Perky's Redemption

If I wasn’t so damn happy about finally getting to the bottom of the problem with Perky, I might be slapping myself around for not listening to many of you who submitted comments suggesting that we consider the propeller as the source of the power loss.   But since experience is what you get when you don’t get what you want, we’re all now a bit more savy regarding diesel engine diagnosis and repair.  And what about poor Perky?  He’s probably suffered the most from this ordeal - having to deal with our repeated dockside testing, parts replacing, fluid changing, rewiring, dismantling, laboratory testing, forced introductions to probing “specialists” and our generally disparaging comments aimed pointedly at the heart of this little chugger.   He quietly took all the blows and unquestionably sprang to life every time we turned the key.  Perky is the real hero in this episode of Team Tiburon.

So why was I so adamant that it couldn’t be the prop?  Well, first I have to say that these MaxProps appear to be quite complicated at first introduction.  In a basic boat propulsion setup, the diesel engine has pistons which pump up and down like a road biker’s legs, turning a crankshaft in a circle. The turning crankshaft (with a transmission operating as a “middle man”) spins the propeller shaft which extends thru the back of the boat, thru the hull and into the water. The business end of that spinning steel shaft is the propeller.   As the propeller spins round and round, the individual blades function like a kayak or canoe paddle, biting into the water.  Feathering, or angling the paddle, allows for more or less bite depending on the level of effort you want to expend and the amount of propulsion you want.    If the blade angle is too sharp, too much bite ensues and the engine gets overloaded.  Too much feathering (too little angle) and the blade slices thru the water with little to no bite, allowing the shaft to spin easily at the expense of weak propulsion.   That’s why it’s so important to match the correct propeller blade angle (pitch) with the individual boat, engine and transmission. 

And when one reads the installation manual, it’s obvious that there are many gears and meshing teeth involved in setting the correct blade angle.   Furthermore, changing the blade angle requires a full dismantling of the propeller - which includes at least 10 heavy-duty components (see photo). 

When I called MaxProp in Lynnwood, Washington a few days ago and described our poor engine power, the representative assured me that it would be impossible to have the pitch angle on the blades spontaneously change without a catastrophic and obvious failure to the inner workings of the propeller.  And every time I went overboard with a dive mask to inspect the prop, all three blades smoothly feathered and were devoid of any obvious damage.

But after changing the fuel injection pump (an all-day affair) did nothing to improve the performance of Perky, we finally decided to spend the money and haul the boat just to prove, once and for all, that there’s nothing wrong with the Goddamn Prop!  The plan was to firmly establish that the prop blades were angled correctly for our boat (20 degrees) and that nothing was impeding the rotation of the prop shaft.  I was convinced it would be waste of time and money, but since Luke had continued to insist that the problem must be the prop, Andrew and I finally acquiesced, and agreed to haul her out.  With that, we drove the boat over to the boatyard in La Cruz. 

Hauling out in La Cruz

A few hours after hanging El Tiburon from the slings and dismantling the prop, it finally dawned on me that the manual we had on board, was NOT the correct manual for our prop.  The manual we had on board described an older style of prop, in which changing the pitch of the blades requires a full dismantling.  Our newer style prop has a nifty mechanism for quick pitch changes which according to the online manual (a very helpful document) can be “accomplished easily by a diver.”

The broken part

Once I had the correct manual for our prop, it quickly became apparent that the pitch changing device was not working correctly.  The hub shown above is supposed to have a mechanism which allows the correct blade angle to be dialed and then locked in place.  The inner teeth on the hub must have fatally sheared and therefore the blade angle was no longer locked, but rather opened to the fully pitched position in both forward and reverse.  Whereas we should have had 20 degrees blade angle, we actually were biting the water at 30 degrees, which was just too much load for Perky.   With hindsight in view, this explains many of the symptoms we were experiencing - such as mild over-heating, increased smoke at full throttle and 6 knots at just 1400 RPM.  It's as if you were forced to drive a manual transmission car in city traffic using only 3rd gear.  Very sluggish off the line, but once you hit cruising speed, it does just fine.

Having finally gotten to the root of the problem, we pulled the prop and packed it in a box for shipping back to MaxProp and installed a older prop we picked up from a fellow cruiser.  It's a 2-bladed folding prop at 19" diameter.  We cruised with it yesterday and Perkie had no troubles spinning this one at 2400 RPM.  This replacement has a wimpy pitch (we only do 5 knots at 2000 RPM) but at least it gives us safe maneuverability in the marinas - something we didn't have with the broken MaxProp.

Bottom line, it really pays to know your boat.  If I had known about the dial mechanism on the prop, I would have checked it much sooner.   Well, at least we know our prop now, and our engine, too!

Humbly submitted,

John

April channeling positive energy to our broken stereo.
Unfortunately, it didn't work.

Perky's Perplexity Part 5

I'm going to let the video speak for itself.  Stay tuned for the final update. 

