Water in White Lady's bits

[senator]

The weekend just gone was a real roller coaster for boat maintenace emotions, had decided to change the bellows on White Lady's legs as she was out for some GRP work at Goodchilds.

Arrived at the Mercruiser agents to pick up bits at 9 am Saturday morning after a 6.30 start from Birmingham, left at 10.30 with half the bits so a bit of a downer.

trailored the legs to find the existing bellows and clips in very good condition and began contemplating whether it was actually a good idea to touch them at all, my motto is normally "if it aint broke break it" but this tends to be expensive on boats. Fortunately a vey knowledgeable fellow forumite has a home at Goodchilds and was kind enough to offer his opinion, even if it was with the disclaimer that "no responsibility either proffesionaly or personally could be accepted and the views were expressed purely as observations" In my book though knowing how fanatical this person is as to boat safety and maintenance, if it is good enough for him then it is good enough for me so this was a serious up time.

Set father to work with the polisher and went off to CC marine to do some swapping of parts, unfortunately no anode sets in stock found this strange given the time of year but still these were ordered for next week along with other bits for the rest of the engine servicing, so back to downers

Another tip offered by our own technical expert was to clamp off the reservoirs to the legs given that the oil in them would not have been in the legs at all and it would save a good litre or so of leg oil, which at £12.50 a litre is a great tip, only problem being on close inspection of one of the headers the slight white at the bottom, which I had taken to be just a bit of clouding in the plastic, move when I tipped the tank.

The oil that came out from the leg was clear but there was definately water in the tank so a call to CC was made. The reply "bring the leg in for pressure testing" was not the one that I wanted to hear.

Still White Lady is now nice and shiney again after father worked his socks off, the repair by Goodchilds, although not totally finished yet looks absolutley perfect and is a total credit to them, they arn't cheap but they are exceptionally good, and hopefully the water was spotted in time to ensure that no damage has been done to the leg, really does show the importance of routine maintenance.

Am now hoping that she will be back in the water for the Spring meet which providing this week brings good news she should be.

[Antares_9]

Sorry to hear that Ian, but if there was no milkieness in the drained leg oil you may be in for a nice surprise as it could just be condensation in the reservoir. One point, casually ask if they mean a vacuum test and pressure test not just a pressure test, (knowing who it is I’m sure they do…but) sometimes the seals will hold pressure and stop oil getting out but not hold against a vacuum caused by cooling after a run which can suck water in.

Simple check list for you: :-D :-D

The drive should be pulled at least once a year. This allows proper servicing of

the following components:

1. Check engine alignment, using the proper MerCruiser alignment bar,

and adjust alignment as necessary if the drive encounters any resistance when refitting or the grease is squeezed out of some splines on inspection of the shaft.

2. Check U/J assemblies, service as necessary.

3. Check function of gimbal bearing and lubricate before re-assembly.

4. Inspect bellows (all three and water tube), as this allows you to run

your hand/fingers around all of the convolutions internally on the drive

shaft bellows.

5. Inspect coupler splines.

6. Inspect water pump impeller, if required replace

7. Change drive oil. This is a good time to do a pressure and

vacuum test, especially if the water pump impeller was inspected or

replaced.

8. Replace the outdrive gasket set, including the drive shaft o-rings.

9. Grease the drive shaft splines with the appropriate grease and install

the drive.

10. Remove the propeller and grease the shaft, and properly torque the

prop nut.

[senator]

Hi, David, and thanks for your assistance the weekend. Would be nice if it was just condensation but as you know there are 2 of them in the same bay and the other one has nothing at all showing, also when split, the lower leg showed nothing untoward but on removal of the upper leg there was some milky oil around the top sections.

I remember towards the end of last season noticing that the oil was a bit high in the aformentioned reservoir but I had lifted the leg earlier in the day to remove some boat twine that I picked up in the North, so I put it down to the oil moving round the system a bit, it went back to normal the next day.

[pks1702]

Sorry to hear your discovery Ian, lets hope it is not serious.

Can vouch for your fathers efforts he was hard at it each time we went passed.

