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Old 04-11-2017, 08:15 AM   #140
Art
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City: SF Bay Area
Vessel Model: Tollycraft 34' Tri Cabin
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 12,569
Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter B View Post
And maybe, just maybe, if he'd stayed at the helm, keeping a close eye on his oil pressure and temp gauges, instead of being bum up down below in the ER so much, and lulled into a false sense of security by all the engine checks, he might have picked the leak up soon enough to save the engine from seizing..?
Having had most trucks and many cars equipped with full gauge assortment, not idiot lights... My brain is programed to sweep the cluster often. Same with boats. And yes, I still quite often take time to visually check on engine compartment, be it boat or road vehicle. For boats the check is before starting and during warm up; then every couple to a few hours while running - often at shut down too. For road vehicles it's lifting the hood every time I fuel up and quite often before starting up if the vehicle has been left to sit idle for a long duration... like a few weeks to a month or more.

Always thought it would be great to simultaneously have three warning systems/devices on any mechanically operating machine, i.e. gauges, lights, sound alarms. Alas, that has not happened for me [yet]. Of the three... gauges are my preference. Why gauges?? Because with my trained full sweep of often looking at gauges I can tell if there is any change beginning to occur. Once/if I do note an alteration in normal gauge reading I become concerned and my several times each hour glancing at gauges turns into a moment to moment repeat viewing... with remedy for abatement soon to follow if the unusual gauge showing continues or increased its out of sync position. At very least, even if the gauge returns to normalized position it's even momentarily happened position alteration is logged in my mind and I will be watching things carefully from there on until I am satisfied the gauge change was a fluke or I find the physical reason for the gauge change.
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