Perky's Perplexity Part 4

Greetings to all from Puerta Vallarta!   A number of our friends have asked us, “What’s up with Perkie?  Have you fixed the problem yet?  Do you have any brain cells still functioning?"

I wish I could report success, but I must admit in spite of our best efforts, and help from many of you, we haven’t solved the problem.  Now, we’re really scratching our heads!  Perky has proven himself to be quite an enigma, and we seem to be circling back and re-checking our prior attempts at making a diagnosis.

Allow me to update you on the latest events.  As usual, a stern warning to those not interested in diesel engines - read no further!   I promise I won’t take it personally.

Ok, here we go…

I’d like to remind you of the basic problem with Perky – a lack of power (i.e. failure to obtain desired RPM) when engaged in gear – equally poor in forward and reverse.  In neutral, we can rev the engine to 3000 RPM and it sounds great, but in gear, we cannot exceed 1400.  Engine always starts right away and idles smoothly without knocking.  No excessive smoke production at the exhaust and minimal oil consumption. 

Since our last communiqué, we had convinced ourselves that the problem stemmed from a dying fuel injection pump.  Since this is an expensive part, and replacing it requires a significant amount of upside-down engine wrenching and body contorting due to the low placement in the bilge/engine compartment, we did our best to exclude every other possible source of our engine troubles before honing in on this one. 

We also entertained many and varied opinions which seemed to point us in several directions.   More than a few of you have suggested that the prop is the source of the problem.  By our logic, since this same prop had been working just fine before the onset of our troubles, and nothing on it had been altered since the problem began, we simply refused to believe it could be the prop.   Certainly an over-pitched propeller could lead to engine overload and poor performance, but the folks at MaxProp have assured me that there is NO way the prop could have slipped its pitch setting without a catastrophic and obvious failure.  I dove (again) on the boat and spun the prop to observe the blades feather in forward and reverse – still silky smooth.  I’m sticking to my guns on this issue – it’s not the prop.  

On Monday, Andrew adeptly smuggled a new High-Pressure Fuel Injection Pump thru the Puerta Vallarta airport after spending the previous week in NYC.   With a couple of borrowed tools and some creative tool creation, I was able to install this new pump without too much difficulty.  Fortunately for me, many of you had given me some good advice on the procedure.   After nearly a day of working in the bilge, hunkered over Perkie, the new fuel pump was installed and fuel lines bled.  After cranking the engine for about 30 seconds, while the last bits of air purged from the high-pressure lines, the engine miraculously sprang to life!  It sounded so good to our ears that we were convinced we had finally solved the problem! 

Alas, there was no joy that day.  The engine stilled refused to achieve an RPM above 1200 while tied to the dock in forward gear.

Here’s what we’ve done so far (breaking it down by engine systems).

Fuel Supply

1. Changed both RACOR primary and engine mounted secondary filters
2. Removed all four injector nozzles and had them cleaned and inspected by a locally respected diesel laboratory in La Paz.
3. Installed new lift pump
4. Removed and inspected all rigid fuel lines (including injector lines)
5. Installed new High-Pressure Fuel Injection Pump
6. Ran the engine from a 5 gallon Jerry Jug connected to the RACOR to rule out a clogged tank pick-up or fuel supply line.
7. Removed return fuel line and measured rate of fuel return at various engine RPM’s and found the rate to be a consistent 100 mL/minute.  This step ensured an adequately functioning lift pump.
8. Measured fuel consumption at 0.7 gallons per hour while motoring at 1400 RPM and 5+ knots.  This differs from our prior consumption rate of 1.1 gallons per hour at 2000 RPM and 6-7 knots boat speed.

Engine Load

1      Disconnected propeller shaft from transmission and operated the engine dockside. In both neutral and forward gear.  Engine came up to speed without difficulty.  3000 RPM, no problem

2      Inspected transmission.  Clear pink fluid at appropriate level.  No evidence of metal particles or flakes.  Gear shifter operates thru appropriate range on the gearbox shift lever.

3      Ran engine test without the Large Frame Balmar Alternator loaded.  No change in engine power.

4      Inspected Max Prop in the water.  No obvious damage to prop blades and smooth feathering in forward and reverse.  Shaft turns easily by hand.

Exhaust System

1. Tapped exhaust manifold with a 1/8” NPT fitting to measure back-pressure during operation.   See video of this test.  Results are below:

Transmission Setting	RPM	Fluid Height (Inches H20)	Pressure (PSI)
Neutral	1000	31	1.2
Neutral	1500	47	1.7
Neutral	2000	69	2.5
Forward	1000	33	1.2
Forward	1200	39	1.3

By Nigel Calder's book on Marine Diesel Engines, this back pressure is too high.  Agreed.  However, it's basically the same back pressure in forward gear as it is in neutral (RPM matched).  So I don't see excessive back pressure as causing our problem.

At this point, we’re totally confused!  Not only are we a little disappointed that our new, $750 Injection Pump didn’t make a bit of difference (although I am a bit proud that I was able to install this baby!) we’re also at a loss regarding the next obvious step.

