Exhausted -- finally

Ms. Bettencourt has been immobilized for more than a month, with what turned out to be a stopped up exhaust system. It was like someone had stuck a potato up her exhaust pipe, but instead of a potato, it was a rust clot about the size of a tennis ball.

So, now we have an all new exhaust system.

The new mixing elbow is affixed to the aft end of the formerly rusty, newly-painted exhaust manifold. That red hose delivers raw water to the elbow to mix with and cool the exhaust gases.

(You can click on a photo to enlarge for greater detail).

We also installed a new segment of nearly- inflexible 2-inch wire-reinforced wet exhaust hose. This runs from the lower end of the mixing elbow downward to a 90-degree fiberglass elbow then out the back of the engine box. Exhaust gases and cooling water are then routed through....

... a new fiberglass muffler, brought in at the last moment to replace the 41-year-old original equipment rubber muffler which was found to have a hole in its underside.

With its exhaust unimpeded, Ms. Bettencourt's old engine now seems to be working happily.





Please note that this job was done in 2013. Next year, (tomorrow) I will set to work building a new deck panel that will accommodate the new exhaust mixing elbow, which is somewhat larger than its predecessor. After that, I'll have to clean and repaint all the places that got smoked, gashed, scratched and smeared with grease during the exhaust replacement project.

Maintenance can be tiring. I'll sure be happy when cruising season gets here.

Good question

Sometimes, when I hit a dead-end on a mechanical problem, I'll ask my brother Paul in Memphis for ideas. Last week, I couldn't figure out how to enlarge an exhaust hose hole in Ms. Bettencourt's engine box, so I texted Paul. He suggested an approach that worked, so I emailed him a thank-you with the following pair of pictures.

Dia Bettencourt photos

... and he responded with this:

"Is that you in the bilge? If so, did Dia take the pictures? If so, if you are the Captain, why isn't she in the bilge?"

I suspect Paul will be getting an answer from Dia.

Meanwhile, work proceeds on the exhaust system (with Dia's able help).

And, I am hoping this project will be finished before the new year begins.

Train wreck halts boat work

Here's an item for a book that should be written about bizarre boating events: After finally finding a rare (and costly) replacement exhaust mixing elbow, delivery is stalled by a train derailment in Illinois. I am almost afraid to ask what other new obstacles might arise to keep us hobbled at the dock.

Here's a picture of the beautiful new part which, until recently, was on the way from California to Ms. Bettencourt in Georgia via a UPS rail shipment.

News of the delay came from the UPS website which offered this rather matter-of-fact bulletin about my shipment's eastward progress: "Hodgkins, IL, train derailment."

I had this image of my bright blue casting sticking out of a snowbank by the railroad tracks a little south of Lake Michigan.

Anyway, I am relatively confident UPS and the railroad will sort it out and the part will get here eventually.

While we wait, there is work to be done.

The Kubota troubleshooters had loosened the exhaust manifold, which meant that the manifold gaskets needed to be replaced before things could start to go back together.

Removing the manifold revealed a nasty accumulation of rust, soot, grease and other stuff that begged for cleanup.

This is also a good time to take the big casting into the shop for degreasing, a scrub-down and a paint job.

The hardest part of getting this power plant back together will likely be wrestling the exhaust hose and the new elbow to the back of the exhaust manifold. The wire-reinforced hose is fairly rigid and there is a sharp upward turn from bilge level to the elbow at the back of the engine. The last time this job was done, it took three of us two days and many bloody knuckles.

This time, there's a different strategy. While the two-inch exhaust hose appears to be sound, it is in a stressful location and has been subjected to a lot of heat. So, the plan is to replace the four foot segment of hose that runs between the exhaust elbow and the muffler.

We will pass the new hose through its access port in the back of the engine box, and affix the new exhaust elbow to the hose. Then we'll bring the elbow and hose to the end of the exhaust manifold as a single assembly. This should give us better leverage to curve the new hose into place without kinking. If it works out, all that remains will be to trim the other end of the new hose to length to fit into the muffler.

That wooden plug you see in the end of the hose will be moved to the inboard end of the muffler when we withdraw the old hose. This is because the exhaust outlet at the transom is half-submerged on the water side. Bad things could happen without a stopper firmly in place.

The wayward exhaust elbow is now scheduled for delivery Tuesday. That means there is a possibility we could have everything back together and in working order before Christmas.

Stopped up what??

Nothing is wrong with Ms. Bettencourt's old Kubota engine. Even her fuel injectors, which I removed and had tested last week, are in excellent condition. Then why wouldn't she run?

Her exhaust was stopped up. More specifically, it was this thing, (pictured here) called an exhaust mixing elbow.

When this elbow is working like it is supposed to, exhaust gasses from the engine enter it though the fitting in the lower right of this photo. At the same time, seawater from an on-board water pump comes in the brass fitting at the top.

This results in the exhaust gasses being mixed with cooling water, the sum of which is then ejected out the tube at the lower left, which is hooked up to a 2" hose that goes to a muffler then out the back of the boat.

The elbow stoppage was discovered by Kubota technicians, whom I had called in from the local tractor company after everything else I could think of failed. The fact that it took two certified technicians two visits to figure this out eased the hurt to my amateur diesel mechanic ego just a little.

So, how do we know that nothing is wrong with the engine? Simple. After the techs removed this elbow, they started her up and ran the engine up to full power. Ran beautifully.

Unfortunately, with the exhaust disconnected, all that black, sooty, oily, diesel exhaust had no place to go except all over my pristine, just painted, snow white middle cabin, including seats, decks, bulkheads, dashboard and the instrument panel.

Sigh. The four-day cleanup is just about finished.

My cruise buddy Major and I disassembled the elbow and mounting flange yesterday and, briefly, I thought we could clean the elbow out and put it back to work. Alas, that is not to be. The inside part of the casting appears to include a baffle or internal chamber designed to keep injected water from getting back into the engine. The baffle or chamber wall is mostly corroded away. I think it would be a bad mistake to put this chunk of iron back into service.

Now, I'm on the hunt for a replacement mixing elbow. Please look in again. I'll post an update when there is something to report.