Turbo problem....

[Richard F]

Hi Richard, sorry to not get straight back to you. I seem to be awfully busy at the moment. I think you are right. You are going to need a few days to do this but even though your powerplants are tight it is a doable job with a bit of planning. No shortcuts though I am afraid, but a careful, methodical and calm approach to the job will get you there.

I am looking at the photo of your engine bay as I write this.

The first thing that strikes me is that you appear to have some room on the left of your port engine (looking forward) but I am not sure if that means you have the same amount of room on the right of your starboard engine which is where the really hard work is going to take place. I would need to see a better photo of this area.

The second thing that stands out is that the hatch strut in the centre will probably have to be removed and the hatch held up by some other means or even removed. Whatever option is taken here, extreme care must be taken to avoid the hatch falling on you. They are heavy and the results of getting hit by an out of control hatch would not be pretty.

The third thing is that you will have to be prepared to remove a lot of compnonentry in order to free up the space necessary to access the heat exchangers and the oil coolers. I would start by removing the superchargers, air intakes and filters and associated piping and the coolant resovoir tanks. All that stuff is pretty easy and you would be surprised how much room and access you suddenly have. You might also have to consider removing the after cooler box on the starboard engine in order to gain better access to the port engine exchanger.

The forth thing is that you may have to invest in some good 'reach' tools if you don't already have them. Socket extensions will be a must. Don't be frightened to stop work and go buy a tool that gives you better access before you get frustrated and throw the towel in !! You should also look at those oil change suction containers which can be used for oil or coolant removal. You wont need to remove the oil but you will need to remove coolant and it looks a little too tight in there to get at all the drain plugs. And, make sure you have good lighting. seeing properly what you are trying to gain access to makes all the difference.

I would look at erecting some form of 'scaffold' over the the two engines that you can lie on to give you better, controlled and more comfortable access. Just be sure no weight goes on those fuel pipes or any other part of the engines really.something that restes in the hatch drain gutters might do the trick. Disassemble the port engine first. That way you'll know exactly what you need to look for, and where to find it when you disassemble the starboard engine which has more difficult access.

Finally, while it may be a little tight to work on, the actual job is simply one of removing a few nuts, bolts and hose clips, pulling off the exchangers and oil coolers, having them descaled and putting them back on. There is nothing too technical about he job at all. Don't get hung up on how long it is going to take or try to get the work complete before a certain date. You will only put undue pressure on yourself. Instead, think of it in terms of "the job will take....as long as it takes to do a good job!! " When the job is finished, you will have a great sense of satisfaction, you will have learnt a whole lot more about your engines and you will have solved your overheating problem which I suggest you currently have because no previous owner has been prepared to carryout this maintenance work or pay someone to do it.

Good luck Richard and PM me if you want to talk through some of this in more detail when you are ready to move ahead on this work.

Terry

Thanks Terry, you are most encouraging! Will plan on these work very soon.

Working on the port engine is not too bad as you can see there are still a little bit of room on either side that I can squeeze into but the STB engine is hopeless. The easiest thing to do on that engine is to change the oil filter. It took me a day to get the turbo out and back. There is absolutely no gap on the far side. I always have to place a board on top of the engine and lay on it to work! Anyway, I 'll make some plans. Especially the weather is getting better everyday to go out .....it will be a waste to work on the boat every weekend though!

Thanks Terry, Will keep you post!

Richard

 

[Richard F]

All and all it sounds like your boat has a nasty bottom and/or props. Dose not takes much fouling material to produce the performance you are describing. Same thing happened to my boat. I was amazed how little junk on the bottom made such a significant difference in performance.

Done a thorough anti - foul couple months ago. If you recall the previous posts (pictures). You are right! I couldn't get above 2300 rpm before the anti-foul and now I can do 3700 ~ 3800 without any problem but only the STB engine will get too hot if running it at that speed for long!