HappyBunny

your boat is amazing ... we met in a lock in Berko .... and sometimes it feels overwhelming, but it is a rollercoaster back up to the dizzying heights when you sort stuff, which you do .... but as they say "Never trade the thrills of living for the security of existence" me, I have no regrets

Hmmm I keep the said screw in a small silk bag, pinned to the inside of my vest, next to my heart .... it serves as a constant reminder of just how strange life can be ..... (as if I need such a reminder every day just gets more strange and mysterious ) .... there is a thread about the "Screw Incident" with pictures on here somewhere .... I think it was lucky that she was so coked up at the time .... anyway, that was then .... and this is now, BUT I did always wonder whether a faint imprint on the top of two cylinders was the only damage .... she never settled down properly after that, and kept getting airlocks, overheating if she had to do any real work etc .... which is when Richard got involved, and rebuilt my head (and painted it a lovely army green ... I like green things) ..... it appeared that the head gasket had been put on upside down after the "Screw Incident", which had blocked an oil feed ... and after that, she settled down nicely and ran well .... apart from starting slowly to produce white smoke (general consensus was timing needed adjusting ) (or was it smoke ???? ) ...... from Birmingham to Oxford, onto the Thames for a while, back up the Oxford and then down the GU until I entered the "Apsley Triangle" .... a well known area of Hertfordshire where scientists have measured the "Berko Effect" .... where, if something can go wrong with your boat / motorsickle / van / whatever mode of transport (including your own body) , it will .... the "Apsley Triangle" stretches from Cow Roast to Cassiobury Park, and should be avoided, or at least passed through as quickly as possible to minimise the disastrous outcomes of the "Berko Effect" ..... where I put in some antifreeze .... and then I noticed a few bubbles in the header tank, and just assumed she had got a bit of air in the system when I had drained it .... but the bubbles kept coming sporadically ... and she was running a bit hot at times and my calorifier was a bit unpredictable but I thought she had an airlock (now I am not so sure) .... she needed a bit of water ... but she sometimes does ... and I have had the odd leak on a few hose joints as an aside, during this time, as a direct consequence of the Berko Effect, some of you may remember I also had "The Exploding Fennaflex Coupling" incident .... which was an entertaining distraction .... anyway she settled down a bit, and christmas was coming and I wanted to visit my prodigal son, so I bimbled on into London, which is a slow crawl and she was fine .... it was coming back out of London, and back in to the Apsley Triangle that she really started releasing a lot of air through the header tank, but did not appear to boil (because when she boils, as Richard pointed out earlier, you know about it! .... within 10 minutes my engine bay becomes a sauna room), she was using water and the rest is history as they say ... so yesterday afternoon she started better ... with a slight splutter on one cylinder, revved nicely, I offered a prayer to Gaia, and left the boggy wastes of Cow Roast in a cloud of white smoke / steam .... and as I moved out of the Apsley Triangle the white smoke got less, and less .... the water in the header tank rose as it warmed and then stayed level ... no air bubbles, no funny noises after I turned the stereo up .... all good, deep joy to be moving again and with the sun on my face and no white smoke at all there is often a distinct rattle of skeletons on my boat .... but, true story, that is largely because I was an archaeologist by trade, with an unhealthy interest in bones, and do indeed keep some of my treasured reference collection in biscuit tins .... yes really .... I know .... I have small bird skeletons, frogs, snakes, gerbils don't get me started ..... anyway, if you are still with me after this epic ramble (my brain is a dangerous thing at this time of day) this is what I think .... and I am NO EXPERT ... I think I have got away with it this time ..... I think that there are many red herrings ..... there just may be a major "issue" niggling away in the background .... and it may raise its ugly head again in a few days / weeks / months ... because I don't think my head gasket just blew for no apparent reason other than the "Berko Effect" .... but who knows BUT BMC engines .... bloody brilliant and all the amazing, kjnd people I have met as a consequence, places I have discovered and explored, new friends made, knowledge gained

Hmmm it is interesting that you should say that .... during the long hours of rumination about what has been happening in my engine, I have often gone back to when all these problems started ..... when she somehow sucked a screw into the engine, many moons ago, and it bounced from one pot into another before I shut her down .... there appeared to be no damage, except for a faint impression of the pesky screw on one of the pistons .... and a couple of knackered valves etc etc etc .... but since then she has never quite been right since .... hmmmm she isn't particularly noisy ..... but I somehow feel this is not the end of the shenanigans, shall see what happens later ....

