Oil leak

[manxmike]

The bolts holding my Lister to the mounting blocks vibrated loose (vibration - from a Lister - never!) Thankfully I noticed it before more than two of them had dropped out. I replaced all of them with brand new stainless steel bolts with nylock nuts. The mounting brackets were on great big lumps of wood, so I needed 6 inch bolts. When I had the engine looked over by someone who used to work on "proper" engines he approved saying that the engine had been fitted by someone who knew what they were doing. I found out that the wood was actually pitch pine which is one of the most remarkable types of timber - used for stage floors in older theatres and for rubbing strakes in harbours, it "heals" and can last for over a century under water.

[Mgt]

Thanks for all your insightful and illuminating comments which I really appreciate. I'm off the boat now until the work can be done. The replacement dip stick 'tube' is on order and a provisional repair (estimate £1500) date for Tues 7th 🤞On solar panels, I have minimum needs which a Jackery 500 covers amply for now at least. 

[Tracy D'arth]

21 minutes ago, Mgt said:

Thanks for all your insightful and illuminating comments which I really appreciate. I'm off the boat now until the work can be done. The replacement dip stick 'tube' is on order and a provisional repair (estimate £1500) date for Tues 7th 🤞On solar panels, I have minimum needs which a Jackery 500 covers amply for now at least. 

Wow, that's a heck of a bill for not very much.

[Alan de Enfield]

Just now, Tracy D'arth said:

Wow, that's a heck of a bill for not very much.

 

It's not a lot if it is 'London'.

[Mgt]

It's near Rugby

[ditchcrawler]

2 hours ago, Mgt said:

Thanks for all your insightful and illuminating comments which I really appreciate. I'm off the boat now until the work can be done. The replacement dip stick 'tube' is on order and a provisional repair (estimate £1500) date for Tues 7th 🤞On solar panels, I have minimum needs which a Jackery 500 covers amply for now at least. 

Does that include remounting the engine so it doesn't happen again, checking shaft alignment etc. If its just to replace the pipe you are being robbed in my oppinion.

[Mgt]

29 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Does that include remounting the engine so it doesn't happen again, checking shaft alignment etc. If its just to replace the pipe you are being robbed in my oppinion.

I do hope so! 

"Attend site, disconnect all ancillaries, fuel connections, exhaust, wiring and unbolt engine from prop shaft and engine
beds. Remove engine from engine bay with use of Gantry/Hiab.
Make repairs in situ (if possible) if not transport the engine to the workshop to undertake. (This will inccur additional
costs)
Lift in engine. Fit engine to engine beds, reconnect prop shaft, exhaust, ancillaries and wiring. Fit fuel pipes and check
installation. Commission and test engine.
This estimate is based on a rough guide for most installation, unless we have been to site. Therefore costs can increase
or decrease dependent on the work involved, and the access to the engine room.
Additional costs may also be incurred for new component if required."

[Alan de Enfield]

10 minutes ago, Mgt said:

I do hope so! 

"Attend site, disconnect all ancillaries, fuel connections, exhaust, wiring and unbolt engine from prop shaft and engine
beds. Remove engine from engine bay with use of Gantry/Hiab.
Make repairs in situ (if possible) if not transport the engine to the workshop to undertake. (This will inccur additional
costs)
Lift in engine. Fit engine to engine beds, reconnect prop shaft, exhaust, ancillaries and wiring. Fit fuel pipes and check
installation. Commission and test engine.
This estimate is based on a rough guide for most installation, unless we have been to site. Therefore costs can increase
or decrease dependent on the work involved, and the access to the engine room.
Additional costs may also be incurred for new component if required."

 

Do they plan on removing / grinding away / resolving the problem (maybe dropped engine mounts ?) as to why the oil pipe was chafing on 'the hull' (or whatever it was chafing on) in the first place ?

 

[Eeyore]

3 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

Do they plan on removing / grinding away / resolving the problem (maybe dropped engine mounts ?) as to why the oil pipe was chafing on 'the hull' (or whatever it was chafing on) in the first place ?

 

Yes, I’m still curious as to the location of the front engine mounts, none visible in the pictures so far.

Edited August 31, 2022 by Eeyore

[Mgt]

2 minutes ago, Eeyore said:

Yes, I’m still curious as to the location of the front engine mounts, none visible in the pictures so far.

Thank you.  I need to ask this question.  The engineer on the day said it looked that it was a faulty installation but more would be revealed when the engine was lifted.

[Alan de Enfield]

It is always very difficult for someone to give a quotation without knowing what is wrong - hence the 'estimate' rather than a firm quotation.

 

But - without knowing what caused the problem in the 1st place it is not much use repairing the damage without resolving the initial problem - just be careful that you are not writing an 'open cheque' - once the engine is out (and in their workshop) you are not likely to say - no its too expensive I wasn't expecting that, don't fix it. They have you over a barrel.

