Tony Brooks

That illustrates the problem with this and other threads. Why should you know about engine details, oils etc. I would never claim to be an expert in much of this, but I, and others, do have lots of experience and a certain level of training in theory. We really can't tell you to ignore a mariniser or gearbox manufacturer's recommendations, but experience and such knowledge we have suggested that some of the views expressed in such topics seem to be more "old wives tales" aided by brand marketing and bottom covering than the likely truth. It makes me smile when I see people extolling the virtues of a certain oil brand. All oils available nowadays are a blend of "stuff" to make them perform to the specifications. If you look at, for example, images of Morris oils plant you will not see fractionating towers and all the other parts of a crude oil refinery, you will see loads of drums and tanks. That is because they buy in their base oils and additive packs. It is the additive pack that causes the base oil to meet the SAE and API/ACEA specifications. The same will apply to most brands. So where does the oil and additives come from? The answer is other companies who specialize in such things, so the same products are likely to be supplied to many blenders/brands. In fact, I would not be surprised if when visiting a blender like Morris Oils I did not see containers for a range of other brands being filled. There are also companies specializing in bending/filling for a range of brands (this is not specific to the lub oil industry). This is why I am relaxed about semi-synthetic oils, the additives could, I am sure, in any oil available today, be described as synthetic (as in not base oil) and mixing brands. I would however be a bit wary about a very cheap oil from an unknown brand in case it had been recycled with more additives added. I understand the base oil molecules tend to degrade over time. Once again I am more than happy if someone with real experience and expertise wants to disagree I am happy to be educated. Yes, 50 years ago a Mobile oil rep told us that Brylcream (a gents' hair dressing for you youngsters) would be fine as the oil if only you could keep it in the bearings.

Spot on as far as I am concerned. People who try to convert vehicle miles per oil change to hours in a boat seem to be unaware that canal boat diesels are unlikely to get their oil hot enough to boil off the condensation caused by piston blow by. The blow by also has more carbon particles in a diesel compared with petrol. This means oil changes intervals are likely to be shorter but if oil sampling and testing is employed (at a cost) you can safely extend the oil change interval. I would not be worried if circumstances meant I occasionally went up to 25% over time, e specially a snow we get far less sulphuric acid in the blow by. It seems a lot of people have been taken in by long term marketing.

No, it was a PM from a member who declined to name the broker, for all I know he worked for them. There was also the topic where we discussed a broker requiring a lady to get a PCA, which she was doing. Neither are proof, they both might be lying, but I doubt it so caution is sensible.

Ah, so what I thought looked like a stop lever is, in fact, the gear indicator. Thanks, all good info.

So do you know how many private sales with no documentation resulted in the seller accepting a lower price than they would if they had the documents. Until you can answer that, I don't see how you can assess the risk. If a broker is not demanding the documentation, then how many are selling at less than they would with documentation?

Just found this: Carlube Driveline ATF-U. Fully Synthetic - Automatic Transmission Fluid. Specifications. Dexron II/IIIH, JASO 1-A, JATCO, JWS 3309, Allison TES 295, ... So it is compatible with Dexron 2 & 3

NO, the 125 is (I think) a mechanical box, and PRM did alter the recommendation for their mechanical boxes from engine oil to ATF. To answer Tony, question, I don't know, I have never heard of ATF-U, but I suspect it is a higher spec than Dexron 1,2, or 3 so probably fine. A boat gearbox is far less demanding oil wise than a vehicle auto box. The only thing I am not sure about is if it has added anti-friction additives, but if it has I would expect it to mess with the auto box clutches as readily as with the PRM box clutches. Very happy to be corrected on that.

The thing is that some posts ago I think Ian admitted that buying a boat without an RCD/RCR caries a risk, which is what both you and I have been saying. He seems to assess this as a very small risk, whereas I put it higher than that, especially with a private sale and a knowledgable buyer. Even if brokers are happy to sell non-RCD/RCR compliant boats, the future risk remains, it is just an individuals' assessment of that risk that is important. No one can quantify that risk until some case law emerges, and that does not look likely to happen.

Our diddy one had a clear plastic tell tale at the top (where the tap water came in) filled with little balls. When the balls changed colour we just fitted a new cartridge.

