Sunday, May 12, 2013

Chevy and the Crazed Cat, and Final Maintenance

We took the dogs off the boat yesterday morning for their potty break.  We had just gotten down to the end of our long long dock when a snarling crazed cat came charging at the dogs.  Ruby was spellbound and froze.  Olivia was curious until a swipe at her nose, at which time she howled like a little girl dog.   Well, I guess that's OK since she is a little girl dog.  Then the cat went after Chevy.   The cat swiped at him and got him on the nose, and he jumped back.  The cat went at and got him a second time and he jumped again.  Chevy then got a cold icy stare on his face and I saw a lip go up.  If the cat came a second time, it wouldn't be good.  Just then, a fella came sprinting from the bathrooms calling his cat's name and got between the cat and Chevy.   After some effort, he finally scooped up the cat.  It was then that Ruby realized the cat meant harm.  All of the cats that Ruby has known have been friendly and so it took Ruby a minute to catch on.  Then she decided she was going to kick some serious cat butt, but luckily was on her leash, as were Chevy and Olivia.  That cat had a death wish.

Sorry, no photos.

Back at the boat, it was time for engine maintenance.  I needed to change the oil in the two Ford Lehmans, including the injection pumps, and the two Onan generators.

I had purchased one of those Shurflo pumps mounted on a bucket but after three hours of pumping, it had only removed about a gallon and a half, and each engine holds three gallons of oil.


This is the lousy contraption in the pic above.  That little itty bitty black tube is stuck down into the crankcase through the dipstick tube, and the 12 volt motor is attached to the lid of the bucket.  I think if I just removed the dipstick and cap on the valve cover, it would evaporate faster.

So I hied myself over to St. Augustine and bought a manual oil extractor pump, which worked much better.  I had each engine drained in a half an hour apiece.


The new manual pump also has a hose that sticks into the dipstick tube.  You pump the handle a couple of dozen times, creating a vacuum, which extracts the oil.  No muss, no fuss, little work.  The old Surflo piece of crap is now being used as a bucket.

The injection pumps were a piece of cake, made easier because I 1) have the manual and 2) read an excellent description on how to do this on another blogger's site - The Trawler Beach House.  I could recount how I did it here, but why reinvent the wheel?   If I went into detail, I'd have to include all the comical spills and oil squirting everywhere, including all over me, and who'd want to read about all that?

It was 100 degrees in the engine room because I had to run both engines and both generators to heat up the oil and to suspend crud.  I spent most of the afternoon in there.   Right now, I'm about to rehydrate with my third victory beer.

Tomorrow I'll fire up everything and look for leaks, and then change the transmission fluid on the two trannies.  The engine room will be done.   Then I'll remove the bimini for summer storage, tarp the Whaler, and generally do anything I can to avoid packing.  I'd only be in Pam's way.

4 comments:

  1. Dave,
    Take apart the Shurflow pump and look at the impeller as it sounds like someone at sometime ran the pump dry and ruined the impeller.

    I have used that kind of pump and it usually pumps very well.

    Bill Kelleher

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  2. 630 Blog entries later-- It's starting to look Bleecker....


    The first permanent settlements began around 1800 at Lindsleys Corners, although land sales took place before then.
    The town was established in 1831 from part of the Town of Johnstown, but did not arrive at its current dimensions until 1842. Part of Bleecker was returned to Johnstown in 1841 and another part was added to the Town of Caroga in 1842.
    Lumbering and tanning were important early industries. Around 1860 the maximum population, about 1,060, was attained; since then it has decreased but will now increase by 2 + Three dogs within a week or two.

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  3. Dave and Pam,
    Safe travels and we look forward to your Bleecker Mountain postings.

    ReplyDelete