Since we needed repairs to our engine we wanted to be at a marina slip instead of on the hook as previously planned. We called the city marina and they were kind enough to make room for us on short notice.
I looked at the new pump and couldn't see what was wrong with it, so I took it apart and put it back together again. Still nothing. I had the idea of taking the old leaky pump off the engine and comparing the two side by side. Off went the bolts again and I pulled the pump off the engine, about an eighth of an inch. I pulled. I tugged. I started to pry and stopped myself. Something was clearly different because the pumps had always pulled right on and off, other than aligning the shaft with the drive gear off of the engine, seen to the left in the picture below.
We asked about a diesel repair guy and were told that their equivalent of Diesel Don was currently in the Bahamas. Our second choice was Al. We called and he was over that afternoon. He had never seen anything like it in 30 years of doing this, but it had to come off, so he advanced to the higher level of prying and pushing. It finally popped off and he observed that the pump shaft was chewed up. He looked into the engine and saw that the little drive gear for the pump was trashed on the inside.
We looked at the new pump and the shaft had some less significant rounding of the corners. The gear had failed and ceased to engage the shaft so it could be driven. It was nothing but dumb luck that when I slid the old pump on in Mosquito Lagoon it had somehow engaged with the damaged gear, but semi-permanently, which is why I couldn't remove it.
Well, we knew what the problem was, which was good, but Al had only seen this a few times in 30 years. It was unlikely that the gear was sitting on the shelf near us, if at all. He gathered up the pumps and the gear and went off to find new ones.
We were clearly going to be here for a while. We were supposed to be in Brunswick in a week, and Heather flew out in less than two. Maybe not.
sv-hiatus.blogspot.com
No comments:
Post a Comment