The same as last time, Days to Henley except this time I had:
- Fuel ran out
- 2 Fuels leaks
- Coolant boiled off
- Oil intercooler flange began spurting coolant
- Engine oil being used at a rate of knots
- Rear prop shaft leaking water into the engine bay
All of those needed attention along the way.
Fuel ran out (nearly): Got up and after checking the engine, checked the fuel, which I had been meaning to do. I was lower than I thought. I had to get on my bike at 6.30am with my jerry can and pick up 10l from the local 24hour. It was clear diesel instead of red. Makes no difference except it costs 50% more.
2 Fuel leaks: leak #1;Had to stop and take off the fuel filter. Didn’t stop the problem had to stop and clean the threads off the fuel line. Leak #2; Didn’t see this until I’d repaired fuel leak #1. The injector fuel line was leaking and dropping fuel onto the heater plug. Cleaned off the threads and re-fitted. Problems went away.
Coolant Boiled Off: Stupidly, I took the top off the coolant manifold whilst I was working on the fuel lines. I don’t know why I did that, but it upset the pressure balance, and shortly after, all the coolant boiled off.
Luckily, I noticed the coolant was boiling off and I stopped the boat. Had to re-fill and bleed (twice). Problem went away.
Oil interchanger flange leaked at high temp: Once the engine got going, the flange between the oil interchanger and the cooling system started spurting boiling water all over the engine bay. I’ve no idea why it started doing this. At the time, I had the engine cover off as I’d been fixing the fuel lines, I was watching to see if the repairs had worked and this coolant started spurting out all over the place!
Luckily I was able to pull in. That’s not always the case on the Thames. Sometimes you might have to go for miles. Not this time… Pulled in. Tried to tighten it up with a screwdriver, coolant still spurting… Got spanners out, tightened it up, proper tight. Spurting stopped. Problem solved.
Engine oil leaking or being used fast: Real fast, and this is a worrying. It’s using a lot of oil. I don’t know where this oil is going, but the lack of white smoke and otherwise healthy engine suggests it’s not making it into the fuel (through head gasket or piston rings). I don’t have time to drain the sump tray and analyse where this is coming from/going to. Problem not solved.
Rear prop shaft leaking: Had it re-packed 2 years ago. It’s dripping out and filling the engine bay at a slow but steady pace. This is a problem I can’t fix along the way.
So…. It’s been fun of that variety along the way.
Twilight Sailing
Donned my lifejacket and did some night sailing along the Thames.
I won’t be doing that again.
Canal it’s not.
Scary.
Still, I’m here now, at Days Lock, cooking my dinner and looking forward to getting in my bed.
The weather is mild.
I’m hoping tomorrow will be my final day of sailing along the Thames.
Only the one piccy from the day and that’s heading up this post (Reading).
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