Fingers crossed

[senator]

Suspense is killing me, CC can't test the leg till the end of the week so am a nervous wreck at the moment, why is it you just know that if the bit being tested is £4000 then if it has to be repaired it is not going to be £50, I am just waiting for that mechanic moment when you get that sharp intake of breath followed by "have never seen this before, you are just unlucky"

[Guest]

Ian mate hope everything goes ok iam hoping its not going to be expensive to get fixed

[Antares_9]

Suspense is killing me, CC can't test the leg till the end of the week so am a nervous wreck at the moment, why is it you just know that if the bit being tested is £4000 then if it has to be repaired it is not going to be £50, I am just waiting for that mechanic moment when you get that sharp intake of breath followed by "have never seen this before, you are just unlucky"

Hopefuly Ian, it's just the propshaft seals if anything at all, if it is just that your wallet may be able to breathe a sigh of relief.

[senator]

Well the news is in it is the middle drive shaft seal, CC Marine being main Mercruiser dealer for the area say they have only changed a couple in the last 12 years so we were just unlucky so £250 could have been worse I suppose but in future when I buy anything I am going to ask which bits don't go wrong and just budget for replacing them all.

Good news is that the water was spotted in time so no other damage and will be there for the spring thrash on Breydon.

[senator]

Well the news is in, it is the middle drive shaft seal, CC Marine being main Mercruiser dealer for the area say they have only changed a couple in the last 12 years so we were just unlucky , £250 cost, could have been worse I suppose but in future when I buy anything I am going to ask which bits don't go wrong and just budget for replacing them all.

Good news is that the water was spotted in time so no other damage and we will be there for the spring thrash on Breydon.

[Palmtree]

Hi,

Looking at White Lady when we walked past her last night, she looked very clean and tidy

Good to hear the leg problem is being sorted.

Ian

[Mowjo]

Senator! two post does that mean both leg seals have gone at £250 each, Glad to hear it's not too serious £250 is still a lot of money, but it could have cost you a lot more if you hadn't found out in time,,

[senator]

Hi,

Looking at White Lady when we walked past her last night, she looked very clean and tidy

Good to hear the leg problem is being sorted.

Ian

Father is available for hire complete with ebay polisher,

Mojo, as to the double post, would have been a lot more if both legs had needed doing.

Just got to hope that we can get her back together now next Saturday.

[senator]

the roller coaster continues, after acccepting that the repair to the leg could have been worse instructed Goodchilds to do another £500 worth of repair sound in the knowledge that while it was on their cradle being worked on that I would be able to get the leg back on and so avoiding craneage and hard standing costs which provided a level of mitigation.

Now CC Marine inform me at 4pm on a Thursday night that the seal they need is not in the country and the leg won't be ready till next week, long after Goodchilds will have finished.

To add to it we may have found White Lady's replacement so if anyone wants a very nicely polished 1990 Sealine 255 with twin 2005 mercruiser 3 litre petrols (only use 1 on the rivers uses about a gallon an hour) top speed around 35 knots and having just had £2500 lavished on her making sure she is ready for the season, give me a shout. in the current market she will be available at a very competitve price.

Ian

[pks1702]

Best laid plans and all that......... Sorry to hear that Ian.

So what are you hanging your nose over Ian, and after all the work you and father have put in on White Lady - how could you

[senator]

Perry,

Well still subject to sea trial and survey but a Sealine 305 Statesman, Your right about the work on White Lady, she has had just about everything replacable replaced, Water tank, Fuel Tank, Holding Tank, engines, legs the lot, even installed heating and her BSS is valid till 2011, will make a very nice boat for someone it is just that with a minimum of four and often six on the boat she is a bit of a squeeze, so we have decided to go bigger, will miss the speed on Breydon but at least we are staying Sealine, they are just so good at using what space is available.

[pks1702]

Ian,

Very nice. I know you were quite taken with the one that resided in Reedham for a while.

It will make a very nice boat for the next purchaser you certainly have her in tip top condition. We remarked last week what a tidy ship she is.

