Well, dear readers, we have made it back to our beloved Why
Knot at Barefoot Marina in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The two day
drive here last Wednesday and Thursday was uneventful except for the torrential
rain that we had to drive through to get here. But get here we did!
Our arrival back at NMB was made all the sweeter by being
reunited with our friends Rick and Margi of Journey. They finished their Great
Loop adventure here, and stuck around to make sure we could see them before they
had to head up to Virginia to take care of some personal business. Their supposed
to return to their boat at Barefoot in two weeks and we all thought that we
would not be seeing them again. But it very well may be that we will still be
here when they get back.
Just like on our shore, we are having basement challenges on
the boat.
A few days ago I decided that it would probably be a good
idea to change the oil and filters for both the engine and the generator,
because after seven months of the two pieces of equipment sitting idle, they
were worthy of some TLC. I didn’t have any problem with the engine; changed the
oil and filters, and she fired right up smooth and happy. The generator was a
different story. I changed the oil alright, and noticed that the coolant level
was very low – not an uncommon thing on our very old Onan 8kw MDKD generator.
So I topped off the coolant reservoir. I let things settle down again for about
ten minutes. Then I rechecked the oil level and, low and behold, there was
coolant in the oil. Not good. Instead of the oil having that lovely golden
glow, it had a decidedly green watery consistency on the dipstick.
I learned that there could be several causes for this –
1 - the heat exchanger could be bad and it’s allowing coolant to get in somehow. Probability = 1 (scale of five). The heat exchanger was already replaced a little over a year ago.
2 - somehow the coolant is being expelled into the exhaust manifold and backing up into the block. Probability = 1
3 - bad head gasket. Probability = 4
4 - cracked block. Probability = 4
5 - engine is just plain old and shot. Probability = 4, maybe even 5
1 - the heat exchanger could be bad and it’s allowing coolant to get in somehow. Probability = 1 (scale of five). The heat exchanger was already replaced a little over a year ago.
2 - somehow the coolant is being expelled into the exhaust manifold and backing up into the block. Probability = 1
3 - bad head gasket. Probability = 4
4 - cracked block. Probability = 4
5 - engine is just plain old and shot. Probability = 4, maybe even 5
We have been prepared for this last eventuality for about a
year. Last spring, after we had a new Xantrex Inverter/Charger installed back
in Jekyll Island, Georgia, we had the generator looked at by a certified Cummins-Onan
dealer in Savannah, Georgia. The main purpose was to try to fine tune the
generator so that its old circuitry would work with of the new Xantrex unit,
which was successful. We also had the technician do a complete check of the
Onan, including a pressure test of the cooling system. This all checked out aok,
but the technician did say that the Onan was really on its last legs. He
described it as an elderly person in a nursing home that was doing okay…but
there was a reason they were in a nursing home. In other words, the condition
of the generator could and would change at some point. We are guessing that
that point is here.
As I am writing this, 5/19/2014 9:31 AM, we are waiting for
a Cummins-Onan technician to come on board to diagnose our generator.
So, as it turns out, our seven month ordeal of dealing with
basement challenges in our homes in St. Louis and Denver have extended now to
our boat in North Myrtle Beach.
But we’re still on our boat! And that’s a win for us!