Maintenance Update

Drip is visible in this sideways pic.

Noticed a water leak from the engine water pump, researched it, and the camera confirmed the leak was from a weep hole. Which means a seal has failed. There are 2 seals in the Oberdorfer pump, one stops the raw water getting back into the motor, the other seal stops oil and gunk getting from the motor to the impeller.

Accessory Drive w/water pump removed

I removed the water pump - the hardest part is removing the lower bolt attaching the water pump to the housing, as the bolt is very hard to access. Used a paint can opener to get the old seals out. Got replacement parts from Moyer Marine - 2 seals, a gasket for the impeller cover, and a spare Impeller. The original impeller is just over a year old, and still in good shape. Total cost including shipping came to $78, and with UPS the packaged arrived the next morning (regular ground shipping).

I cleaned the pump pieces and rebuilt the pump with the new pieces, being careful to place a seal on either side of the weep holes and I cleaned and refilled the grease cup.  Reinstalled the water pump and fired up the engine - everything seems to be working perfectly, and no more leaks. Nice.

While the pump was off I also cleaned the rust from that part of the engine and hit it with Loctite Extend to protect against more rust.

I have been testing the speedo for a few days now, testing the electrical connections, etc, and cleaning the connections. The impeller appears to be working, and the unit seemed in excellent condition when I opened it up, so I was unsure what to do. In testing at the weekend it seems to be working at higher speed, but jumps around a lot. But it is better than nothing, and I'll keep working on it.

Recently I also caulked in the refurbished depth sounder, and it is working fine, but gets confused in shallow depths.


Also last week I installed the auto pilot mount and tiller pin with epoxy, for a permanent installation.

I also made and installed the lee-board, and topped off the battery water (distilled).