We’re presently considering:

1.     Removing the cover on the transmission to more closely examine the internal gearing.  We’d also take a sample of the tranny fluid to the local lab for examination and put a timing light on the prop shaft to ensure a 2:1 reduction ration coming thru the tranny.

2.     Hauling out at Marina La Cruz (near Puerta Vallarta) to fully inspect the prop and shaft.  We don’t know the exact pitch settings and we should confirm that the prop is pitched appropriately for this motor.

3.     Removing the injectors again and have them inspected a second time.  We will ask for specific measurable parameters such as pop-off pressure and spray pattern.

4.     Leaving the boat in Puerta Vallarta and traveling Mexico by bus!  We’ll go much farther, faster and considerable cheaper!

Keep your suggestions coming!  Maybe we can solve it before the New Year!

Mazatlan

The trip across the Gulf of California was a pleasant one. Our dolphin friends returned to our bow to escort us for part of the way, but other than that it was pretty uneventful. The autopilot worked marvelously for the entirety of the passage and the wind was fair, if a bit gentle. We averaged a good 6 knots per hour.

When we got to Mazatlan we had to anchor outside the marina in the lee of “Dear Island” while we waited for the workers who were dredging the channel to take a break. This was El Tiburon’s first visit to mainland Mexico and from here it was clear just how special Baja had been. The waters in Mazatlan were a mucky brownish green, instead of the clear blue of Baja, and in the air above the buildings hung a pale cloud of similar color.

Mazatlan

When we finally got into the marina it was a bustling place with a resort, charter boats coming in and out, and loud music blaring from the booze cruises. As we pulled up to the fuel dock in marina El Cid we were delighted to see Windsong, the Skookum 53 belonging to our friends Laurent and Maja, tied up on the other side. Kitty jumped off our boat and ran to theirs looking for her friends Touline and Mocha, the two puppies that live aboard.

Marina El Cid entrance.

We spent a few days in Marina Mazatlan, just a short dinghy trip away from El Cid. While Marina Palmira in La Paz had clear waters with vibrant schools of fish swimming around all day, the water in this marina was muddy and brown, but also extremely phosphorescent. This luminous property was discovered when someone hawked a loogie off the dock and noticed with awe that each rippling concentric circle glowed a radio-active green. Soon we were all hawking loogies together and enjoying the light show.

Clear waters in Marina Palmira, La Paz.

Later, when we took our dinghy over to El Cid we saw that our wake glowed brilliantly behind us. Perhaps the dinghy pilot that night (who shall remain nameless) had been entranced by the phosphorescence when he lost control of the tiller and sent one of us overboard while soaking the rest of us. Nobody was hurt, immediately at least, but I understand the effects of radiation exposure can often take a long time to manifest.

The next day we decided to leave Mazatlan and head for Isla Isabella, a small island on the way to Puerto Vallarta often called the “Mexican Galapagos” on account of its wildlife.

Espiritu Santo

After saying goodbye to our friends at Marina Palmira, we left La Paz on our way to Mazatlan with a stop at Espiritu Santo in between. Espiritu Santo is about seven miles long and features a series of promontories on her western coast that stick out into the sea like fingers. Between each pair there is a narrow crescent bay with a sliver of white sand beach. We found the bay our chart book listed as the best anchorage and dropped anchor among a handful of other boats.

We took the dinghy ashore, crossing 300 yards of crystal clear water and watching puffer fish scurry out away from the boat. After a short walk around the shore we met some wonderful people on the beach from the other boats near us: Camelot, Red Sky, Perfect Wave and Phambili. We would get to know them better during “Progressive Cocktails and Appetizers” when everyone hopped in their dinghies with their beverages of choice and motored to someone’s boat for snacks, then moved onto the next boat for more snacks and more drinks. It was a lot of fun and we met some really interesting people.

The next day Luke and John went for a hike to the top of the island while I explored the shore. The views from the top were amazing, as you can see from these pictures.

A few hours later they came back and told me about the incredible cave formations they found and the sweet strawberry-kiwi taste of cactus fruit.

In the time they were gone the tide had receded dramatically, so that we had to carry the dinghy for a hundred yards through a few inches of water before we could get in it and return to El Tiburon.

Snorkeling later that afternoon revealed the water was full of thousands colorful fish and an abundance of rays. Espiritu Santo was truly a magical place.

Perky's Perplexity Part 3

Hey all!  We've just arrived in Mazatlan after a 36 hour passage across the Sea of Cortez.  We had very nice weather for the crossing and at mid-point, were a whopping 90 miles away from the nearest land!  Unfortunately, the waters off Mazatlan just can't compare with those off La Paz and the neighboring islands.  The pic above was taken at Isla Espiritu Santos.  April's update will soon follow with more pics!

Okay, I'm going to give a quick update to the diesel jockeys out there regarding the engine troubles.  Yes, we're still having them - but I think we're closing in on the perpetrator.