[Mgt]

Thanks. Wondering how such a scenario could be avoided. Seems a bit of a catch 22 as the engine has to be lifted to diagnose the problem. The lifting of the engine is I understand the largest by far element of the estimate. Is there an alternative approach that's not obvious to me?

[Momac]

On 22/08/2022 at 14:52, Mgt said:

 I would appreciate any nugget of wisdom.................

Why not extract the oil , and dispose of it responsibly , as this will be the first job anyway?

Even if you have to buy an oil extractor pump it will probably be cheaper than paying someone for the time to do it.

 

[Mgt]

52 minutes ago, MartynG said:

Why not extract the oil , and dispose of it responsibly , as this will be the first job anyway?

Even if you have to buy an oil extractor pump it will probably be cheaper than paying someone for the time to do it.

 

Indeed! And also deal with my concern over the possibility of hazardous fumes!

[Eeyore]

On a related topic, ask for the coolant pipe to be rerouted behind the belt so that you don’t need to drain the coolant in order to change the belt. Mine came with two belts already threaded onto the coolant pipe, which you could do if rerouting is awkward. This image following lockdown for reference, just a bit of rust.

You will notice the larger machined pulley bolted to the existing pulley. Also a more common A127 with two mounting lugs. The original alternator was the single 53mm single foot type that fitted between the two blue brackets. The blue bracket is also the adaptor for the remote oil filter.

Edited August 31, 2022 by Eeyore

[john.k]

Wow,1500 quid...........Id slip a bit of rubber tube over the leak and apply two worm drive hose clamps...

[Mgt]

34 minutes ago, Eeyore said:

On a related topic, ask for the coolant pipe to be rerouted behind the belt so that you don’t need to drain the coolant in order to change the belt. Mine came with two belts already threaded onto the coolant pipe, which you could do if rerouting is awkward. This image following lockdown for reference, just a bit of rust.

You will notice the larger machined pulley bolted to the existing pulley. Also a more common A127 with two mounting lugs. The original alternator was the single 53mm single foot type that fitted between the two blue brackets. The blue bracket is also the adaptor for the remote oil filter.

Thank you. I will ask. In the meantime I will have to study your pic and guidance some more to make sure I fully grasp the requirement. 

[Mgt]

On 31/08/2022 at 23:28, john.k said:

Wow,1500 quid...........Id slip a bit of rubber tube over the leak and apply two worm drive hose clamps...

Many thanks. This is a very appealing suggestion! I'm still waiting on the part to arrive and wondering if I might be up to attempting your solution. Access is very difficult for anything requiring two hands in the area. I wondered whether Sugru (https://sugru.com/) would be up to the task? This would of course still leave the problem of fixing clamps. 

[George and Dragon]

15 hours ago, Mgt said:

Many thanks. This is a very appealing suggestion! I'm still waiting on the part to arrive and wondering if I might be up to attempting your solution. Access is very difficult for anything requiring two hands in the area. I wondered whether Sugru (https://sugru.com/) would be up to the task? This would of course still leave the problem of fixing clamps. 

 

Sugru is lovely stuff, but whether it is suitable for this job isn't something I could comment on. 

[ditchcrawler]

I would be more worried as to why its rubbing in anything

[Alan de Enfield]

3 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:

I would be more worried as to why its rubbing in anything

 

That was my point some number of posts ago - their 'estimate' didn't seem to include correcting the underlying cause of the pipe rubbing on the Hull - I'd think there is a fair possibility that the engine mounts have dropped.

[Mgt]

53 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

That was my point some number of posts ago - their 'estimate' didn't seem to include correcting the underlying cause of the pipe rubbing on the Hull - I'd think there is a fair possibility that the engine mounts have dropped.

OMG is that yet more expense 😱

[Ewan123]

1 hour ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

That was my point some number of posts ago - their 'estimate' didn't seem to include correcting the underlying cause of the pipe rubbing on the Hull - I'd think there is a fair possibility that the engine mounts have dropped.

If the engine is fairly new to this boat, and the RCR chap suggested a bad installation, it sounds plausible the mounting could have been incorrect from the first instance and might not even have dropped/changed at all.

 

@Mgt Do you have any pics of all of the engine mounts?

[Mgt]

52 minutes ago, Ewan123 said:

If the engine is fairly new to this boat, and the RCR chap suggested a bad installation, it sounds plausible the mounting could have been incorrect from the first instance and might not even have dropped/changed at all.

 

@Mgt Do you have any pics of all of the engine mounts?

Unfortunately no and I'm  a couple of hours away from the boat now waiting on a call to say the part has arrived. 

[Eeyore]

On 07/09/2022 at 20:45, Mgt said:

Unfortunately no and I'm  a couple of hours away from the boat now waiting on a call to say the part has arrived. 

Is it fixed? What did you have done in the end?