It OK having plenty of speed on hand but apart from the occasional blast on Breydon you can't often use it and at sea unless conditions are very good it can be displacement speed anyway.

Best of luck with your potential new purchase.

[Guest]

Hi Ian

I hope everything goes to plan with the sale of your sealine and the purchase of the new one i do happen to like sedans even with a flybridge.

look forward to seeing the future purchase :

[senator]

the flybridge is the big seller for me Jonny, I know it wont fit under potter or Ludham, Wroxham and Beccles old but just think of the views from what is left of the rivers, being able to see over the reeds without looking through a windscreen and with the sun on my back is a major attraction to me.

[Guest]

Ian

we was looking at one for sale AYS at ST Olaves i think was for sale at 15k with a sine 220hp petrol in looked rather nice for a mustard brown looking color but we bought Curlew would be good to have some power to shoot over Braydon now and again

[senator]

Jonny would be interested to know about a 305 for 15k don't think a single 220hp petrol would be much use in one though, the only 305 I know to around st olaves is a brown and cream one that is up for £42500 with twin 200hp diesels.

[Guest]

Ian

mate i can vouch for it mate we whent to have a look the same day we bought Curlew and yes it was a single 220hp petrol dint have hydraulic drive you had to put it in gear manually IE two leavers.

was very nice inside the prop was right at the end of her stern where the bathing platform started and i think four or five bladed prop the flukes were a bit weird and was on a shaft

[senator]

Sounds a very strange machine jonny would be interested to find out about it as the 305's were as far as I can establish all outdrives with twins either Volvo AD31s at 130 hp and later 150 hp or AD41s at 200 horse power or V6 / V8 Volvo petrols and sell at between 40 and 50k for the diesels and 30 to 40k for petrols. sounds like someone spent a lot of cash doing a major coversion that no one wanted if it had a single petrol on a shaft, unless it was a one off from the factory. Could have been a Sealine 30, these preceded the 305 and were the first of the line so maybe a few variants were offered but cant see much point in putting a single petrol that big in as it is not enough to get it planing.

[Guest]

don't know Ian

Iam a man who loves hes boats and styles

but this one I neva seen before it was just mid range in ower price range so thought we should have a look i should of took some pics now

[senator]

Well White Lady is finally off crutches thanks to her leg being refited and antifouled ready for a return to the water this week,

CC marine managed to estimate £200 plus VAT and felt they were close to that when the final bill came in at £360 but I suppose that is just boats, we all tend to accept if not expect it but you wouldn't be too happy if it was your car and the other thing, when was the last time your local garage charged you for parking while they were doing a repair.

Goodchilds have finished the internal repair to the side deck brilliantly but have, or at least I hope have still to finish the deck itself and the stress cracks from the crane lift last year are now confined to memory appart from a slightly different shade on the GRP to the repaired area.

Still have the engines to service but all the under water bits are complete so should have no problem with attending the meet over may bank holiday.

Lets hope for a decent summer otherwise the money that bites so hard in the winter is going to seem less worth spending next winter. Total spend for this maintenance session was over £2500 and that is with me and father doing all the mechanical stuff on the boat ourselves.

[Guest]

They don't come cheap do they Ian?! Our bill from Dec 06 / Jan 07 was £3.5k. Yikes, most of that was for leg work as well. Well I say that, I've never actually added it up, but the throttles and steering were re-cabled, the port engine lifted and the primary shaft bearing replaced, trim tab hydraulic pipes replaced and sundry other tasks done as well. She's due back out the water at the end of this season to have it all done again - I can't wait.

After getting sick of shifting money from here, to there to somewhere else to pay the bills I came up with a simple solution at the end of the day - at least it works for me. The boat has its own account - we pay money in, she takes it out. That way we can budget precisely - every month the boat will cost exactly the same amount and we can easily budget for it. Should the occasion arise that there's no money in the account jobs don't get done and she sits there until funds build up sufficiently that they can be. It doesn't make them cost any less, of course, but it makes planning much easier and somehow hurts less when you write the cheque!