The Engine Saga

The engine broke down on our way down to Marathon and we have not moved since early December. It turned out that everything that JR took apart from the engine to check its status was broken or almost unusable. We got new gaskets, new fuel injectors, new pistons, new water jackets, rebuild kits for the water pump, new thermostat (because there wasn't one installed at the time), a remote oil filter (because there wasn't any oil filter due to space in the engine compartment), and a new alternator. We got some sound proofing material to help insulate and reduce the noise coming from the engine compartment, which should get installed today. I am sure I missed some stuff that we got for the engine, but now the engine runs well. Before we were getting a lot of black carbon, oil, and diesel in the water exhausted from the engine, which we found out was due to several factors. We were surprised the engine took us as far as it did due to all the problems it had. Luckily, we were able to get new parts or rebuild the parts that we had for the engine and now everything has been reassembled and running as best as it can for an engine being over 30 years old. There is a little black discharge when the engine has full load, but we haven't gotten our hull and propeller cleaned yet so we believe that will help matters. Our boat was sitting at the marina in Miami for a couple months and then here in the harbor for another three so there is a lot of stuff growing on the bottom of our boat due to the fertilizer run off from the golf course nearby and fecal matter in the harbor doesn't help. Hopefully, we can get our bottom cleaned today and be ready to set sail next week. The pics show how dirty the engine was and we had to use hydrochloric acid to clean the engine heads and then we painted them and reinstalled them into the engine with new pistons, piston rings and etc. This engine has taken a lot of money and more importantly time. If we would have known this engine was so bad we would have just bought another one and replaced it all together. But this engine weighs over 600 lbs. so we would have to get a big battery bank to balance out the weight on the boat to make it level. If this engine breaks again we have vowed to junk it and get one that has parts easier to obtain instead of from England or from the one shop in the US that carries Lister Petter engine parts out in Kansas. I have to give the engine some credit because it did run for over 30 years and from what we can tell the previous owners didn't take care of the engine properly. We can only hope that the engine will last a while before we need to fix it again. I'll take another 30 years of operation before another engine overhaul, which took 3 months. I will be happy for that trade in time for reliable operation. :) My fingers are crossed...