last week for a grand total of 216.96 hours.

Ford Lehman mounted in boat but not fully assembled.

Conventional shaft setup I aligned.

Custom bracket fabricated for sea strainer for Ford Lehman cooling circuit.

Outdrive pulled off Bayliner

Moving the engine forward to make access for flywheel removal.

Alignment bar for outdrive.

Week Six

This week started with an engine pull out of a Puget Sound gillnetter. The boat had three inline six Volvos in it with two out drives on the sides and a Hamilton jet in the center. We pulled the middle engine and the jet package. The rest of the week consisted of small jobs such as setting up the A-frame in-boat I-beam engine puller, access hatch R&R, and Yamaha outboard services. One thing I learned and found quite interesting was how Volvo's supercharged/turbo charged engines worked. The supercharger is on an electric clutch to accommodate the turbo lag at low end RPMs. Once the turbo spools up, the supercharger is electronically shut off by a computer controlled management system (ECU). The important part to make the system work properly is an electronically controlled "Y valve" in the intake side of the engine that dosent allow pressure to escape out the air filter after going through the blower(supercharger). I documented 36.87 hours this week for a grand total of 185.52 hours.

Triple engined gillnetter we pulled the middle engine and jet out of. 

Turbo/supercharged Volvo described above (rags are covering the Y-valve described).

"In-boat" A-frame engine puller.

Ford Lehman we installed using the A-frame. 

Week Five

This week started off with flushing antifreeze and replacing thermostats on two cummins. Throughout the process, the mechanic I was working with, taught me about the basics of electricity. I learned what anodes and cathodes are and how they work, and learned how they come into play with corrosion in the marine industry.  I learned level how electrons moving from atom to atom cause corrosion. In result of those two things, I furthered my understanding of how zincs and grounding straps work. I got a lesson on how volvo shaped their cylinders to better combust fuel and reduce on black smoke. I logged 39.45 hours this week for a grand total of 148.65 hours.

This is a picture of the cylinder shaping technology talked about above. I also though you might like to see some chipped valve action.

Pulling an engine out of tight quarters. 

Pulling an engine out of tight quarters. 

I prepped this genset for disposal by removing the oil pan, generator, and starter.