The oil in the link shows it is API CF and as such I would have happily have used it in my boat engine. The Rockoil Strata is API CG-4 so 1.5 API specs higher. It also talks about Finest base stocks and synthetic additives. I bet the other Rockoil and the Halfords also contain synthetic additives to meet both the API and SAE viscosity specification. In my view the "semi-synthetic" is just marketing blurb. Whilst I can't state the later two oils are safe for you to use, I happily state that I would use either in my own boat engine as long as it was well run in. Edited to add, I would never worry about mixing oils from different reputable blenders (manufacturers if you will) of similar SAE and API specs. in my own engine.

Now we know which photo you are talking about. I said "There is what looks like a control cable on the OP's image, on the left and I take that to be for the small lever sticking out of the casting. Be it throttle, engine stop, or something else." That is as far as I can go without inspecting the boat.

They do not look like bowden or even heavy duty morse cables to me. I think they look like metal hydraulic pipes that have been squashed when someone tried to put a bend in them I think that in the OP's setup they will be behind the pedestal. There is what looks like a control cable on the OP's image, on the left and I take that to be for the small lever sticking out of the casting. Be it throttle, engine stop, or something else. Edited to add: It would not surprise me if the light coloured scarf/rag wrapped around the wheel shaft in the OP's photo does not turn out to be absorbing oil leaks.

Thanks, I spent ages on Google searching by text and by image. So as we can see the two pipes that confirms it is hydraulic so the OP needs to be aware that no or very low oil in the reservoir means no gear changing. I am sure the similar looking ones on the narrow boats are mechanical devices using a worm and nut to convert rotary to linear motion.

Ditto on a very much smaller scale at the Daganite battery service agent I worked at. Seved having to lug glass demijohns in straw within metal cage

From reading some of the linked manuals I got the impression that the oil went into the cylinder to help "seal" the rings. It said you could also put it into the "cigarette" hole.

I doubt that you will get much response here because I would suggest most members have UK boats and narrow boats at that. I think the Barge Association (was DBA) have a forum where you may get more help or juts possibly the YBW forum. I doubt it will be very complex, just chains, rods, threads, lever and gears linking it to the gearbox, although the alloy casting suggests it might be hydraulic, a bit like hydraulic steering gear.

I suppose it is even possible that he is trying to start it with the decompressor set to decompress.

I am sure we had a similar photo not so many weeks ago. I think the dutch bots favour it.

Google " clear acrylic sheet". I am sure all the "sheds" stock it, Wickes certainly does but only 600mm wide. 2 to 3 mm thickness should be fine for this task.

I would like to see your reasoning for that conclusion. Yes, assuming a well discharged battery, it will start to charge at about six times the rate of a a 5 amp charger BUT within half an hour that will be dropping and a hour later it will be even lower. Typically it will take well over 8 hours to fully recharge the domestic bank whatever power charger you employ, so with a shoreline overnight. I suppose I am taking issue with "brief access" part of your post. For that you need lithium batteries because they don't start reducing the charge soon after starting as lead acids do. I suspect the time difference to fully charged between a 15 amp and 30 amp charger is likely to be around an hour or two.

Sorry, but this has been explained so often in the past it gets very wearing having to type it all out again. On a proper sea boat with fully insulated return 12V systems there would be way the 240V could get to the hull in that scenario but very few inland boats are build like that because they tend to use automotive electrical equipment and that tends to be earth return. A few people like Lister use a relay to try to make it insulated return once the engine is running but that still leaves potential paths to the hull via unmodified radio aerial leads and such like.

Look on the outside of the window frame. Typically you will see either two holes in the frame just below the bottom of the glass, say 4 to 6mm, or a couple of plastic/aluminum "cover" pieces over the holes. On older boats the glass can drop and seal the holes. Not helped by the inevitable moss and general gunk that grows in the drain channel if allowed to.

OK, so you think a 240V and a 12V wire connected to a detached single stud can't put 240V onto the 12V negative in the case of a 240V fault. I am not sure why you think that is not the case. Remember, although in theory there should only be one 12V negative bond point, in practice there are usually more on inland boats involving the engine electrics