Since our last visit, I've replaced the lift pump - pretty straightforward.   Afterwards, I measured the rate of return fuel flow at various engine speeds - both in gear, and in neutral.  Regardless of engine load or RPM, the return fuel flow rate was identical at 250 mL in 2 minutes, 35 seconds.  My apologies for April for destroying her nice silicone measuring flask.  No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't scrub the diesel smell from the flask.  I think she is silently protesting because she hasn't baked a loaf of her delicious cinnamon walnut bread since!

That last test was done at the suggestion of Tom Davison.  We both believe that we have now verified that everything in the fuel supply up to (but not including) the high-pressure injection pump is working fine.  I also pulled off the rigid fuel lines running between the secondary fuel filter and the injection pump to verify that the line was clean.  It was.

I addition, I dragged myself behind the boat at 6 knots (nearly lost my trunks on that one) to watch the Max prop in action.  In both forward, neutral and reverse gear, the prop feathered easily and spun freely.  The blade pitch has not been changed since we bought the boat in July.  I know many of you have suggested it, but please believe me - as God as my witness, IT'S NOT THE PROP!  Sorry, I had to get that out of my system.

Shortly after arriving in Mazatlan today, we pulled alongside the fuel dock and took on fuel in both tanks.  This time, I used a pre-filter (purchased from West Marine back in Cali) before pouring any suspicious Mexi fuel into our tanks.  Knowing how much fuel it took to top off the tanks, and dividing that number by the engine hours run, I calculated a fuel consumption rate.  And the number is......  0.75 gallons per hour.  This is a significantly lower rate of fuel consumption than we experienced during our trip south from San Diego (before the engine problem started).  Back then, it was slightly over 1.1 gallons per hour.

I think this confirms that the engine is not getting enough fuel!  And the only thing left on the supply side that we haven't touched is the Injection Pump and the Governor.  My money is on the injection pump.  Now all we have to do is get our hands on one and change it out.  This will not be a trivial project given the cramped nature of the engine compartment, but I'm sure that we'll manage.

Until then, thanks for all of your suggestions and good wishes.  We miss all of you and will post again soon!

Peace.

John

Swimming with Sharks

Luke and John went home for Thanksgiving, which left all 42 feet of El Tiburon to me, Andrew and Kitty. All of a sudden the boat felt spacious! But Luke and John were sorely missed, especially when Andrew and I spent three whole days scrubbing the boat. We bought some Oxalic acid with which to clean our teak decks and the transformation was amazing! After Andrew applied the gentle acid and used a bristle brush on the wood, a muddy mixture oozed off the teak into the scuppers. Previously the teak decks had been a dingy gray color but they are now a lovely shade of tan. Then I scrubbed all the scuff marks off the fiberglass with boat soap and a nubby sponge until she was gleaming white. El Tiburon had quite the makeover and she looked like a new boat! We wondered if John and Luke would recognize her.

For a break we went snorkeling with the whale sharks in La Paz bay. A skiff picked us up at the end of our dock and we traveled 10 minutes away to a spot near El Magote (sandy island in the middle of the bay) where hoards of whale sharks congregate to feed on the plankton there. These creatures are huge. HUGE.

When they aren’t swimming, they float perpendicularly in the water with their huge mouths agape, waiting for plankton to swarm in.

Swimming with them is incredible. They are docile and tolerant of snorkelers, but watch out for that tail! If they feel pestered they may whack you with it as they swim off.

Andrew turned out to be a veritable shark whisperer, as the sharks seemed to like him best and even seek him out. A few of us watched from the boat as he swam beside one big shark, taking underwater photos of his spots. From above, we could see another whale shark coming right towards him, but with all the plankton in the water we knew he wouldn’t be able to see it approaching. When the second shark was maybe a foot away we watched his whole body jerk in startled reaction to discovering a giant shark mouth opened at his torso. Swimming with these massive fish was definitely a peak experience, and not to be missed.

Copper Canyon, Part Three

After our hike, we retreated to the Mirador to enjoy the view as we lunched on quesadillas and read our books. In conversation with our favorite waiter, Lupe, we learned that he was from El Fuerte and he told us about all kinds of things we had missed while we were there, including a set of petroglyphs by the river. So we decided to return to El Fuerte for a day on our way back to La Paz.

Dinner that night at Cabanas Diaz started with a small bowl of aromatic lentil soup with onions and garlic, followed by a large bowl of chicken soup with carrots and zucchini, accompanied by rice. The meal concluded with a bowl of sliced banana floating in a soupy sweet yogurt for dessert. Small Diaz children ran around the living room and peeked over our shoulders as we ate.

In the morning there was frost on the ground and our breath steamed in front of our faces. After another half day of hiking we went to the train station to catch El Chepe back to El Fuerte. This train had come from Chihuahua and was packed with local people traveling for work or to see their families, carrying their belongings in handled mesh bags. We were told there’d be no seats for the first three hours so John rolled out his yoga mat and we sat on the floor in the snack car.

Upon our nighttime arrival in El Fuerte a car met us to take us to our hotel with a sign that said “Jhon.” Hotel Rio Vista was a creatively decorated building that sat on the hill overlooking the El Fuerte River. In the morning we had breakfast on the veranda surrounded by bougainvillea and hummingbirds.

