Links to various videos, in no particular order, pertaining to the boat and the ongoing maintenance required to keep the engine, a Volvo Penta KAD32, and leg, a DP290, operational.
2025 The Boats a C***
We are always having to fix things. It's a boat and boats need constant maintenance, especially old boats.
We have managed to muddle through most things, bearing in mind we are not mechanics, we learn from our mistakes and YouTube for the most part.
Our biggest problem up until recently was the driveshaft bearing in the bellhousing breaking down, causing it to move ,vibrate and basically tear itself apart which caused the shaft in the bellhousing to become oversized which, in turn, means the bearing will never seat correctly. Our fix to get it through the dive season was to fit a new bearing with shims. Red Stripe beer can shims were to small but a baked bean can worked a treat!
At the end of the season we decided to remove the leg again and have an expert do the job properly. This meant engine removal to then remove the bellhousing which was then given to aforementioned expert. What we wanted was the bellhousing bored out and a steel sleeve inserted.
When we get the assembled bellhousing back and fitted to the engine, engine fitted in the boat, leg fixed to the back of the boat we were away and everything was tight.....for a couple of trips.
We sensed something was wrong so removed the leg again to find the driveshaft was loose. This can only mean the bearing is loose. Taking it apart we found the 'expert' had used the same method we used. I don't know if he went with baked bean can or something else but it was an important and expensive lesson. Suss out who your expert is beforehand as he may just be a wanker.
So now the engine has to come back out and do the job again. This time we used a real expert, Wright Precision Engineering, who bored out the bellhousing shaft and inserted a steel sleeve. Perfect job. He didn't believe another mechanic or engineer had done the job previously and still thinks I did it!!!
Everything is now back in place so away we go diving. That is until i notice the clamp holding the UJ bellows is not fitted correctly. This is because the stainless steel clamp we used is Chinese and gone rusty and failed within 2 weeks of going in saltwater. The leg has to come off. Again.
Fortunately we got to it in time and a good clean and grease was all that was required and added another new driveshaft bearing. We flushed out the bellhousing via the starter motor as seawater can get in when the UJ bellows fail, and added some ACF50 after some more flushing and pumping out with a small electric pump.
By this point we were getting somewhat bored of taking the leg off so we decided to buy genuine Volvo UJ bellows and exhaust bellows with non rusting stainless steel jubilee clamps, this is the most important thing. The rubber is fine, it's the rubbish clamps. We usually reuse the volvo ones but somehow a Chinese one got put on and caused us problems. While were are at it, why not fix that weeping hydraulic cylinder that has been leaking ATF fluid and sucking seawater back in for years!
With new ramrods purchased and seals we set to work. It didn't go to plan. More seals purchased and it finally started lifting the leg up and down. We even cleaned out what looked like clotted cream in the trim cylinder from the ATF saltwater mix.
Time to get the leg back on and Jamie noticed a small leak from the top of the hydraulic cylinder. We were that close to having the boat back together...
"I'll just nip that hydraulic hose up"
The nut went around and around....and around and around.
So now what!? The threads gone in the top of the hydraulic cylinder body. It's not a metric fitting and the only place I could think of who might have a a helicoil or even tell us what size it was is the Nut&Bolt store in Hove. After a quick chat he said , "Bring it in and I'll tell you what thread size it is and give you the tools to fix it"
Off we go to Hove.
"Ah that's a 3/8unc...here's the helicoil kit" Remember the second paragraph of this sorry tale...' we are not mechanics, we learn from our mistakes' This was an expensive learning process. Apparently you can't helicoil cast aluminum. We hadn't learnt that yet though, so off to ScrewFix for a 90degree drill adapter to allow us to drill out the hydraulic cylinder. Now is probably a good time to mention you have to remove the engine to remove the trim cylinders!!!
After drilling and tapping we fitted the helicoil. So far so good. The hydraulic hose though was a completely different thread size. Disaster.
People more knowledgeable than us said, "ahhh no, you wanted a 3/8unf, not unc!"
The relevant kit was ordered. It was nothing like it and didn't fit either, experts and people that know better are wankers!. I took a spare cylinder we had to a hydraulic shop and discussed our options with people who do actually know what they are talking about. After much head scratching it was decided it was not 3/8 at all and the cylinder was drilled out to the point that the wall thickness was too thin to do anything with. "Fill it with JB Weld and fit these fittings to the outside of the cylinder is about your only option unless you can get someone who welds aluminum to go to the boat"
"Do you have them in Stainless?"
"Erm, yes, It'll be hundreds of pounds and about a months wait as it'll need to be made in a factory in Germany"
"Doh....."
