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Old 05-21-2017, 05:03 PM   #787
N4061
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Join Date: Feb 2010
Posts: 1,161
Lesson learned

What started out as a great planned weekend turned into another lesson learned. I took off work Friday to spend time with Mary and SB and get ready for a short run up to Mission Bay on Saturday. We also needed to be aboard for Jeddey to deliver the new ottomans which arrived around noon with fresh varnish still drying so we had to be careful handling them. They turned out great and fit perfectly.

With that out of the way we did a shopping for weekend and went to Old Town for excellent Mexican food. Anyone visiting SD needs to spend time checking out this great tourist spot. We planned to leave the marina by 0900hrs on Saturday to beat the strong afternoon stiff breezes and confused sea. We were running late and my ER check was rushed a little. Upon starting the engine we both noticed a slightly different sound so I immediately starting looking around. We had good cooling water exiting and instruments looked normal. Then I noticed the large red warning on the instrument control panel, it said check starboard engine. I attempted to obtain more information from the panel by scrolling through but I couldn't retrieve anything. This took about one minute then I shutdown the engine. I was confused since all my instruments showed normal operation. I thought possibly a false reading and turn the engine back on. The warning came on immediately and I quickly shut everything down before visiting the ER. As soon as I opened the door I smelled fuel ( never good) and looked at the engine to find a over a half gallon of fuel in the drip pan.

First thing I thought was where is it coming from? Before investigating I told Mary what I found and thought safety first. While I know diesel is not as flammable as gasoline I didn't like having that much in the drip pan and fumes so I shut down most electrical breakers and held off turning on the exhaust blowers. I was able to quickly diagnos the leak was on the engine port side, but from where? I decided to call Scott who was at TF but still picked up the phone. It didn't take Scott more than two minutes to ask me if the fuel return line was open. Dang it, I forgot to open it last week after tightening a valve that was seeping a little. With the cause of the leak known, it was time to understand the damage. Did I blow the fuel pump gasket and get fuel in the oil? Needless to say I was pissed at myself and thinking what this may cost me. After checking the oil and not seeing any fuel I felt a little better but still concerned.

I told Scott I needed to remove the fuel and then call him back. Fortunatly I had easy access to the drip pan which contained 100% of the spill and had all the fuel out within ten minutes. We then ran to West Marine for a few items including a small plastic fuel tank to pour the fuel into until I could dispose of it. Once back in the ER I was able to trace the leak to the fuel return line at the engine. It turned out the single clamp holding the rubber hose was not super tight and the connection not 100% allowing for the fuel to leak out under pressure. In other words I had a pressure relief valve of sort which saved the day. After a little more cleaning I tighten the hose connection and started the engine. Perfection! No leaks and no warnings. An hour later (after rechecking the oil) we ran the boat for 30 minutes on the bay and everything looked fine.

Lesson learned for me is to tag anything left in a nonoperational position and slow down while performing ER checks. More on how the design of the ER really showcased itself.

John
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