This crazy mural was painted outside our room.

We then explored the rest of the town that we had missed the first time around. We visited the fort (el fuerte) of El Fuerte, which is now a museum.

A whole wing of the fort was devoted to “Miss El Fuerte,” and featured photos of women wearing extravagant gowns and posing in odd places (like a barren cornfield) and with weird props like this lovely gem:

Check out this guy's hat. I have no idea what's going on in this photo.

A hike to see the petroglyphs took us down the hill to the river, across a suspension bridge, up a walkway on the other side, and up another hill on a dirt road covered in cow patties. There were cows standing and lying around everywhere. One big bull with an intimidating set of horns stood near the path and bellowed threateningly, but he ultimately let us pass unharmed. We never found the petroglyphs, but it was a nice hike all the same - except for the biting flies we ran into by the river. They swarmed us and left angry red welts on our arms and legs that itched for days.

When we got back to town we ran into the owner of our hotel and asked him where we could find a good pizza. He showed us where to find the better of two options, a tiny restaurant that served only one kind of pizza: a la Mexicana. We would have to wait for our pizza to find out what that meant. Because they didn’t serve beer, the lady of the house told John to just go buy some and bring it back. He asked a guy on the street where he could find beer and the guy offered to drive him the six blocks to the liquor store. He refused to accept payment or tip for his helpfulness. So we enjoyed our pizza a la Mexicana (topped with slices of hot dog and salsa) with icy Negra Modelos.

Later, we took a taxi to the ferry station in Topolobampo where we had to wait until 11PM for the ferry to leave. Luke had the bright idea of getting a cabin on the ferry and it was a godsend. Much like a cruise ship cabin, it had four cozy bunks, a bathroom with shower, and a little desk with bottles of water. We promptly fell asleep and only woke up when the ferry docked in Pichilingue at 6AM. Visiting the Copper Canyon was quite a journey, but well worth the effort.

Copper Canyon, Part Two

Divisadero boasts one of the canyon’s best vantage points, where one can begin to grasp the massive scale of the Sierra Madre canyon system. The train makes a 20 minute stop there so passengers may de-board to take a photo and peruse crafts made by the native Tarahumara Indians. After snapping a few pictures ourselves, we set off to find our hotel, a recommendation from our dock friend Marti, The Hotel Mirador. The salmon colored hotel is perched dramatically on the very edge of the canyon, and every room features a private balcony with a spectacular view. From photos, it looked amazing.

A middle-aged cowboy in a mini van passed by us and we hailed him to ask for directions. He got out to open his car doors and said, “Pasan, pasan,” kindly offering us a ride. Once he’d determined that we didn’t have a reservation at The Mirador, he took us a little ways down the road to his family’s home, where they run a lodge themselves called Cabanas Diaz Family.” A room with three beds, a fireplace, and a hot water heater cost $60 a night - significantly less than the minimum $200 we would pay at the Mirador. Though lacking the same awesome vista as the Mirador, Cabanas Diaz Family struck us as more personal, more authentic, and more intrepid. So, we forwent luxury in place of adventure.

Most male residents of the Copper Canyon dress like this.

But we still wanted to enjoy that incredible view, so we hiked up the hill to have dinner and drinks at the Mirador. After popcorn and margaritas in Mexico’s highest bar, we gathered with the other hotel guests in the main room (complete with a giant fireplace) and listened to a guitarist sing such favorites as “Guantanamera,” and “El Mariachi,” and even a mangled version of “Hotel California.” We dined on steak tacos with Shirley and Howard, a lovely couple from Saskatchewan, then trekked back down the hill to go to sleep. It was a good thing we’d brought our headlamps (lesson learned from Turtle Bay) because it was pitch black – and cold! A pile of firewood awaited us on the porch of our cabana so we got a roaring fire going and slept cozily (even though the room got pretty smoky and my hair smelled like burnt wood the next day).

Our cabana.

In the morning we walked a short distance to the Diaz family’s house where they served us a breakfast of hot cereal and huevos a la Mexicana, with toast and jam and instant coffee. A young French couple from another cabana shared our table and we decided to join them on the guided hike they’d arranged to do that morning. Teenaged Alberto was our guide who, like Senor Diaz, wore a white cowboy hat, button up shirt, jeans, and cowboy boots. And aviator sunglasses. He led the way with a gentle easy gait as we trudged behind him for five hours through steep rocky terrain, passing the occasional tiny shack home of the Tarahumara. In the canyon, plateaus are usually only large enough to build one shelter, and they are few and far between. So with tire treads strapped to their feet, the Tarahumara travel great distances along the narrow canyon paths so see a neighbor or go to school.

Tarahumara shack on ridge in the middle of the photo.

