48:56.0N 008:29.9W Midday (BST) Fix 12 June 2010 The Truth, The Whole Truth And Nothing But The Truth!
Oboe D'Amore's Web Diary
Nigel Backwith
Sat 12 Jun 2010 14:26
2010
View our progress on Google Earth at: http://blog.mailasail.com/oboe
GPS Position: 48:56.0N 008:29.9W
Sea Miles (previous 24 Hours): 163nMs
Sea Miles to date: 4,328nMs
Present Course Over Ground: 065°M
Present Boat Speed 4.0kts
Average Boat Speed (previous 24 hours): 6.8kts
Average Boat Speed to date: 6.3kts
Estimated GPS Position in 24 hours time: 49°:54'N 005°:00'W
Sea State: Calm (beautiful!)
Wind Speed and Direction: 15kts N
Barometric Pressure: 1014mB
It is midday on Oboe on Saturday 12 June and all's well. We have a working
engine. Oh yes, I failed to mention that three days ago at the height of
the storms our engine failed, sorry I didn't want to alarm anyone. Why do
you need an engine, you're a sailing yacht, I hear you mumble? Well, I won't
go into that, suffice it to say it added another level of stress into an
already challenging situation. The other side of being a skipper, with help
from our on board engineer, Rob is to fix the unfixable. I'm reminded of
Apollo 13 - bits of hose, string and lots of duck tape? In this case, no.
All that was needed in the end was to remove a 5p gauze filter from the end
of the fuel feeder pipe deep down in the fuel tank. How the hell did you
find that out and how the hell did you remove it? Well, it goes a bit like
this, and I quote directly from emails that have passed between myself, Dave
and a kind, concerned Volvo Penta engineer called Andy, who works for
Volspec in Essex, not previously known to Dave or me:
Nigel to Dave: (Wednesday) ... we had an engine failure this evening
... according to Op Manual there are only 2 possible things that will cause
the diagnostic system to shut the engine down completely: A serious problem
with the fuel injection system or a malfunction of the sterndrive shift
mechanism ... I’m interested in whether it is a known problem with the D3
110i model engine or whether water ingress around the gear lever could cause
it to malfunction ... a working motor would be a good thing right now, the
crew need a morale boost I can tell you. This weather is getting to us ...
Dave To Nigel: (Thursday) ... I'm talking to a chap called Andy at Volspec
Ltd in Maldon Essex. Andy is fantastic, very knowledgeable and is trying his
best to help out... Chin up. Nearly home, beers on ice ... Andy needs your
engine serial number and as much info as you can give him. He can track down
your individual engine, then we could be cooking on gas ...
Nigel to Dave: (Thursday) - (full text, so skip if bored!) ... Serial No:
2003012621. The problem is still with us. After a period of time varying
from 10 mins to 45 mins, the engine cuts out. Usually there is a continuous
audible alarm. Occasionally there is no alarm. The EVC control panel
oscillates between "Caution Check Engine" and "Caution See Op Manual". This
is referred to in the Op Manual as a "Miscellaneous fault". In the Op
Manual there are 28 other specific fault messages than could be displayed.
The generic one I get is the least specific and therefore the least helpful
unfortunately.
The alarm can be silenced by pressing the "navigation wheel" on the EVC
control panel, in the normal way. Ignition then turned off and on again.
After "normal" 2 beeps, either the continuous alarm resounds or if it did
not sound in the first place, then 3 beeps are heard. Starting on the key
is then difficult, it probably taking 10 attempts, with the 3 beeps being
resent during the cranking process. In between attempts I have been
switching off at the key, moving the speed control lever randomly and even
trying to start it in gear. Eventually it fires up 5-10 seconds into the
cranking process and certainly on occasion in gear.