It was now decided to remove the engine again and buy new trim cylinders and hydraulic stainless hoses. Someone helpful said he would remove a nut on a stainless line we were trying to remove and save, without much luck. He crushed it in his vice but removed the nut. We threw it all in the bin and ordered new stainless lines. More wankers. Or are we the wankers!
I ordered some cylinders from Ebay from a Chinese seller as the genuine ones were a ridiculous amount of money. After ordering I then got an email saying I was liable for import charges. I got cold feet and told him to poke his Chinese shite and import duties up his arse and refund me the money. Another wanker. Fortunately he did straightaway. This Chinese stuff is ok for a cheap bilge pump or something easy to replace but we decided to go for genuine and do the job right for once. You never quite know what you you are getting with this Chinese stuff and I was worried the threads would not match our fittings and I couldn't face having to remove the engine again.
Scaffold was erected, engine was removed. The Hydraulic cylinders are held in by two small pins with the, flanges or heads, of two small bolts wound in next to them to keep them in place, to stop them rattling out on the inside of the transom shield. Two plastic grommets are pulled out in the front of the transom shield and a grease gun is attached, to simply pump the pins out, after the two retaining bolts are removed. This may well work 5 minutes are fitting them from new but stainless pins sat in an aluminum transom shield with salt water sloshing about for 30 years is a different story! Oh and you have to pull them out, they will not knock through!
The transom was now cut because of course, these pins were fitted prior to the transom shield being fitted. There was not enough room for them to slide out. They would not budge with heat or penetrating oil and swearing. The transom shield needed to come off. It was subjected to heat, freezing, penetrating oil repeatedly for a week and they still wouldn't come out. High tensile bolts screwed into the threaded ends of the pins and a slide hammer finally got one out. The other had a non high tensile bolt snap inside the threaded pin so a spot of welding was needed and it finally got beaten out.
Everything was cleaned, painted and refitted and we agreed never to touch anything with a thread attached to hydraulic cylinders ever again. The water tub was filled up, leg lowered into it and turn the ignition key....Nothing. Nada. The starter motor was dead. A new one was ordered and duly fitted.
Boat test day and the boat flew along, it was singing as it skimmed across the water. We cracked a couple of cans of RedStripe and congratulated ourselves on a job well done and laughed at how we had discussed burning the nasty piece of shit or sinking it in the bay. Then the turbo blew up and we limped back to the slipway, got the boat out and went home somewhat depressed.
Ok, lets get the turbo refurbished for lots of money and get a Chinese exhaust elbow in case a blocked elbow contributed to the failure. Our previous elbow hadn't been changed in years, if ever.
We fitted the turbo and new elbow which leaked as the clamp was the wrong size but after digging out the old clamp we were back in business again. Well, until 200m West of the harbour arm when the compressor kicked in and sucked the two pieces of improvised rubber gasket seal we've been using in the airbox since forever, got sucked down the compressor intake pipe, one piece didn't make it and was recovered but the other piece got tendorised in the compressor, flew down the air ways, spat through the turbo fan where it was chewed into small pieces and ended up in the stomach of the aftercooler where we retrieved the pile if bits, the rest was reduced to dust and smeared around anything it had come into contact with.
We went home even more depressed.
So do we take the turbo for another overhaul!? The blokes going to say it needs one whatever so we decided to see if everything worked first and go from there. Jamie cleaned all the parts and dropped the to me for fitting.
I ordered the correct turbo clamp, the correct air filter housing seal and set to work putting it all back together while Jamie was away. The air hose to turbo had a stripped thread on assembly which was fixed and then 3 of the 5 bolts that hold the top of the compressor decided to strip. Helicoils were fitted and we were back in business. We went for a run and hit 30 kt, the boat was flying.
Next day dive kit was loaded and off we went. I had my dive and while Jamie was underwater I pumped the bilge pump handle, not expecting anything to come out as the bilge had been clean and dry but felt some pressure. Looking over the back of the boat I was pumping engine oil!!!
When Jamie was back on board..
"So, do you want the good news or bad news!?"
"What's the good news?"
"We haven't seized up yet!"
"What's' the bad news!!?"
" We are pissing engine oil!!"
We turned the engine off for 10 mins to let the oil settle and checked the dipstick. We reckon we had lost perhaps 2L. We went back to port even more depressed after putting 2L of oil in. What a mess in the bilge.
Back in the yard and Jamie set to work getting the engine box off, again, while I set about dismantling the starboard side of the engine as we believed this is where the problem was. Either the pipes from the turbo or oil cooler. After removing the airbox the problem was spotted. A hose had come off. The engine oil breather pipe on the side of the engine. More beers were purchased, the clean up began and the engine was reassembled.
We are back in business. Until the next disaster......