The earthy smell of loose rock and fir trees filled our nostrils as we paused at yet another vista point, from which we could look back at the hotel Mirador balanced precariously on the canyon’s rim. From our elevated vantage position the chasm seemed utterly still. Its astounding lack of noise is possibly the canyon’s most impressive feature. Aside from our own clattering, the only interruption of the immense silence was the occasional bird cry or shepherd’s bell. Zip lines have been erected throughout the canyon as a tourist draw, but they aren’t open yet. The lines themselves are barely visible, like a spider’s single strand of silk spun between peaks, but the construction and impending echoing screams of zip-liners, seemed, to us, like a violation of such natural beauty.

Stay tuned for Part Three!

Copper Canyon, Part One

As indicated by John’s recent posts, Perk the engine is still giving us problems. I thought it prudent to refrain from posting on our adventures until our readers' attention had been amply focused on our engine issues, and we've received some very promising suggestions and advice. Thanks so much for your input everyone! More engine work awaits us in the coming weeks. Kitty is ready for it.

On Monday the 15th, having spent multiple days inspecting, testing, cleaning, checking, and discussing it, we still hadn’t discovered the source of the problem. Deciding a break was in order, we de-boarded El Tiburon and hopped on a Baja Ferry bound for Topolobampo on the Mainland. Our destination was the Copper Canyon, or Barrancas del Cobre, in the state of Chihuahua.

The Copper Canyon is a series of six canyons in the Sierra Madre that is similarly impressive as the Grand Canyon. We were eagerly anticipating hike it and basking in its glory, but it would be quite a journey to get there.

First we had to get a ride to the ferry port in Pichilingue (thanks Rob!) just north of La Paz. Then we spent six interesting hours on the giant ferry that was more like a cruise ship. In one salon, a female crewmember in red hot pants sang karaoke to a bunch of Tecate-drinking muchachos, while another salon featured rows of movie theater chairs with three big screen TVs airing a kind of horror movie channel. There was a shocking amount of dark imagery being shown, considering children were running around everywhere, but nobody seemed to mind. When we went to the cafeteria to get dinner we were too late as they'd stopped serving dinner at 4:30PM. We ate Cliff bars for dinner and watched the sunset.

We landed in Topolobampo (a fun word to say over and over again) at 9:30PM and grabbed a cab for the two-hour drive to El Fuerte. It was late. It was dark. We were tired and unfamiliar with the area. We weren’t in quiet La Paz anymore, but the state of Chihuahua. You know, the oneyou hear about in drug war news? I was a little anxious about this situation but friends from the marina had done the same trip without any problems, and it was generally agreed that it was a safe journey. The cab was an official taxi and our driver was kind and spoke slowly so we could understand him as he told us all about this area of the country. I got a little freaked out when, after an hour on the freeway, he turned onto a long stretch of dirt road and drove past a group of pickups with men congregating around a pit fire. But as it turned out, they were just trabajadores working overnight to complete that section of the asphalt road.

We arrived safely in El Fuerte around midnight where, after a quick midnight tour of the town, our cabbie pounded on the door of Hotel Guerrero to wake up his friend the owner. It was an adequate place to sleep for the night, except maybe for the lack of hot water and warm blankets. It was remarkably cold in El Fuerte so we all slept in our clothes and sweaters.

In the morning we had two hours to explore El Fuerte before we had to catch the train to the canyon. We paid our host Guerrero $40 for the night, then set out to find some breakfast. El Fuerte proved to be a lovely town with brightly painted haciendas that lined the quiet cobbled streets. Morning chores had left many of the homes’ big wooden doors ajar, revealing inner courtyards with lush gardens. The elegant town square featured a grand gazebo in the center, and walkways lined with massive palms.

We ate breakfast at a beautiful hotel called Posada Hidalgo, where Zorro apparently spent the first chunk of his life. Hummingbirds abound in El Fuerte and there was a colorful swarm of them at breakfast, having been lured by feeders.

After a short taxi ride we spent 30 minutes waiting for the Chihuahua al Pacifico train, or “El Chepe,” as it is affectionately called. A group of tourism students were waiting at the station as well and, after a brief lecture from their teacher, dispersed to take photos of each other in various poses and positions. Without a single word to us, three kids came to stand in between John and me, put their arms around our shoulders and smiled for their cameraman friend. We then asked them to take another with our camera, and they did so happily. A few minutes later they’d configured themselves into a sort of pyramid on the tracks. I stood up to take a picture, but caught them only as they were coming down. "Shoot, I missed it,” I said then turned to sit down again when one of them called to me “Otra vez?” (“Again?”). They got back into position just so I could get this photo. It was very sweet.

El Chepe arrived and we bought our tickets to Divisadero for $30 each. From cushy reclining seats we watched as El Chepe climbed 2,000 meters through rugged canyon terrain, crossing lofty bridges and hugging the canyon walls. It took six hours to get to our destination (and the railroad’s peak elevation), the rustic town of Divisadero.

Stay tuned for Part Two!

Perky's Perplexity Part 2

Greetings all!  We just got back to La Paz this morning following a 5 day tour of the Sinaloa region of Mexico – including the Copper Canyon of the Sierra Madre.  Stay tuned for April’s post on that wonderful trip!