Gosh, thank you ... there is a rumour going round the tow path here that someone is taking a BMC1.5 out of a boat at Cow Roast Marina today, so I am off on a reccy to see if I can pilfer some parts, but may take you up on that kind offer Good tip, thanks ...... In fact I have not changed the oil because after half hour of running all the milky yukky emulsification in the sump had vanished, and the engine oil was clear (I had just done oil and filters before she blew) ... there was no sign of water in the rocker box .... still no air finding its way out of system and still not using any water .... I have a small bubble of hope growing that it was just the head gasket after all but not doing a happy dance yet ... going to play with my chainsaw and axe in the sunshine for a bit, let her cool down and try her again this afty

So, just a quick update for those of you good people that have given me the benefit of your knowledge and experience ..... Tried starting her again after the disappointing result of fitting the new head gasket, because one thing was apparent that gave me some hope ..... the water level in the header tank had not gone down ..... despite all the steam and water in the sump .... so I wondered if maybe there was just a lot of residual water in the system ..... she wouldn't start, but a bit of furtleing revealed two glow plugs were dead, and my battery was a bit low, not surprising really .... new glow plugs, and changed the oil .... and away she went ... on three cylinders, and with much steam, wouldn't rev above 1000 rpm and then faded and died ...... tried again and off she went, on all four and revving nicely, lots of white smoke from exhaust, steam from oil filler cap, but no steam from breather pipe, I let her run for a bit to charge my batteries and the steam / white smoke lessened. Again water level in header tank constant, tank full of scalding water from calorifier .... all good I have just started her this morning, in a flagrant breach of the rules about running engines before 8am .... and the same .... lumpy lazy start , running on three, wouldn't rev and faded and died. Second attempt she started on all four, and is running nicely now, still some steam / white smoke from exhaust and a bit from oil filler cap BUT no loss of water and no air being released in header tank I'm going to let her run for a bit and change oil again, have a look in rocker box to see if any water collected in there .... and see what happens ..... she may have injector issues as a result of all the water? .... hmmm we shall see

I'm pretty sure that is what was said as I wrote it down, it came out of a narrowboat but I have never heard of the mermaid ... other avenues still being explored too but it is very helpful to have all this input

yes, but then my prop shaft is quite worn .... we are looking at dimensions and costings at moment ... it has a 3:1 reduction, apparently .... the other things I have to factor in are loss of earnings and costs of psychotherapy while I am laid up waiting for rebuild slot as everyone busy on hire fleets etc at moment ....

"he" would have to be lying on my bed to do it .... this cunning plan is becoming more interesting by the minute ......

useful info thanks ... yes, it has a PRM and propeller with it .... and only about 1500 hours ...hmmmm but would need to cut access through bulkhead for timing belt .... but not impossible .... hmmmm chin scratching

well, bad people must be chastised ... but I do prefer a man with a pulse

ah thanks for that, there is a 1.8 mermaid on a shelf which might just drop into my engine bay without too much faffing about

I like dead things

My 2 x 100w panels usually give 11 to 12 amps on an average summers day, most I ever saw was 14 amps, but I don't spend much time looking at my muppet controller .... even at this time of year I get enough for my porpoises and run a fridge in the summer months

hmmm fair comment .... I am out of my depth here now but I have a mechanic friend coming today with some spare glow plugs, as two are now dead, and various other implements of destruction to try and ascertain what might be going on, but there is now water in the sump, in the rocker box, coming out the air intake .... all very wet everywhere except the exhaust manifold .... which is just plain wrong ..... ah haha ah hahaha that inspired a jolly french sing song .... "sur le pont d'avignon, on y danse ....." ah hahahaha much chuckling and ribald laughter thanks .... tis very distressing being dead in the water .... thank heavens for back boilers and solar panels also, does anyone know anything about Ford Mermaid engines? bunny

Have spoken to very helpful chap at Calcutt and he says the cylinders are dry lined and a crack in a liner is not uncommon and would lead to exactly the problems I have had ... the block could come out and be sent to coventry to be tested but this would start to cost as much as a rebuild as Alan pointed out, they do not do exchange on the 1.5 ... only rebuilds Tis a lot of engine, but always worry that I might be jumping out of the proverbial frying pan and into the fire with an unknown second hand engine that was smoking anyway ..... and the problem then is where to put it whilst stripping bits off .... hmmmmm the pistons in the pots full of water were nearer bottom than top .... expand on your thinking please MtB

