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| the old and the new |
Back safe and secure on our mooring ball in Culebra the time had come to investigate the overheating engine problem...a job for my captain, because he is "the engine guy" on ORION without a doubt! Armed with an infrared temperature gun he submerged himself into the engine room whilst the engine was running to take readings at various places...he was able to pinpoint the place of the most intense heat accumulating in the area of the exhaust manifold. The problem was definitely somewhere inside this structure of metal tubes and elbows...a difficult place to reach, of course! Our boat is 40 years old and we have no idea if the exhaust system ever got replaced...chances are that ORION either still had original equipment or a replacement put in many many moons ago. To make a long story short my captain, "the engine guy" dismantled the system by sawing through the metal...a hard and tedious job! Low and behold it revealed the problem! The elbows of the riser section were completely clogged...the insides looked as if they were filled with charcoal!
Rick built a replica of the old system...with diligence and patience and a few swear words, which I will not quote ;)...the end result looks pretty impressive and will do the job it is supposed to do for hopefully another 40 years...but we'll be happy with half that! Congratulations to my captain, "the engine guy"...for sure!