Many of you have left some very insightful comments and questions concerning Perky’s health condition.  And most of your thoughts are right along ours – which at least gives us some consolation that we’re not simply crazy!

Let me first give you a current update….

As Dave Steffens posted in the comments section, we decided to give our fuel supply a closer inspection.  To rule out a constriction in the fuel supply side (i.e. tank, fuel line, Racor 500FG filter or lift pump), we hooked up a temporary fuel supply using a 5 gallon Jerry Can of San Diego’s finest diesel, new fuel line hose, and an electric fuel pump we had purchased back in San Diego.  We then connected the Jerry can/fuel pump hose directly to the inlet on the engine mounted lift pump – just upstream of the engine-mounted secondary fuel filter.  If Perky’s power problem was coming from the fuel supply side, this temporary system should give us a boost in power.   As usual, Perky started without difficulty, but the problem of poor power under load remained the same.  Satisfied that the fuel supply (at least up to the high-pressure injector pump) was adequate, we reconnected the tanks and hoses. 

To clarify my prior post regarding the to the Racor Filter, the vacuum gauge mounted just after the filter reads a negative (i.e. suction) pressure of 0 to -5 inches mercury.  Other than one instance (when it read as high at -17”Hg vacuum) it has always been in the 0 to -5” Hg range.  Yes, the high suction reading did take place during the problem period, but I haven’t seen a reading like that since. 

With regards to the engine load, here are a few other details of note:

1. Propeller
1. Max Prop, 17” diameter, three-bladed, right-handed, feathering prop.
2. Current pitch setting – unknown, but hasn’t been adjusted since original installation.  Upon visual inspection, blades feather easily and prop turns easily both in neutral and in fwd gear.  All three blades appear to be set at same pitch with no discernible damage.
2. Transmission
1. Hurth HBW 150, new in 1999.
2. Ratio 1.88:1
3. Fwd/neutral/reverse
3. Shaft
1. Dripless rotary seal
2. Turns easily by hand in neutral/forward and reverse

Tom Davison asked some important questions as well regarding the history of the present illness (HPI).  Couldn’t help from throwing in a good medical term.  The previous max RPM before the onset of the problem was never purposely tested, but we certainly had no problem reaching engine speeds of 2500 RPM.  We usually ran the engine at 1800-2000 RPM to maintain a boat speed of 6-7 kts and fuel consumption of 1 – 1.2 gallons per hour.

With regards to engine exhaust, when we do the dock-side power test (aft spring line holding the boat stationary and transmission engaged in forward) the smoke output does increase, but it’s never black (only grayish).   From what I’ve read from Nigel Calder’s book on diesel engines, black smoke means unburnt fuel, blue smoke means burning oil, and white smoke means water in the engine.  But what does gray smoke mean?

I’ve uploaded a short video with this post, which shows the color and amount of exhaust both in neutral and in gear to give you an idea of what I’ve been trying to describe.

At this point, I’m still thinking that the Perky is starving for fuel.  There doesn’t seem to be any indication that we’ve overloaded her or that anything has changed with regards to the drive train (transmission, shaft or prop).   Nor does there seem to be a problem with compression or blow-by because the engine always starts promptly and sounds great.

Next proposed steps:

1. Disconnect rigid fuel supply tubing from secondary filter to fuel injection pump.  Flush with diesel both forward and backward to ensure that no restriction is present up to the injection pump.
2. Consider having fuel pressure measured at the connection to the injector nozzles to verify a properly functioning injection pump.
3. ?

We'd also like to thank Rob from China Doll (Passport 51') in La Paz who paid us a visit last week, looked over the engine and gave us his thoughts, which were very helpful.  Then, he even gave us a ride to the ferry, where we embarked on our journey to the Copper Canyon.  What a community!

Thanks again for your thoughtful comments, and continue posting because the T-shirt is still up for grabs! 

Peace and Happiness,

John

Problems with Perky

Help us solve Perky's Perplexity and win an ‘El Tiburon’ T-shirt!

For those of you who have grown accustomed to the quality writing April has been providing this blog, please excuse my intrusion.  It’s just that we’re growing increasingly obsessed with solving our diesel troubles, and knowing that our audience is so smart, we’re sure that one or more of you are more than capable of teasing out a solution.   

One final warning before proceeding - if you're not mechanically inclined, or have no interest in discussing the finer points of internal combustion and the like (K2 Nolan – that means you) please skip this entry and keep on reading April’s reports, they’re terrific!

In July of this year, Andrew, Luke and I bought El Tiburon (Passport 42) with an original Perkins 4.108M diesel (4 cylinder, 108 cubic inches) with approximately 3000 hours run time.  Sailing the boat on day trips in the Bay were without difficulty, although we never ran the engine for more than an hour at a time. 

From previous maintenance records, we believe that the engine received regular routine oil and fuel filter changes.   A new Hurth transmission was installed in ’99 and the valves were adjusted in ’00.  Our fuel system has a primary Racor Filter and a secondary filter located at the lift pump on the engine.

