I went out to the boat yesterday to clean up a bit, get an awning up, and change the oil. When a friend on a neighboring boat mentioned he had a torque wrench I figured I could check the torque on the head bolts as well. Unfortunately his torque wrench wasn’t up to that sort of job, so today Lowe and I went on a little adventure around town in search of a proper wrench.
We ended up on the outskirts of town in a fairly typical ferreterria. The type here in Mexico that you walk into the store to find nothing but a counter with rows of tools behind it. A half dozen or more eager faces ready to help. No browsing here, just tell them what you need and they’ll rustle it up. This store was far enough towards the outskirts of town that Lowe made a huge splash. At least ten employees came around from the back to say hello and touch his hair. I thought that deserved a ten percent discount on the wrench but I was wrong. The wrench, however, is already my favorite tool. It’s the kind of bad-ass tool that you keep handy for clubbing any would-be thieves over the head with.
Tomorrow I’ll begin with step one in the search for engine nirvana.
I talked to Omar yesterday and he thinks the problem lies in the exhaust header. If you’ll remember back about three years ago I found a small rust hole in the exhaust header just below the elbow. I had the hole welded, but in truth, welding cast iron is not an exact science. When Omar first saw the messy weld he looked at me like, “What the hell is this?” and said that I should really replace it. You couldn’t see any cracks, but not being able to see them doesn’t mean they aren’t there.
Just replace it. Easier said than done. The part weighs like 80 pounds and costs over a thousand dollars.
I should mention that the new alternator I hooked up worked like a charm on the way down. It’s a 100 amp unit from DC Power Solutions that came prewired to an external regulator. Basically all it required was attaching the big red battery cable from the back of the alternator to the battery bank. I couldn’t get it to work at all the first couple of times I tested it, but eventually found it was nothing more than a loose wire. Anyway, since I couldn’t use the engine much on the way south it was nice that when I did use it I was at least pumping some serious juice into the batteries.
9 Comments on “Torque”
I had an integrated elbow and down pipe fabricated from 316L Stainless Steel for less than $500 in Long Beach. You should be able to get it done for half that much in Mazatlan.
I don’t need an elbow. The elbow is fine. The hole was in the exhaust manifold itself, on the bottom just before the elbow.
I love all the help we readers want to give you; “You need a new engine!” , “Change the water pump!” – “NO! it’s the heat exchanger” – “Torque and retorque the headbolts!” , and so on…Your head isn’t flat, the cylinder linings have slipped, you need a new-new head gasket – probably one or two of them are right, but I’m content to let you figure it out and letting us know when you have it sorted out.
In the meanwhile, you’ve solved the mystery of how Kraft makes Miracle Whip. Good to know.
Good luck with the engine.
Pat why are you smearing Crisco shortening inside the valve cover? 😉
Those wrenches are heavy and bulky! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve threatened to toss the torque wrench out of my toolkit… only to be delighted to still have it a month later. Usually for things not involving measured torque, per se.
I’m not familiar with that engine… are the fuel injectors under that valve cover…if they are they maybe in the water jacket of that head and the seals maybe leaking coolant. I would check that oil also and see if there is diesel in it. Diesel mixes well with oil and you can hardly tell the difference sometimes. Just my two cents. I await to see your solution.
Kris
The guy that pulled you over in Trona Ca.
Funny – Mention a problem and guys just HAVE to offer solutions. We can’t help it, it’s our nature!!
Oh Pat. I’m so sorry you are still having issues with your boat. I was really hoping you had it fixed after the top end rebuild. Keep plugging away at it. If you decide to replace the engine, consider electric. I’m going to buy a junk hull just so I can put electric in it.
Bum’s, I say, do away with the comments portion of your blog. Doesn’t add any value!