Hmmm there is a balance to be struck ... and it is my bank balance I need to get moving soon to trade effectively as business is slack with this dreadful weather So the head was "vacuum" tested, whatever that means, and was with heat ... the problem is being able to tie up somewhere to do work, engine swaps etc ... I know some boat yards have DIY facilities, but again when you factor in mooring fees (shudder) etc it all starts to add up, and as Richard says, this is now the third time the head has been off, tested and rebuilt once she is possibly a bit marginal on the cooling front but ran sweet for a year of continuous cruising ( and I move a fair bit) with only one overheating episode when I was ploughing my way over the summit of the Oxford in the olden days when we were short of water and then since the "Screw Incident" I have had ongoing problems with overheating, air locks etc etc etc (you have to say that bit like Yul Bryner in "The King and I" ) I'm going back down my engine hole now for a furtle with exhaust manifold ... for long time now I have felt like I have been missing something that hs been getting steadily worse ... but BIG thanks for all the pontifiction so far

That is kind of where I have got to Richard, .... but the pots look as if they have a lining ? What is the difference between short and complete? gear box?

Thanks people ... I did put a straight edge over the block and seemed ok ... the head was skimmed ... but didn't try a feeler gauge ... will check the exhaust manifold Richard it was the middle two pots that were full of water, but I feel that the problem lies in the second pot from the back ... the screw went into the two rear pots ... my thoughts are that the cylinder lining has gone ... but I am not sure if they are dry lined or wet lined? today I am gathering thoughts and suggestions ... thanks ... tomorrow I may be looking for a tow up to Calcutt as I think this is beyond being done bankside in middle of nowhere :-)

Some of you have followed my engine shenanigans on here, and I have had some valuable help before and am hoping for some more advice .... My constantly entertaining BMC 1.5 started to produce white smoke ... unspent fuel was the general consensus, due to timing being out and she was proving tricky to start, and then firing on three and misfiring a bit till warm ...... she always used a bit of water, but started to want more, then started producing the odd air bubble in the header tank but was not boiling ... thought she had an air lock after putting antifreeze in or a leak in the system somewhere, she is a bit prone to air locks on the calorifier system .... only had a couple of miles to do to get through stoppage and avoid being trapped in Hemel Hempstead, a fate worse than being peeled with a rusty potato peeler ... so I pressed on a bit and as I pulled up she did boil next day she wouldn't start, engine wouldn't turn over.... flat battery I thought ... but no .... bit of furtleing around and noticed a dribble of water coming from the air intake .... So the head has come off AGAIN and revealed two pots full of water, hence why she would not start.... so I think head gasket gone or head cracked Head came off, went off to be pressure tested, not cracked .... and to be honest the head gasket seemed intact with no obvious sign of having blown enough to allow such quantities of water into the cylinders. at this point there was no evidence of water in the bottom end, the oil was clear so new head gasket, put her back together, fired her up yesterday and all was well ... for a few minutes,.... then a lot of steam from the engine breather, steam from the oil filler cap and now the oil has water in too .... I am completely at a loss now, and wondering how water is getting into the top end, getting into my cylinders, and now getting into my bottom end too .... head not cracked, head gasket good wondering if there are water seals in the block that have failed? not sure if BMCs are wet lined or dry lined? .... surely the block can't be cracked? can anyone throw any light on what might be happening? .... bunny

Well done John, hope to see a few of you lovely people there and hope to be trading with The Herb Boat

My constantly entertaining BMC 1.5 also started to produce white smoke recently ... unspent fuel was the general consensus, due to timing being out and was proving tricky to start, and then firing on three and misfiring ...... she always used a bit of water, but suddenly wanted more, then started producing the odd air bubble in the header tank .... thought she had an air lock after putting antifreeze in, she is a bit prone to air locks on the calorifier system .... only had a couple of miles to do to get through stoppage and avoid being trapped in Hemel Hempstead, a fate worse than being peeled with a rusty potato peeler and then wouldn't start, engine wouldn't turn over.... flat battery I thought ... but no .... bit of furtleing around and noticed a dribble of water coming from the air intake .... so my head is off again grrrr ... seems to be the head gasket blown, and water getting into one cylinder .... but having it pressure tested .... the only plus point is that I have now watched her head come off enough times to do it myself white "smoke" can also be water vapour, steam

I meant it was about 1mm thinner than normal flue, not that it was 1mm wall thickness .... if i remember correctly, which is highly unlikely, it was 2mm wall thickness ... .... had 18 months of liveaboard use so far with no sign of deterioration, burning wood (sometimes a bit damp I confess) and coal ...... I would be interested to know how long people normally get from "proper" flue pipe under liveaboard, multifuel conditions to see whether tis was a false economy or not ...., anybody know roughly? Good price on that stainless tube .... I would like stainless but need two 45 degree bends welded in ...