EPIC sea story!!!

WayneH · **Posted:** 24 May 2022 19:30

Not really all that epic but Impetuous now has her mast restepped. And we made the journey from there to her slip under her own power. You wouldn't believe how much work it required over three days to get her to this point.

Stop me if you've heard this joke before. No water from exhaust. OK, change the impeller. Still no water. Pull new impeller, find impeller key in bottom of pump. Install key, reinstall impeller, still no water. Open raw water pump and notice impeller keyway has not rotated. Pull impeller, find key again, reinstall key, install impeller. Stop... get big wrench and turn engine crank manually a few degrees. Check that impeller keyway has rotated with pump shaft. Reinstall pump cover. Still no water???? Pull hose off heat exchanger and water drains out. Start engine and water comes out hose. Pull end cap off heat exchanger and water pours out. Cut a wire coat hanger and straighten it out. Fits loosely in tubes of heat exchanger. Push wire through all the bottom tubes with no problems. Most of the upper tubes are more difficult and several are very hard to clear. (This is how a dirty countercurrent exchanger should be. The hot fresh water entering the exchanger is meeting the hot water exiting the exchanger.) Laying down in the quarterberth locker so you can see all the tubes is not a restful situation. Take the hose off the outlet of the oil cooler and place it on the outlet of the heat exchanger. (Answer a thousand questions from the Admiral as to why you are doing this.) Replace the end cap. Start the engine. No water but I think I need to fill the system up before anything happens. Leaning over the stern, I hear the exhaust start to gurgle. And finally, water exits the exhaust pipe.

Now to motor over to get the mast stepped again. Which we did today. She's not ready for the open sea because most of her stuff is in the house still.

Maineiac · **Posted:** 26 May 2022 13:57

Jeeziz. I can't wait (he said, facetiously). I was living the story while I read it. Can't get near the boat for another month and a half, and I have to put the engine back together.

WayneH · **Posted:** 05 Jun 2022 17:27

Well, we got the mast stepped and we motored down to our new marina. When we get the boat ready for bed, I notice water on the quarter berth platform. Cushions are still at the house. The engine circulation pump has blown its seal and slinging water everywhere. Ordered a new pump from online at O'r*****'s and had it delivered to the marina. 1979 MGB 1.8L When it arrived, I took my right angle grinder to it and removed the ear that was sticking out. While I was waiting for the pump, I ran Barnacle Buster through the heat exchanger for about 4 hours. It was still bubbling when I quit and flushed the system so I am redoing this later this year.

Get the new pump installed with only 3 bolts because the top bolt hole has changed sometime in the past on the MGB. Start up the engine and WTF!!! No water from the exhaust??? Open the raw water pump again. 5th or 6th time, I've lost count. No water in pump. Raw water pump didn't prime this time. Put everything back together but left the hatches open so I could check for leaks on both pumps. Connie starts the engine and I'm looking for leaks. Both pumps are sealed and not leaking.

But I noticed fumes coming off from under the wrapping tape on the exhaust between the engine and the exhaust elbow. Pipe failure. And while I was trying to get the hose clamps off of the muffler, I managed to break the exhaust pipe in two. I'm really irritated now because every time I fix something, something else goes bad. Then Connie reminds me that this happened in the slip and not in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico or the Gulfstream while crossing to the Bahamas. Which is now tentatively planned for March 2023.

berwick · **Joined:** 21 Oct 2006 18:12 **Posts:** 325

Yikes, she is right though....

Richard

WayneH · **Posted:** 11 Jun 2022 13:43

And so it continues......

My engine exhaust has a close nipple then a 45° elbow tilted upwards followed by a 4 inch nipple to the elbow. The 4 inch nipple is completely rusted out and snapped in two. We were unable to remove it from the 45° and the guys I called in to help me were unable to get any of the rest of the piping off. So after researching here on the site, I managed to get the manifold off the engine. (Nuts are 1/2" on my boat.)

But still bolted to the manifold are the heat exchanger and the raw water pump. I took it to a machine shop and he thinks he can pull the pipe off. The good news in this is the exhaust ports on the engine still look clean with no rust. So whatever caused the rest of the piping to fail did not reach the engine.

