Repower

Sarah's Repower, January 8 - February 25, 2008

In January, 2008 I moved Sarah to Zahnizer's Yachting Center and began the process of replacing my 30-year old Westerbecke 60 engine with a Yanmar 4JH4-AE. At the same time I replaced the original steel fuel tank with a new aluminum tank.

Engine Out, January 8 - 9, 2008

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The first thing to be accomplished was the removal of the Westerbecke Engine, Paragon Transmission and associated electrical, water and fuel connections.

On the left is the last picture of the Westerbecke 60 in operational condition. Shortly after this picture was taken the mechanic arrived on board and began disconnecting the engine from the boat.

After all wires and hoses were disconnected and the engine mounts released Zahniser's used a small crane to lift the engine out of boat.

It was a tight fit through the companionway hatch. Initially it would not go through and had to be lowered back onto the engine bed. A few more components were removed and the angle of lift was adjusted.

Once clear of the companionway, the engine was lowered onto a dolly on the dock.

A very tired old engine.

This is the end of the engine I've never been able to see before. The only way to get access to the belts and pumps on this end was to lay over the top of the engine.

With the engine out, but the fuel tank still in place, Sarah's stern has come up on her lines quite a bit.

Tank Out, January 10 - 11, 2008

The day after the engine was removed the tank came out. It didn't come willingly as it would not pass under the mizzen mast support beam. Finally the mechanic used a Sawsall to cut a bevel in the bottom aft edge of the beam, which allowed him to tip the tank under the beam and then haul it out of the boat.

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This is a picture of the side of the tank after it was removed from Sarah. Notice that the aft portion of the bottom of the tank is cut-away to conform to the shape of the hull.

This is a view of the tank I never had while it was installed on Sarah. There is more rust on the top of this steel tank than I suspected.

A lot more rust than I suspected.

Here is the empty engine/tank bay under the cockpit.

I've got a lot of cleanup to do before the new fuel tank is installed. I also want to re-route the hoses the run through this compartment, which include the water hose for the generator and two bilge pump hoses (manual and electric).

The tank itself does not weigh that much, but it had 33 gallons of diesel fuel when I arrived at Zahniser's. After the fuel and the tank were removed Sarah's stern has come up another inch or two. Now the tip of the rudder is visible.
As expected the tank contained a lot of gunk and sediment in the bottom. Zahniser's used a fairly powerful fuel transfer pump to remove the residual fuel from the tank. When the pump pickup hit the sludge it came to a sudden stop. The sludge was still in the bottom of the tank when it was removed from the boat.

Engine Bed Remove, January 14 - 18, 2008

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I did a preliminary cleanup of the engine compartment, which include removing 30 years worth of debris and dirt. I did recover the end cap from the oil evacuation tube on the Northern Lights genset. I dropped that cap under the fuel tank in 2006 as I was preparing to cruise the Western Mediterranean. That was the first of a number of screw-ups and equipment failures that defined the first month of that cruise.

Now I have two spares for that end cap.

After I did my preliminary cleanup the mechanic came back and started the destruction of the old engine bed. The engine mounts on the Yanmar are 2 inches narrower than those on the Westerbecke. Also the Yanmar engine mounts have to be a little lower in the bed to provide good alignment with the V-Drive and also fit under the engine box cover.

On the right the destruction is about complete.

At this point I have removed the hose for the manual bilge pump. That was original equipment on Sarah. The hose broke apart into multiple pieces as I pulled it from under the tank frame. Not a moment too soon. I will also replace the hose for the electric bilge pump, but I will wait until the new engine bed is in place before starting on that task. Right now the electric bilge pump is the only bilge pump working on Sarah.

The next day the mechanic built a mockup to determine the dimensions of the new engine bed.

Before the fiberglass work on the new engine bed began, the yard sealed off most of the aft cabin. The vestigial remains of the old bed were then ground down to the hull.

Some initial glasswork has been done to smooth out the area and provide a good base for the new bed. I had planned to temporarily move off the boat when the main fiberglass work began. If I had any thoughts of staying on board during that work, the fumes from this minor bit of glasswork totally dissuaded me.

New Engine Bed, January 22 - 29, 2008

Next the new Mahogany engine bed was glassed in place.

The cross pieces are there to hold the bed in place while the fiberglass sets.

Next the beds will be firmly glassed in place using cloth and resin. When this work begins I will move off Sarah for a few days so I don't have breathe those fumes.

After I moved ashore for a few days the yard fiberglassed the engine bed to the hull then covered the entire engine area with gelcoat.

A shelf has been glassed in just aft of the engine bed as the base for the waterlock (muffler).

New Fuel Tank (prior to install), Jan 30, 2008

Now Sarah is ready for the installation of the new fuel tank and engine. On the left is the tank fabricated in Aluminum by Zahniser's.

This is the top view of the tank. The forward face of the tank is at the top. The two large fittings at the front are for the fuel fill (left side) and fuel gauge (right side). I've elected to have the fuel fill port in the cockpit rather than on the port rail, where it was for the original tank. This will make it a lot easier to fill the tank. It was always awkward to hold the fuel nozzle over the rail when taking on fuel at a dock. It was especially awkward to pour fuel from a Jerry Can on the rail. I have also specified a large fuel port in cockpit that will accommodate the large nozzles found at many fuel docks.

