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March 12, 2005

Cracking the Engines

We began dewinterizing the boat today. Based on an April launch date and an estimated 2-3 weeks to bring all the systems back online, we decided to begin with the dewinterizing despite the cold weather. It has been in the 30's and 40's for the last couple of weeks – still no warm weather in site. But, if you wait for the warm weather, you'll be out of the water for a couple of weeks while you work on the boat.

The focus for this weekend was to get the engines back online. The genset was the first order of business. After doing a thorough inspection of the engine, the coolant system, the battery, oil, and fuel, I decided to crank it up. My first task was to get the fuel back in the lines and to get the oil distributed in the heads. Both of them tend to settle during storage and can play havoc when trying to start, if not damage. After cycling the engine for awhile without permitting it to start, we were able to circulate the oil and fuel. Then we proceeded to let it start – and it started on the first try. Okay, that was a good sign.

The next order of business was the main diesels. I had to remove all of the packing in the vents, remove the covers on the bilge blowers, check the batteries, check the fuel lines, and ensure all the valves were open. Once again, I cycled the engines without allowing it to start to circulate the oil and fuel. Both engines were cycled and rechecked for leaks. After getting thumbs up, I fired up the port engine – started on the first crank. There was a little bit of smoke but not much. The engine tune-up and oil/fuel filter changes accomplished last December were paying off. I ran the engines for about 5 minutes and then shut it down for a system check. I rechecked the engine for leaks or other visible problems – nothing noted.

I went through the same drill on the starboard engine. No problems noted other than a bit more smoke. We did put a stabilizer in the tanks during winterization and added some more today. The fuel bowls were showing clean fuel – much better than last year. We probably accumulated some algae last year which required treatment and a thorough cleaning of the fuel filter system. Both engines were brought back online and allowed to run for about 15 minutes. After clearing the pink stuff out the exhaust, the discharge was clear and a solid flow. The engines were rechecked for leaks and vibrations – nothing noted.

Next weekend, we plan to dewinterize the A/C units and start our safety checks.

Posted by Jerry on March 12, 2005 03:48 PM