In a slightly unrelated note, I pulled the fuel sender unit from the tank and got a sample of the contents of the bottom of the tank using a hose taped to a stiff wire and a squeeze bulb for an outboard fuel tank. There was no water or crud visible in the jar or the clear hose. I was worried that the tank had been sitting for nearly 2 years and was heavy in agriculture. Very Happy

WayneH · **Posted:** 14 Jun 2022 17:33

Finished the exhaust system repair finally. MAY actually go sailing tomorrow after 20 months ashore. Anyway, pictures.

Attachment:

File comment: Manifold, heat exchanger and raw water pump still connected. Crushed 1-1/2" galvanized pipe.

IMG_20220609_115154206.jpg [ 3.4 MB | Viewed 0 times ]

Attachment:

File comment: The leaking exhaust elbow. No threads left and a couple of spots are blown thru.

IMG_20220610_113201315.jpg [ 3.02 MB | Viewed 0 times ]

I replaced the exhaust piping, the elbow, the hoses from the exchanger to the siphon break to the elbow and from the elbow to the muffler. All the piping got neversieze so the next owner can get things apart easier. The hoses cost twice as much as the stainless steel did.

Attachment:

File comment: Everything is new and shiny.

IMG_20220614_160633889.jpg [ 3.27 MB | Viewed 0 times ]

berwick · **Joined:** 21 Oct 2006 18:12 **Posts:** 325

That looks great!

Richard

WayneH · **Posted:** 16 Jun 2022 20:23

The FINAL chapter:

We took the boat out for a test drive yesterday (6-15). As I was expecting the engine to overheat from the posts that I have read, I was not too concerned when it did. But it would not cool down. We limped back to the slip and shut down the engine. We did some running around while we waited for the engine to cool off. About six hours later, we returned to the boat to inspect the thermostat thinking that it was stuck and not opening. The thermostat had some gunk on top that was easily removed. When we placed it into a pan of hot water, it opened fully. We filled the engine with coolant thru the thermostat housing, installed the thermostat and completed filling the reservoir. When we restarted the engine and ran it at higher rpms than the Admiral used on the previous test drive, we could not exceed 170°F.

Here's what we speculated: The gunk on top of the thermostat closed the bypass and prevented complete filling of coolant. Filling thru the thermostat housing ensured we had the engine completely filled. Today's test drive was definitely better than yesterday's. We didn't get up to 180 but we were not pushing the engine. Mostly in a no wake zone until we cleared the channel. I'm glad we didn't kill the engine as it is 1/3 of the requirement for a Florida antique vessel. 30 year old boat with it's original model engine and used for pleasure. So all I have to pay is $4.25/year to register the boat. That's the taxes for a registration fee.

berwick · **Joined:** 21 Oct 2006 18:12 **Posts:** 325

Wow, this is an Epic tale! Hopefully pretty well fixed now

Richard

WayneH · **Posted:** 01 Oct 2022 13:42

Yes, I had her all fixed up but I personally broke down. I injured my left leg in March and once I saw the doctor about it, I ended up in the hospital. Three surgeries later, I'm limping around with a muscle flap and skin graft over my left shin. I'm getting better everyday.

This week the Admiral and I were planning to come down to the boat and check her condition but then the marina called for an evacuation due to tropical force winds being expected at our marina. So we get to the marina and I get on the boat. Connie opens the seacock and I start the engine and NO WATER again. Sheesh. Well, the lift is not far away and we can motor that far so we're ready. Then the marina cancels the evacuation.

So what I think happened is the impeller was an older impeller and it broke down when we started the engine this time. On my W50, the best position to work on the raw water pump and be able to see using my bifocals is to kneel on the NAV seat and lean over. But that puts my left shin on the edge of the NAV seat and the shin surgery site is not completely healed. So I didn't fix it or even look at it. Yeah, there are some local guys who can work on it but we'll be back in a month and I like making sure things are done to my specs. And if I can't work on the raw water pump then, I'll call the repair guys. Because I gotta go sailing soon. Very Happy

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EPIC sea story!!!

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