Fri Jun 10 2022
Before bringing Sunset to Port Townsend we topped the fuel in Brinnon. Turns out back in October of ’21 Pleasant Harbor Marina had about the cheapest diesel around at $3.50/gallon. Even so, 350 gallons cost $1225 (tax included). Ouch, welcome to big motor boats. We chugged on up to Boat Haven Marina and backed Sunset into slip D248, plugged in the electrical power, and set up housekeeping. While we identified various “improvements” and “corrections” the big boat needed, there was little time to address them until we finally got JollyDogs splashed on March 29th and finally moved over to Shilshole Marina on April 7th.
Thereafter I focused on the preventative maintenance tasks, firstly removing the propulsion engine belts so that I could replace the raw water pump impellers. The installation requires removing each pump and bracket assembly from the engine installation, and then removing massive (compared to JollyDogs) impellers from the pumps. That task requires a 2-arm pulley removal tool, which fortunately our new best friend Chris Dunn, ace boat mechanic / electrician was happy to loan me. Glad I did the job, because one impeller was beginning to tear. While the belts were off I spun each alternator and the grinding of the bearings screamed “replace me now”! After an internet search for suitable replacement alternators, 2 were ordered but only 1 arrived due to a vendor screwup, so another had to be ordered with expedited shipping. Belts were found online and also at the local NAPA store, so new ones were installed and spares stocked.
Back in October ’21 I had done the maintenance and inspections on the generator cooling system including pulling the heat exchanger and exhaust elbow for visual inspections and any required cleaning. All looked good, but the process of doing that damaged the exhaust elbow gasket and naturally Northern Lights was out of stock. Our pal Bill Bressler taught me how to fabricate my own gasket and Chris gave me a suitable scrap of gasket material. Turned out to be an easy task so now I know how to do that. All that was left was to change the oil, something I figured I’d do just before getting underway for the Alaska trip, and when I opened up the generator compartment to do the deed after fired it up to warm the oil, I was greeted with a puddle of diesel fuel under the unit and a raw water pump leaking like a sieve. No good deed goes unpunished. The pump rebuild kit cost almost as much as a new one, so might as well spend the money. The fuel leak was another surprise that required replacing the flexible lines between the hard fuel lines and the diesel. The final surprise was the failure of the alternator, an odd little thing which was tired indeed. Failing to find a replacement altogether, a discussion with Chris revealed that he had an old one on a training engine (he teaches at the local shipwright’s school in Port Hadlock) that he would happily give me, but he didn’t know if it was still functional. Naturally it wouldn’t fit on the alternator mounting bracket and no local shop would test it, so I stashed it for later. My work-around was that once the generator was started the house battery charger would top up the genset starter battery. A reasonable way to proceed until a solution was found.
I had changed the Cat zincs and the oil back in the Fall of ’21, with each engine taking about 4 1/2 gallons of 15w40 and 2 large oil filters each. Researching the previous owner’s maintenance records revealed that the transmission oil had been recently changed as well as the coolant. NAPA had Wix Cool 1402., a coolant additive recommended by Cat, so after servicing the long life green coolant (green, not red is the right stuff for these older marine engines) the main engine maintenance was up to snuff. There was enough left to service the genset as well.
We’ve known a couple of boats that had diesel engine failures in heavy seas, a result of settled “gunk” getting stirred up in the fuel and sucked into the sump, clogging the fuel filter. Sunset was built in 1988 and there were no records of fuel tank cleaning, so stocking plenty of spare fuel filters and beginning the journey with fresh filters installed seemed sensible. Naturally learning how to do the task rapidly, properly priming the fuel system afterwards and bringing the engine back to life is key to recovering from an engine shutdown at an inopportune time. The best way to monitor the state of the fuel system is to install vacuum gages on the primary fuel filters, Racor 1000’s on Sunset, and if a trend in fuel suction is noted then the filters are beginning to clog. Keeping the fuel tanks topped will help reduce condensation and water contamination, and purchasing fuel from docks that move a lot of fuel is a good idea.
We’ve always dosed our tanks with a biocide and lubricity additive called Biobor JF while filling with diesel. We’ve never detected anything growing in the tanks or any fuel feed problems at all. Feed diesels clean fuel and air, and maintain the oil and coolant. Darn things just run and run.
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