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**Jim Cate** · 22-09-2019, 18:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by skipmac

After all, tomorrow is another day.

Well, ya better hope so, or else there will be bird crap all over again!

Good luck with the leak..

Jim

Compass790 · 25-09-2019, 17:39

Dying to know if you succeeded in" Mission, Barely, Possible" i.e. stopping a Pommy engine frm leakn oil??

**skipmac** · 25-09-2019, 18:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by Compass790

Dying to know if you succeeded in" Mission, Barely, Possible" i.e. stopping a Pommy engine frm leakn oil??

Went out today and ran it for an hour and not a drop. I think it's cured but I'll have to use dynamite the next time I pull the cover off.

Now that's the big leak from the valve cover. Of course there's a few seeps and oozes here and there but I can live with those. After all, it's an old Pommy engine so it's to be expected.

Now if I can just figure out why it stalls out every time I switch to the port fuel tank.

**a64pilot** · 25-09-2019, 18:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by skipmac

And yes I used a small scale and a socket wrench. Probably not exact but close enough for government work.

You would be surprised how accurate it is, in fact the el cheapo deflecting beam torque wrench is among the most accurate and will hold calibration essentially forever, but you have to know how to use it, to keep the handle centered.
We assume that fancy electronic digital displayed things are more accurate, but often that’s not the case.

**skipmac** · 25-09-2019, 18:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

Well, ya better hope so, or else there will be bird crap all over again!

Good luck with the leak..

Jim

Leak is looking good but the bird crap, damn cormorants.

After I cleaned the decks and cockpit and the bimini and the dodger I strung monofilament all around the rigging and over the cockpit. Kept them away for a couple of days but they found a hole and came back today. So more line around the boat and hope that slows them down again.

Compass790 · 25-09-2019, 20:20

"Went out today and ran it for an hour and not a drop. I think it's cured but I'll have to use dynamite the next time I pull the cover off. "

It wont be as hard as you think IF the permatex is like the normal RTV silicone.
Hey but great you slew the dragon!

Cheechako · 26-09-2019, 09:30

ie: port fuel tank; engine dies. Maybe your vent on that tank is clogged? If you run it and it dies open the deck fill... vacuum there?

**JPA Cate** · 26-09-2019, 12:59

Cormorant fix:

What is done here seems to work. Take the monofil, and run a bit of it from a screw into the mast about 6" above the spreader out to the shroud. Do it for all your spreaders. Take one, from the mast to the backstay, and if necessary take some cable ties and use them on the pushpit and bow pulpit. Leave the ends sticking up. Make it so it's unpleasant for little flipper feet, and they have a hard time seeing them. Usually they'll select another boat for a perch.

And now, to the port fuel tank issue!

Ann

**skipmac** · 26-09-2019, 16:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cheechako

ie: port fuel tank; engine dies. Maybe your vent on that tank is clogged? If you run it and it dies open the deck fill... vacuum there?

Checked the vent and it's clear although I checked just the line from the tank to the deck fitting. Just to be sure I'll check the fitting on the tank as well but seems highly unlikely that there's a clog there.

I know the pickup from the port tank works because I hooked up my spare fuel pump and transferred the fuel to the stbd tank on the trip north. Down to two ideas. First will pull all the hoses off the selector valve (again) and double check that all lines and the valves are clear. If I verify that then the last idea I have is an air leak somewhere in the port side lines.

**skipmac** · 26-09-2019, 16:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

Cormorant fix:

What is done here seems to work. Take the monofil, and run a bit of it from a screw into the mast about 6" above the spreader out to the shroud. Do it for all your spreaders. Take one, from the mast to the backstay, and if necessary take some cable ties and use them on the pushpit and bow pulpit. Leave the ends sticking up. Make it so it's unpleasant for little flipper feet, and they have a hard time seeing them. Usually they'll select another boat for a perch.

And now, to the port fuel tank issue!

Ann

Thanks for the suggestions but I've already strung so much monofilament around the boat it looks like I was attacked by a large herd of giant spiders on steroids. No matter how I've run the line they seem to find a way to get to a roust and dump on my boat.

After cleaning the entire boat for the fourth time I have declared all out war, no quarter. I'm normally a nonviolent kind of guy but I've had enough. Set out a dozen mouse traps where they have been pooping. I had a plague of raccoons tearing up my barn a few years ago that I couldn't get rid of until I laid out a batch of mouse traps. That was the last night I ever saw them. Hope it works as well with the cormorants.

**Jim Cate** · 26-09-2019, 19:01

So, once you catch 'em, how ya gonna cook them?

Seriously, if perchance you do end up trapping one, and if it should die in the process, we've heard that hanging the corpse in the rigging will greatly discourage further occupation. Dunno if it is truly so, but if you have a spare dead bird around it would be worth a try!

Or you could post a sign on a neighbor's boat saying "free beer for birds here" and see what happens!

Jim

Jim

Robert Jansen · 27-09-2019, 10:38

If the leak is in the same place after replacing the gasket, and assuming that the replacement was performed in a reasonably competent manner (after all, it's not rocket science), a warped valve cover is a likely suspect. Before replacing the gasket again, check the valve cover. If you place it on a reference flat surface, and it rocks, even a little, you have found your cause. Sometimes they can be restored, sometimes they cant.

sdj · 27-09-2019, 11:44

You're not supposed to use any goop on those gaskets. The gaskets stick perfectly well to any CLEAN surface on their own, particularly the oldschool cork gaskets which will split in half if you try pull them apart if assembled correctly.

Get a new gasket (make sure it comes wrapped and sealed), pull the cover off and check that it's not bent, mop up any oil, then wipe with alcohol and a new clean rag - repeat this three times so the surface is completely clean.

Without touching the clean surfaces OR the new gasket, lay it perfectly in place and torque it down correctly according to the manual. No goop please. That cover won't come off without a wrestle, nor will it leak.