Leonard used today's time in port to replace a sea strainer basket for the starboard engine. A sea strainer strains out seaweed or debris from the raw incoming water, which is used for cooling the engine(s). If the sea strainer fails to sift out foreign objects, debris can reach integral engine components and cause engine failure. Indeed, we discovered our starboard sea strainer to be defective; and after lifting out the stainless steel basket, found shards of metal that we cleaned out with a magnetized tool. We suspect that the last person who installed this sea strainer didn't have it in the down-locked position, which caused it to float up damaging the basket and impeding the flow of water. This improperly installed sea strainer may also account for the starboard engine overheating at full warp speed, also known as 11-12 knots; something we noticed after purchasing the boat last fall. Our time today was definitely well spent. Shortly after purchasing the boat, we replaced the thermostat for the starboard engine and discovered that the thermostat had been put in backwards, no doubt adding to the over heating issue. I must admit, crawling around in the engine room is great fun once you learn what the heck all of those things are for and how they work.
Leonard used today's time in port to replace a sea strainer basket for the starboard engine. A sea strainer strains out seaweed or debris from the raw incoming water, which is used for cooling the engine(s). If the sea strainer fails to sift out foreign objects, debris can reach integral engine components and cause engine failure. Indeed, we discovered our starboard sea strainer to be defective; and after lifting out the stainless steel basket, found shards of metal that we cleaned out with a magnetized tool. We suspect that the last person who installed this sea strainer didn't have it in the down-locked position, which caused it to float up damaging the basket and impeding the flow of water. This improperly installed sea strainer may also account for the starboard engine overheating at full warp speed, also known as 11-12 knots; something we noticed after purchasing the boat last fall. Our time today was definitely well spent. Shortly after purchasing the boat, we replaced the thermostat for the starboard engine and discovered that the thermostat had been put in backwards, no doubt adding to the over heating issue. I must admit, crawling around in the engine room is great fun once you learn what the heck all of those things are for and how they work.
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