There is some risk of spilling fuel in cockpit and getting it on people's feet or shoes, then tracking fuel throughout the boat. I think with care and also laying down oil absorbing cloth during the fueling process this situation can be avoided.

To me the only downside is I will lose a significant amount of upper body exercise when re-fueling. At my age that is not a great loss.

On the right is the fuel guage that will be installed on the tank. I will continue to use a mechanical guage viewed through a port in the cockpit sole. Also on the bench are a couple of rolls of adhesive back cork which will be used to pad the tank and isolate it from the boat.

New Engine (prior to Install), Jan 30, 2008

On the left is the new Yanmar 4JH4AE 50 hp naturally aspirated engine.

This is the front of the engine (which will face aft in Sarah because of the V-Drive).

I specified a remote oil filter for this engine. The standard arrangement is a horizontal spin-on filter near the bottom of the engine. My past experience with this type of filter arrangement is that it insures a significant amount of oil is spilled every time the filter is changed.

The remote oil filter will be mounted vertically so I will be able cover the filter with a plastic bag when removing and thus contain most if not all of the oil.

On the right the SeaFrost refrigeration compressor has been mounted on the front of the engine.

Here is the sea water pump. It will be a little difficult to get at as I will have to lay over the top of the engine to work on it. At least I won't have to remove the pump from the engine to replace the impeller, as was necessary on the W60.

Fuel Tank Installation, Jan 30 - 31, 2008

Late in the afternoon of January 30, 2008 the fuel tank was placed in the cradle. Notice the cork strips that isolate the tank from the cradle.

By the next day the tank cradle was complete.

Engine Installation, Jan 31 - Feb 14, 2008

Once the tank cradle had been constructed the engine came on board.

Compare the amount of space in the engine bay around the Yanmar with that around the Westerbecke, above.

At this point the engine had just been set on the bed. Next it will be positioned and the engine mounts will be secured to the bed.
The black cylinder behind the engine is the Vetus water lock or muffler.

By February 8, 2008 the installation work in the engine compartment was nearly complete. The water hose from the water intake manifold has been connected. This has been done a little differently from the previous installation. Previously the intake water hose was connected directly to the seawater pump on the engine, then the water flow went to the SeaFrost refrigeration condenser and then back to the engine. Now the intake water flows first to the condenser and then to the seawater pump.
The coolant hoses from the engine to the water heater (under the berth on the right) have also been connected.

The engine exhaust hose has also been connected. This presented the most significant problem because the engine is turned around in the engine compartment. The front of the engine faces aft and the back of the engine, where the exhaust hose is connected, faces forward. This required snaking the very large and stiff exhaust hose back along the side of the engine to the water lock.
The seawater hoses from the heat exchanger are connected to the exhaust manifold via an anti-siphon valve. There was no anti-siphon valve on the Westerbecke engine.

In the picture on the right you can see the exhaust hose connection to the Vetus water lock, just aft of the engine.
The seawater hoses (tied to the heat exchanger) from the heat exchanger to the exhaust manifold may present a problem when I try to set the engine box over the compartment. The bend in these hoses at the bottom of the picture will be hard against the inside of the box. That will make getting the box on and off more difficult than it already is and will not leave any room for sound proofing on the inside of the box.
That is not a major worry as I had planned to build a new box after the engine installation is complete. There is plenty of room to swing this side of the box outboard allowing room for both the hoses and soundproofing.

The old Racor fuel filter needed replacement. It had accumulated a good deal of tar in the bowl and it no longer met current code.
Zahniser's recommended a smaller Racor filter than the installed one. They said the old filter was much larger than needed. At first I was reluctant to go with a smaller unit. The old tank sent a lot of junk along with fuel to the filter. The Racor caught all of it and still never clogged. I would change the filter cartridge every 100 hours or so and it would be black, but it never became so dirty it shut off the fuel flow to the engine. If that had ever happened I would have to bleed the fuel lines from the filter to the injectors. That is a very difficult task on the old Westerbecke and I was glad I never had to perform it. I was concerned that a smaller fuel filter would clog more quickly.
Eventually Z's convinced me that a smaller filter unit was the best way to go. Not only is the unit and the replacement cartridges less expensive, but it takes up less space and will be easier to purge of water than the old filter. However the main factor that convinced me to accept the smaller filter was the simplicity of bleeding the fuel lines on the Yanmar. The other factor was a brand new clean fuel tank.

In the picture on the above the fuel lines have not been run from the tank to the filter nor form the filter to the fuel pump.
That and the electrical hookups are the major tasks still to be completed in the engine compartment.

By the end of the day on Monday, February 11 the work in the engine compartment is just about complete. The only thing left to to here is to install and hook-up the engine instrument panel.

The remote oil filter has been installed. This didn't work out quite as I expected, but it was just about the only place it could be installed.
Still it will be better than the standard horizontal spin-on filter, which is guaranteed to dump a pint of oil in the engine pan every time the filter is replaced.

