And I'm done

[shibbs]

I made the decision that my season is unfortunately over for this year.
Due to work I will not have any spare time for at least 3 weekends so made the choice to take Chin Chin out of the water today.
In previous years, I have just pressure washed the hull when on the trailer but can never get to the bits under the bunks and rollers so decided I would get a dry suit on and get in and scrub the hull before she came out.
Well worth doing, for once, my antifoul has been good this year and the scrub removed a thin soft layer of slime. She came out looking ready to go back in at the start of the season.
Drive leg was a different story but will try another option next season.
Once scrubbed I thought I'd take her out for one last run. Got out into the Solent and headed down towards southsea and without any warning she lost power completely and started mis-firing / back firing.
Immediately turned round and limped back in. Constantly the engine was surging and threatens to cut out completely.
Got back to the slipway, and put the trailer in. Started her up, onto the trailer and she stopped, refusing to re-start!!!
Anyway, out she came and decided tos we if I could at least give her a fresh water flush and it fired up again and ran with no problem at all on the muffs!! What on earth is going on now!
So, I guess the investigation will start!
I will probably winterise / service in a couple of weekends time and then start fault finding next year.


One thing I did notice, this year I have left my drive leg in the down position to assist with the bellows stretch etc, this means that the anode is now under water and it has been quite shocking how mush it has eroded, far far more than any of the others. Certainly worth changing mid season next year though...

[Bigplumbs]

Stu

Most people seem to be saying that their Antifoul has done well this year but like you I was not so impressed about my stern gear. I will be interested to know what you are going to try next year. My main anodes are quite good but the one with the fin is very degraded.

Have you kept your stern gear up or down in previous years. This being my first year on a mooring I asked advice and most people said to keep it down because of the rams and bellows. I am now in two minds though

Bummer about your engine all you don't need is that in you head all winter.

Dennis

[Ianfs]

So sorry to hear about your engine Stu, as Dennis said that's a real bummer.

Check your oil level before doing any work on it. If its risen even slightly check for emulsification, you may have a head gasket gone or worst of all, a crack in the block. I know this is a bit drastic and probably not a nice thing to say but if you don't rule this out now and read a diagnosis somewhere in a few months time, it will hopefully stop any worries over the Winter by knowing all is well in this department.

It's more than likely water in fuel or a blocked line somewhere or even a cracked distributor cap, if you have one.

However I would be a little concerned about that wasted anode and would want to check that it has done its job properly by not eroding some of the stern drive. A quick removal and investigation wouldn't hurt, gasket sets are cheap £12-14 ish for genuine ones. Actually come to think of it, didn't you have the leg off recently?

[shibbs]

Ian, the first thing I did was check the oil, all good, level correct, no emulsification. I'm fairly content that the issue is not there.
I too was thinking water in the fuel, I wonder if the temperature going up and down may have caused a bit of condensation in the tank.. I will certainly investigate that route sooner rather than later.
And yes, moisture in the dizzy cap or a crack may also be possible. Know the engine quite well now so fairly content that I will be able to track it down.
As for the antifoul Dennis, I think I will try rubbing the leg back, priming and trying the brush on trilux next, still some research to do but will update when I decide. I'm still toying with the idea of coppercoating the hull too...
As for the drive leg and the anode, as ian says, for the sale of a few quid for a gasket, I will probably remove the leg to inspect for any corrosion damage. This also give for the chance to get in and around for a proper clean / prep for painting.
Also will allow for inspection of gimbal and bellows.
10 minute job to remove leg so makes sense.

[shibbs]

Stu

Most people seem to be saying that their Antifoul has done well this year but like you I was not so impressed about my stern gear. I will be interested to know what you are going to try next year. My main anodes are quite good but the one with the fin is very degraded.

Have you kept your stern gear up or down in previous years. This being my first year on a mooring I asked advice and most people said to keep it down because of the rams and bellows. I am now in two minds though

Dennis

In the past I have always kept the leg up, only this year I've kept in the down position. For the exact reasons you state above, stops the weed on the rams and keeps the bellows compressed.
What I have noticed in previous years, is that the other 3 anodes wore much more and the one on the cavitation plate not as much. This year it has been reversed, the one on the leading edge( where the hydraulic hoses attach) underneath the leg and the two round ones have barely been touched.
Seems the one has done the lot??

[Bigplumbs]

So next year are you going leg up or leg down or just the okeky Cokey

[Ianfs]

Also a lot depends upon what your anodes are made from. There are a lot of people advising Aluminium in Salt Water and Magnesium in Fresh and therefore I have found from bad experience it is best to absolutely make sure you have got the right material. I'm not for one minute suggesting you don't know what you are doing its just that I asked for Salt water anodes a few years ago and got Aluminium, which was next to useless. Consequently the round anodes may be ally and the fin anode Zinc.
On the other hand, Galvanic Corrosion will always seek out the weakest material, that is the most sacrificial first, it may just be that your fin anode was the weakest material, even though the others were zinc compound. One more thing, if the round anodes had a film on them, this can sometimes prevent them from working.

By the way Stu, if you wanted the engine alignment tool, I could run it over, I'm only about 40-50mins from you.