I have a full workshop manual on board as a pdf file on the chart table
laptop and I have the Operator's Manual. From the Operator's manual I note
that: The diagnostic function of the engine can detect various levels of
malfunction from minor to serious. If and I stress if the diagnostic system
is shutting down the engine then it says it can be one of only 2 causes and
I quote: "serious malfunction of the sterndrive shift mechanism or the fuel
injection system. I do not have access to any fault codes, as these require
a black box to be attached to the engine and a computer connection I
imagine. However, if it is something to do with the sterndrive shift
mechanism, as I first suspected, these would likely be MID128 and PID91 and
be a problem with the speed demand potentiometer on the Engine Control Unit
EDC 15. I have wiggled the electrical connections to it - that is all I can
do really without advice.
OK, whether or not the engine is shut down by the diagnostic system I am of
a mind that the cause lies elsewhere than the potentiometer. We have
already got a partially blocked fuel feed line on our list of possible
causes and at a slightly lower likelihood, blocked fuel filters. Note, we
put new fuel filters in 30 engine hours ago. When this problem arose we
changed them immediately. The pre-filter with 30 hours on it was pretty
dirty. We have run for 1 hour on the new filters. The new pre-filter is
still very clean, yet the problem persists.
Here is a question for Andy: When the engine is running, the hand pump on
top of the fuel filter bracket is sucked very hard down. I have a strong
recollection that this has not been the case in the past. In fact I
remember distinctly being able to pump it even when the engine is running.
Is this an indication that the fuel pump is having difficulty sucking fuel
through? Could this simply throttle the engine to a stop through fuel
starvation or even fool the engine management system that there is an
inconsistency between fuel being delivered and speed demanded by the
potentiometer and force a MID128 PID91 shut down? Could this be why
sometimes we get a continuous alarm (MID128 PID91) or 3 beeps - simple fuel
starvation?
Andy to Dave to Nigel (Friday): Hi - report from the boat is very
helpful - the fact the fuel priming bulb is being sucked down indicates the
fuel pump IS working, but the fuel is not flowing sufficiently. Most likely
cause, having already changed the filters, is the stand pipe in the fuel
tank, which may have a gauze filter on the bottom, installed by the
manufacturer to prevent the filters becoming clogged!!! We have seen this
countless times, and although access to the tank may well be difficult, this
needs to be checked! What is the point in putting a filter in the tank
where it is inaccessible simply to stop crap clogging the filters installed
outside the tank that are changed regularly!
Nigel to Dave (Late Friday night): ... we plan to fix the engine here
out at sea tomorrow, Saturday after a breakfast of scrambled eggs on toast
and a cafetiere of good strong coffee. The conditions are improving all the
time, in fact they are quite therapeutic right now. Starry, starry night
and a wee tot of Antiguan rum for medicinal purposes you understand. We'll
heave to, dismantle Rob's bunk to get at the fuel tank and work at finding
and removing the partial blockage. If we fix it we will sail straight to
Dartmouth, arriving in the dark early hours of Monday morning. Happy with
that. Done night entry and dropped anchor there before. If we can't fix it,
we will have to put out a "Pan Pan" call on channel 16 to Falmouth
Coastguard and seek a tow in to a safe haven, likely to be Falmouth - no
problem happy with that too ...
Nigel to Dave (Saturday Lunch Time): Rob has dived into the diesel tank
and amputated a completely clogged 5p gauze filter from the end of the
pickup pipe. The tank seems to be full of drillings and swarf from its
manufacturing process! Another strong email to Dufour me thinks ... the
engine has fired up like a good 'un - "Lush" said Ryan.
The sun is shining, Oboe is sailing. We have enough fuel to motor all the
way to Dartmouth if we feel like it. We have three lost homing pigeons on
board as stowaways, currently sipping water from a bowl and all's well in
our strange little world. Oh yes, I nearly forgot, Ryan asks whether you
can bring three things with you to Dartmouth: Money, new girlfriend and
green rucksack (with or without gas canister???) ...
Nigel
Date: 12 June 2010