In early October, we left San Francisco for San Diego and beyond.  This would be our first trip with the El Tiburon outside the Bay.  In preparation for the trip, we had our tanks polished and changed the Racor fuel filter.

During the trip down from San Francisco, the winds were light, requiring us to operate the motor for hours at a time.  The engine ran well, except for a small problem with overheating at RPM’s greater than 1800.  Typically, our diesel operates at temperatures of 170-180 deg F and uses a raw water cooled heat exchanger.

We noticed that running at speeds greater than 2000 RPM caused the engine temperature to exceed 200 deg F.  Since those engine speeds didn’t appreciably affect our speed through the water, in the interest of fuel consumption and keeping the engine cool, we decided to keep the RPM’s at 1800 or less.  This game plan worked fine all the way to Cabo San Lucas.

In Cabo, we refueled with diesel from a modern looking fuel dock.  With plenty of expensive yachts in the marina, we felt safe to fill our tanks and chose not to use a pre-filter.  Shortly after taking on 70 gallons of diesel, we noticed that the engine would no longer exceed 1500 RPM when the transmission was engaged in forward.   In contrast, if we shifted to neutral, the motor revved to 3500 RPM with no difficulty.  It was only under propeller load that the engine failed to meet the desired RPM.  Of course, we dove over the side with masks to ensure that nothing was wrapped around the propeller, and that both prop and shaft spun freely.  All seemed fine.

Since the problem began shortly after taking on fuel, we decided to approach the fuel system first.   We changed the Racor fuel filter, the secondary filter, bled the fuel lines of air, cleaned the air filter, changed the crankcase oil and filter and restarted the engine.  No change.  The vacuum gauge immediately after the Racor displays it’s typical low reading (i.e. 0-5 inches of mercury), suggesting that fuel passes easily from the tank thru the primary filter.  We checked the transmission fluid and verified that it was at the proper level.  I peered inside the transmission case with a flashlight and found the fluid to be clear, devoid of dirt or metal particles.

In examining the exhaust, we observed that in neutral, there seemed to be a brisk exit of raw water but in forward gear, the raw water output decreased.  Suspecting a clog in the raw water system, we cleaned the strainer, replaced the raw water impeller, de scaled the raw water cooled exhaust outlet pipe in muriatic acid and examined all hoses.  We then measured the volume of raw water flow using a 2-gallon bucket and a stopwatch.   At 1200 RPM, whether in neutral or forward gear, the output of raw water exhaust was  exactly the same – approximately 2 gallons in 30 seconds.  We also ran the engine bypassing the muffler to eliminate excessive exhaust back-pressure as a potential problem.  Same results.  We pulled the valve cover and checked the valve tip clearances – all were fine.

By this point, we had learned a ton about Perkins diesel engines and were fast becoming obsessed with solving the ‘lack of power’ problem.  We pulled all 4 fuel atomizers and delivered them to the local diesel laboratory.  The owner of the lab cleaned the injectors (told us they were quite dirty) and returned them to us in clean condition.  We installed the atomizers the same day and started the engine.  Again, same problem!

To summarize the symptoms:

1. Lack of adequate power
1. The engine fails to reach desired RPM when operating under load. 
2. This problem appeared abruptly without obvious warning signs.
2. Oil consumption
1. Approximately ½ liter in 15-20 hours operation
2. Not sure if this is new or long-standing
3. Moderate amount of grey smoke when operating under load.

Despite the lack of power, the engine:

1. Starts very easily
2. Idles very well without miss-firing of knocking
3. Smooth revving to 3500 RPM in neutral
4. Minimal grayish smoke at idle  (definitely not blue or black)
5. Oil pressure in operation runs consistently at 45 psi
6. Engine temperature 180 degrees F at 1500 RPM
7. Good, clean raw water exhaust flow without oil sheen.

What we don’t yet know:

1. What is our compression?  Difficult to measure in a diesel without glow plugs.
2. What is our current fuel consumption?
3. Is the engine getting adequate fuel when under load?  The Racor vacuum gauge suggests so, but this doesn’t eliminate a faulty lift pump or injection pump as a source.
4. Could the engine be overloaded from excessive friction in one or more cylinders?
5. Have I completely ruled-out excessive friction in the transmission?  I guess not.  I’m just not sure how to go about testing it.  Pull the prop and run the engine test again?

At this point, we’re considering a lack of adequate compression to be the most likely problem – either blow-by from a poorly seated piston ring, or incompletely seating valves.  Of course, we haven’t ruled out a poorly functioning fuel injection pump, but since these rarely seem to have difficulties, we’re considering this to have a low probability.

In deciding what to do next, we’re thinking that the next obvious step would be to pull the cylinder head and service the valves.  This would then allow us to examine the cylinder walls for excessive wear and eliminate the valves as a source.  And if that doesn’t do it, we’ll consider a complete rebuild.

If anyone has any ideas about what to do next, we’d love to hear it!