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.