This is the coolant reservoir. The Westerbecke did not have an external coolant tank.

In addition to installing the instrument panel, the exhaust hose still has to be run to a new through-hull on the transom, a new engine vent has to be installed on the transom, and the tank fill has to be installed in the cockpit sole. Finally the refrigerant lines on the engine driven compressor have to be replaced and that system recharged.

The end is definitely in sight.

Engine Operation, Feb 14 - 19,2008

Finally on February 14 everything was hooked and the engine was started for the first time.

The instrument panel has been installed on the bridge deck in the cockpit.

The new refrigeration compressor hoses have been connected and run to the condenser in the locker next to the engine compartment.

The yard put 15 gallons of diesel fuel in the tank. I was very impressed (and happy) to see how easy it was to prime and bleed the fuel system. It took about 5 minutes of working the manual fuel pump until fuel reached the pump, then a few minutes more until the electric pump was sufficiently primed to start the engine.
In the picture on the right you can see the really clean fuel in the Racor filter bowl.
This is really not "bleeding" in the sense I've known it in previous engines. On the Volvo MD6B on Vela Llena I would have to open the bleed valve and operate the manual fuel pump for several minutes to get solid fuel flowing out of the valve. Then many times I would have to back off the fuel lines to the injectors to get any air out of those lines.
The Volvo was simple compared to the Westerbecke. One of the other P424 owners gave me the instructions to bleed the W60. Those instructions were 3 hand-written pages long. I never had to bleed the W60. Those instructions made me very careful to never allow any air into the fuel system.
What was so impressive about the Yanmar bleed operation is that it involved a completely purged fuel system. We had to pull fuel into the hoses from the tank, fill the Racor filter, the filter on the engine and electric pump, but it took very little effort and we never had to allow fuel to flow out of the lines to get the air out.

There are still a few tasks to complete before the repower is complete. The mechanic needs to make some adjustments for Walters V-Drive, Sarah needs to be temporarily hauled to change the pitch on the Maxprop propeller, and there is still some tidying up to be done. However the engine installation is basically done!
Soon I will be able to move back into the aft cabin.
Of course there has been a minor set back. During the engine checkout the mechanic discovered the fuel pump was not generating sufficient pressure at idle RPMs. A replacement pump has been ordered.

Short Haul, Feb 19, 2008

While waiting for the replacement fuel pump to arrive Sarah was briefly hauled to change the pitch on the Maxprop propeller.

At the same time the Maxprop and shaft zincs were replaced. The shaft zincs, which were put on last March in Portugal had come loose and were not providing any protection. The Maxprop zinc was still intact, but since it had to be removed to change the pitch it was replaced.
Now we're waiting for the fuel pump and a fairly calm day to perform the sea trial on the engine.
The new fuel pump was installed this afternoon and provided the necessary fuel pressure for reliable starts.
Then the fuel priming pump had to be bled. Not a big deal, but apparently was not necessary on earlier models of this engine. Previously the fuel priming pump was mounted low on the engine. On my engine this pump is the highest point on the engine. This allows an air bubble from the Racor filter to migrate to the pump where it will stay until it is bled out. Bleeding is simply opening a bleed screw on the pump housing and and pumping a few strokes.

The only task remaining is a sea trial and checkout. Lousy weather tomorrow so the trial will likely take place on Thursday when it should be sunny, but very cold.

While Sarah was hauled I took a look at the Dove, which was in Zahniser's for annual maintenance.
The Dove is a replica of the smaller of the two vessels that brought the original settlers to Maryland from England. It is normally kept at St. Mary's University and is operated and maintained by a volunteer group, similar to the Boa Esperança in Portugal.

I don't think the Boa Esperança has feathering props as on the Dove. I wonder if they get better light air performance with these props.

Sea Trial, February 25, 2008

On Monday, February 25 we took Sarah out into the Patuxent River for a sea trial on the new engine and to validate the installation and settings. Everything looked fine except we could not drive the engine to the RPM of its rated output. The engine should be under full load at 3,000 RPM, but we could not get the engine above 2,700 RPM.
This meant the prop was over pitched. The pitch had been reduced in accordance with the Maxprop specifications during the short haul shown above, but that apparently was still too much.
So another short haul was required. At the time we arrived back at the yard the Dove was tied in the travel-lift dock. So first it had to be moved.

Fortunately the volunteers who operate and maintain the Dove were in the yard finishing preparations to re-step the main mast. They quickly moved the vessel out of the way and we had Sarah back in the slings by 10:30.
The Maxprop was re-pitched and after lunch we did a second sea trial. This time the RPM were maxed out at just below 3,000 RPM. Mission accomplished.
We returned Sarah briefly to the yard so the mechanic could remove his tools and gauges and then my aft cabin mattress was returned to the boat.
A quick run across the Patuxent and Sarah was back in her berth in Town Creek. The repower is complete.
There are still a few things I have to do now that the yard work is complete:

Build a new engine box and cover
Install sound proofing in the engine compartment
Clean up a lot of old wiring that was difficult to deal with before the old engine harness was removed.