Port Engine Problems and Boat Repairs - Day 295-302

July 5-12, 2016
Day 295-302

We have been experiencing a problem with our port engine that has gotten progressively worse as we have traveled.  The engine will run fine all day long, but as soon as we throttle down to maneuver into a marina or a lock the port engine will shut down and often will not restart.  We have been brainstorming with other PDQ owners for a couple of weeks as to what the cause may be and possible solutions.  Almost everyone believes it is a fuel delivery problem since all a diesel engine needs to run is air and fuel.  We have changed fuel filters a number of times and finally decided to change our the entire port fuel line since air seemed to be getting in from somewhere.

On Tuesday we took the boat over to James Power's house for him to change out the fuel line.  He pulled the pickup tube from the tank to check it for leaks, replaced a number of fittings in the fuel line, replaced the entire fuel line from the tank to the filters, and bypassed a boost pump that had been installed by a previous owner but never used.

We stayed at James' dock that night and in the morning ran the boat back to the marina in Midland to see if the problem had been solved.  When pulling into the marina the port engine died and would not restart, so apparently, the fuel line was not the problem.

The diesel mechanics at The Bayport Yachting Centre in Midland had previously examined the boat and recommended rebuilding the fuel injector pump and governor, but we wanted to try the simpler and less expensive approach first.  Since that did not work we had the mechanics come aboard and removed the fuel injector pump and sent it out for rebuilding.

While James was in the engine room evaluating the shutdown condition he had found that the port shaft seal was leaking, thus explaining the persistent small amount of water that was constantly in the port bilge.  I ordered new shaft seals and scheduled with the marina to haul the boat when they arrived to change out both sides.  Meanwhile, James put Rescue Tape on the leaking port shaft seal bellows to stop the leak until it could be replaced.

Monday the injector pump came back, and the rebuild shop did find several obvious problems with it.  Two mechanics reinstalled the pump and then I took it out for a test run, and everything seemed fine.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

We were in Midland for two weeks between the PDQ flotilla pig roast and the boat repairs.  We toured the town and admired the paintings on the side of buildings depicting various aspects of the town history.  We toured the Martyr's Shrine and the recreation of the 1600's Jesuit Mission to the Huron Indians in the area.  Sharon practiced her golf cart driving skills, and one day we saw a float plane land on the bay by our marina.  One day we went to a local deli called "Dino's" and I had a corned beef sandwich that had to have a pound of meat on it.  People were taking pictures of the sandwiches there, but I didn't take one of mine.  Midland was a pretty place to be stranded, and they had all of the serviced that we needed, but after two weeks we were ready to move on.

Tuesday the boat was hauled out and the new shaft seals were installed.  We stayed at a local hotel Monday night so we would have somewhere to be comfortable while the boat was out of the water.  By the time the seals were done, the boat back in, and the rental car returned it was mid afternoon so we decided to wait until Wednesday to leave.