[WHISTLER LOGS]
December 2010
Engine Trouble…
Things are looking up. I tried to leave Langkawi, Malaysia two weeks ago to sail to Phuket, Thailand, the Promised Land. I had not motored out 2 miles when I noticed the bilge pump was spurting out water once in a while. So I opened the engine room door and low and behold one of the engine salt water cooling hose was pissing out a small stream of salt water all over my engine room. Not a very desirable event in an engine room. So I stopped the engine, dropped the hook and tried to see if I could fix it. The engine room was hot, I was sweating and that stupid hose was of an irregular shape, so I could not replace it with some of the straight hose I carry. I tried to put a clamp on it but no luck. It was still leaking. A thunderstorm was also happening to make its way right over my boat, so it was a little rolly and not too comfortable.
I decided to go back to the marina and see what if I could find a similar hose in town. However as I started the engine to head back, a second calamity struck my poor engine. Coolant started emptying out of the overflow hose and would not stop. Why?? I did not dare admit to myself what was happening. The coolant was getting pushed out by salt water. That meant it was also being replaced by salt water. Salt water in my frigging engine!! Just great. In my head it could only mean that the heat exchanger separating the salt water cooling side from the anti-freeze corrosion inhibitor coolant side had developed a leak. They say unfortunate things come in pair. Well they did that day. I hurried back to the dock, even though there was a fierce current flowing sideway to the dock and I was alone which make for tricky docking maneuvering. Fortunately I was able to spot 3 fellow sailors on the dock and they came to help me.
What do you think the rest of the day was like? Hot and covered in grease from head to toe as I took the cooling side of my engine apart and flushed it with a proper anti-freeze anti-corrosion solution. After several hours, I had managed to take the whole heat exchanger apart as well as many hoses and pipes.
After a few conversations with the Perkins (my engine brand) factory back in England, they also came to the conclusion that the heat exchanger had a leak. Ouch!! This was a $750 item. I also decided to change several of the hoses since after 10 years they all looked a little tired. What's more the end of the copper pipe leading from the gearbox intercooler and the engine had corroded on one end.
Before I ordered such expensive parts, I wanted to be sure that the problem was indeed the heat exchanger tubestack (part #13 in attached drawing). I started suspecting that it might have been the end cap (part 12) that had come loose when I tried to fix the hose with a hole in it. That rubber end cap also looked very worn on the inside. But how could I test the heat exchanger without a proper air compressor and fitting? I took it to a shop in town, but the test was inconclusive. I decided to buy a 2" hose about 2 feet long that would fit the end of the tube stack. I then stood the tube stack vertical, put one end cap at the bottom and plugged the hole in the end cap with a wooden peg I had onboard for a hole in the hull emergency. On the other end of the tube stack, the top end now that it was standing vertical, I attached the hose and secured with a hose clip. I then filled the hose and tube stack with water and waited to see if the 2 feet of water pressure in the hose would force some water out of the heat exchanger. I waited and waited. 12 hours later no leaks. I had just saved $750. Now I could order the various hoses and end caps. The bill still came out to $300 with airfreight.
It took 7 days but I finally received the parts and proceeded to put my engine back together. It took the better part of 1 1/2 day. However, when I had put it back together and started the engine. No cooling water was coming out of the exhaust. Ho ho!! Not another problem? Was my salt water cooling pump bad? I quickly shut down the engine and started checking hoses. I even opened the salt water pump cover and started the engine for a few seconds to see if it was turning. It was!! At least that was not the problem. So I started going back up the line and opening every hose to see if water was coming out. I cussed and called myself all kind of unflattering adjectives when I finally discovered the problem. When taking the engine apart, 10 days before, I had plugged one of the hose with a wine cork so that salt water would stop dripping back down on the engine. When I put things back together I completely forgot about it, did not see it sticking and tightened the hose back to the end of the heat exchanger with the cork inside the hose.
Ouff!! What an ordeal!!! I thought it was over but when I started the engine again I noticed that now I had a small diesel leak right at the engine mounted fuel filter. Another half a day spent covered in grease and diesel, a fuel filter change, a few gaskets changes and air purged out of the fuel system and now I am hoping I can take a break from grease baths. That was yesterday!!
All this time, spent waiting for the parts, I also worked on the boat. I rebuilt my navigation station, I added 240 volt electrical outlets, I hired a friend of mine to touch up the varnish outside, etc etc.
In the meanwhile, Kuah, the main town of the island is pretty lame as far as social life goes. Very Muslim!! I did have a few friends at the marina but it was still a little lonely.
Last night, Christmas night, things changed socially. I went to Pentai Cenang with two boat friends to celebrate Christmas at one of the beach bar where a lot of tourists hang out. It is a little far away but one my friend had a motorcycle. What a fun night with everybody in holiday spirit!! 
The setting was also very cool with small table about one feet high laid out on the beach and people just sitting around on the sand with the stars overhead!! There were people from all over the world. Our table was a good example: Jeff an American, Tom an Australian, Kemena an Australian, Emily a Namibian, Selma also from Namibia and me!!
