Steve S Posted August 16, 2013 Report Share Posted August 16, 2013 Grrr, this should have been a catch report but instead it’s a salutary tale. A few weeks ago the water seal on the starboard D4-260 sea water pump was leaking and it was replaced, the bearings appeared to be ok so were left alone. Fast forward to the present, for a change I thought I’d try an early morning Bassing trip over some wrecks south of the Island. I was motoring down from Beaulieu at 6:30 full of hope on a wonderful flat and clear morning. Halfway to Lymington going at a reasonable lick a screech emitted from the rear of the boat ie from the engine bay. The timing was unfortunate as I’d just turned a water pump on and I assumed it must have been that, so I turned it off and waited, it did slowly die away maybe 15 seconds later (very odd) only to be replaced by the very loud engine alarm and a couple of red engine warning lights appearing. Cue engine’s off, sudden stop. Damn, I opened up the engine hatch to be greeted by smoke billowing out and a right old burning smell, mercifully no flames. Once the smoke had cleared I discovered with a sinking heart that the starboard side sea water pump had seized, the paint had blistered round one of the bearings, the smoke was from the engine belt running round the now stationary pump pulley wheel. Engine coolant was splattered around. As the engine water temp was still sky high I tried starting the engine to see if the pump would now work enough to cool the engine off, fortunately it must have unseized itself and the temperature rapidly returned to normal. Time to turn round and go home, no fishing for me , just expense. I pottered back using the port engine for drive and the starboard one just on tick over as the power steering runs off it keeping an ear out and watching the water temperature like a hawk. Back at the mooring on removing the pump, the damage appeared to be a seized bearing and a buckled pulley wheel due to the heat from the huge friction caused by the belt running over a third of the pulley only. Now I think what must have happened is that some of the sea water leaking from the seal a few weeks ago must have found in way into the ‘sealed’ bearing and mixed with the grease created some form of water, salt, grease slurry which resulted in the bearing failure although the bearing appeared good at the time of the seal change. So an expensive lesson, if the water seal leaks replace the adjacent bearings. Further compounded by mistaking the cause of the screech I failed to stop the engine promptly enough and trashed the pulley wheel. Yet more expense. . Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niggle Posted August 16, 2013 Report Share Posted August 16, 2013 At least the engine is ok Steve Hope u get it fixed soon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pirky Posted August 16, 2013 Report Share Posted August 16, 2013 Blessings Steve.....could have been loads worse.....could have happened a lot further from home...etc etc. Hope all is up and running again soon. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingfisher 126 Posted August 16, 2013 Report Share Posted August 16, 2013 Sorry to hear that Steve, Hope all goes well with the repair and cost kept to a minimum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maverick Martin Posted August 16, 2013 Report Share Posted August 16, 2013 Oh dear, at least, hopefully it will be a straight forward repair albeit expensive as boat problems always are Martin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuie Posted August 16, 2013 Report Share Posted August 16, 2013 Yes Steve, fortunate to be able to return under your own power - although that is only a small crumb of comfort I'm sure. Good luck with the repairs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 16, 2013 Report Share Posted August 16, 2013 I remember you having an engine issue at Alderney too .... is this a continuation of that? I hope it's not too long or expensive to repair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
great white Posted August 16, 2013 Report Share Posted August 16, 2013 Hi steve Bad luck mate, have you got the repair organised? I have the same engine and some experiance of maintenance and repair issues, also have the inner belt tensioner special tool Let me know if I can help Charlie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Posted August 16, 2013 Report Share Posted August 16, 2013 "also have the inner belt tensioner special tool" That is no way to speak about Dan!!! Hope it is a quick fix Steve. Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve S Posted August 16, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2013 Thanks for the comments guys and also offer of help and the 'inner belt tensioner' Charlie. It's a new problem, not the sender problem I had in Alderney. Basically the water pump started leaking at the seal. Around 3 weeks ago I noticed a build up of salt on the Alternator of the adjacent engine dead opposite the seal, I think it may have been leaking for a while, I just had the seal replaced, whereas I now realise I should have replaced the bearings as well because the nearest one had least had ingested sea water even though it appeared ok. The actual leak was only apparent at speed and who goes at 28 knots or more with the engine hatches open to check the engines! There didn't appear to be build up of water in the bilge. So if you have a similar thing happen remember 'sealed' bearings do not keep out sea water. In future I'll keep a close eye on that seal, the other engine appears to be fine. The pump has been rebuilt now by SAL in Lymington, they did a quick turnround for me as I just presented the pump for them to work on in the workshop, new bearings, water seal and pulley plus labour it wasn't cheap, I'm fitting it back on today. Fingers crossed it all goes fine and I'm trouble free for a while. Steve niggle, Kingfisher 126 and Stuie 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Posted August 17, 2013 Report Share Posted August 17, 2013 When I saw the post, I felt awful Steve. After reading it, if you're a " my glass is half full " man - - - - - you were very lucky. Hope to see that lovely boat on the water again soon. Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
great white Posted August 17, 2013 Report Share Posted August 17, 2013 Glad that it is getting sorted out so quickly And hope to see you out on the water again soon Charlie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve S Posted August 22, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 22, 2013 Update: I got the boat running again on Saturday with no new snags. With some trepidation I opened her up and everything was fine, phew! . SAL did a good and fast if pricey job on the salt water pump, looks like new. Went out fishing on the Sunday with Diane so not an early start... For bait I could only catch big mackerel, every one was eating size and then I made some rather poor choices on where to anchor, too much tide and wind over tide at that so not great but so nice to get out there, fishing for bass on lures didn't throw up much either. My last trip for a while as I'm out of the country on business, a bad time of the year to go with the weather looking pretty good. Fresh mackerel taste so good. Steve Kingfisher 126 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Fox Posted August 22, 2013 Report Share Posted August 22, 2013 Well done on getting fixed. The autumn fishes well usually and is my favourite time of year with most species fattening nicely. Hopefully, you'll be back in time for a session or three before the weather turns. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Posted August 22, 2013 Report Share Posted August 22, 2013 Very good news Steve. Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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