Regrettably the Good News/Bad New duopoly continues with Mr. Gee and is leaving all of us “hanging”.  Good news is that he started up just like his typical self, first touch of the start button.  Bad news is that the oil pressure was not up to what it should be and given that he is essentially all brand new parts wise I knew it best to shut him down right away and spend more time figuring out what’s still ailing him.  More Good News in that I’ve been able to check off a few more items on the ever present To Do list but Bad News is that for all of us who are anxiously awaiting to see and hear Mr. Gee spring back to life, he is going to keep us hanging a bit longer.

Workshop of Many Colours

PXL_20220207_090705096Starting off on a bit more positive note, one of the To Do list items I was able to check off this week was my testing of some improvements to the Workshop.  A few months ago Christine came across these fun interlocking foam squares that they were almost giving away at Turkey’s version of Home Depot so she picked up three boxes of them for me to try out.
PXL_20220207_090658490The floor in the Workshop is made from some sheets of a fabulous composite grid that is typically used in chemical plants and the like and it worked out eXtremely well for creating the floors in the Workshop, Engine Room and Forepeak.  Under the grid flooring there are a LOT of equipment such as pumps, plumbing, and wiring, all of which I need to keep a regular eye on to spot any leaks or problems early before they turn into big problems.  Any other flooring would have kept everything hidden whereas the open grid let’s me see right through all the time so that very much goes in the Good News column.
PXL_20220207_092152829However the down side of the grid is that it is so rigid and sharp edged that it is tough on your feet when standing on for long periods and even worse ANYTHING you drop goes right through into the space below and I need to play an all new version of “Go Fish”!

Oh, and of course all the bits of day to day “droppings” from working in the Workshop all go down there too so I need to take up the flooring and clean it all out every few months.
Flexible Pick up tool grabberBTW, if you don’t already have one of these flexible “grabber” tools, I HIGHLY recommend you go get one ASAP.  Trust me you’ll thank me.  I have several of these, some are the very simple basic type that are good for getting through really tiny openings but this is my eXtreme version that has both a magnet and an LED light on the end with the four gripper jaws which comes in VERY handy on many occasions.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED in Wayne’s World!!


PXL_20220207_092203772I’m experimenting with a simple system that I can cover the grid with that is still very easy to remove when needed but when in place is “good news” for my feet and reducing the amount of “fishing” I need to do with all the bits and bobs I drop each day.
PXL_20220206_111557922In addition to these coloured tiles I’m also testing out a single piece of similar dark Grey foam that I’ve rolled out  in the walkway from my WorkBench alongside the Engine Room so I’ll be able to see if the longer length or the jig saw tiles work out better.  Next month or so of daily use will help me evaluate the pros and cons of each type and see which is the Goldilocks just right choice for the whole Workshop or if I need to keep searching.
Vice bolt downAs in life it is so often the little thanks that please me the most and while I’m embarrassed by how long this has been on my To Do list, I FINALLY bolted my big cast iron vice to this center workbench using three 1/2” SS bolts like the one circled in Red.  Rock solid now and something I use pretty much every day and can’t imagine being without.


As  bonus, I’ve got one of my metal storage drawer stacks conveniently located right underneath and so I just pull out the top drawer and put a piece of plywood on top to catch the dust from cutting and filing things in the vice.  The aforementioned floor coverings will now catch such dust too but this little dust shelf catches most before it hits the floor and makes cleanup with my shop vac even easier.

Check!

Meanwhile, back in the ER…….

Mr. Gee Keeps Us All Hanging!

PXL_20220206_111629113At the end of last week I had run out of time and left you all hanging at this point with Mr. Gee fully back on his “feet” bolted to the Engine Beds and just needing a few more connections with exhaust and cooling before he was ready to start up. 

To make sure all the new oil had fully filled up all the pipes and passages in the lubrication oil system I hand cranked him for several minutes with the compression levers all on and the fuel shut off.  Just before I ran out of steam I was able to see the needle on the oil pressure gauge start to rise letting me know that oil was now flowing everywhere it should be.
PXL_20220206_111545538.MPSo on Monday morning it was Start Time!

Good news is that as usual he started up the very first touch of his all new Start Button. 

Not so good news is that I could immediately see that the oil pressure was lower than it should be so I shut him down right away.  Sad smile
Mr. Gee gauges and PRV

Don’t have a photo of that moment but here is the gauge on the Left side of the oil filter. 

FYI, it is reading zero here as the engine isn’t running.
PXL_20220202_152629316In the photo above and here you can see the Pressure Relief Valve on the Right side and the slotted adjustment screw.  This is used to adjust the oil pressure when running to be 35 PSI @ 1000 RPM which is easily done by loosening that lock nut and turning the adjuster screw Up/Down. 

Turning it clockwise/down increases the oil pressure so I turned it down several turns and restarted Mr. Gee.


Good news, oil pressure was up to 25 PSI and further turning of the adjuster brought it up to 35 PSI.

Bad news is that this required several more turns of the adjuster which is WAY too much from what should be needed so I shut him down again.

Crying face   Crying face    Steaming mad


PXL_20220208_140614887I spent the next few hours going over EVERY possible thing that could be causing this lower oil pressure, did more testing and slept on it overnight but there was just no option but to get Mr. Gee back up off his feet and back to hangin’ in his Engine Room.

Out came the chain blocks and Dyneema lines, off came the exhaust, engine mount bolts, sea water hoses and alternator cables.
PXL_20220208_121606632.MPWhat I needed to do was get the oil pan off so I could fully check out the lube oil pipework and oil pump inside and to do that I would need to lift Mr. Gee up in the air about a meter or so as you’ve seen me do in the past.  Hopefully I do NOT need to remove the crankshaft this time so I could leave Mr. Gee and Ms. Nogva all hooked up and lift them up as a single unit which would be MUCH less time and effort.


PXL_20201027_150518040This requires decoupling the prop shaft flanges from the Nogva and unthreading the Pitch Control Rod that you can see here sliding into the center of the Prop Shaft.  Red jack is underneath to support the Prop Shaft at the right height and keep it all on center.
PXL_20220208_140624600With all that disconnected it only takes minutes for me to lift Mr. Gee as much as needed using the chain blocks up above.
PXL_20220213_134229898Weighing in at about 2000 kg/4400 Lbs, I want to be eXtremely sure that he is well supported and can’t fall down on me so I set the bottom of the Nogva down onto a steel tube spanning the Engine beds with a block of wood underneath. 
Harder to see but at the front I run a double set of Dyneema lines from a second overhead steel beam and down around the front engine mounts on either side.
PXL_20220207_133907961.MPBefore removing the lube oil pipework’s, I wanted to pressure test them to see what that might tell me so I built this little adaptor using a bit of aluminium flat bar and the valve cut from the tube of a bicycle tire.
PXL_20220207_140551574This copper pipe that delivers the pressurized oil from the oil pump to the pipework inside the Oil Sump.  This allowed me to bolt my adaptor in its place with the tire valve easy to access.
PXL_20220207_140629126Making it easy to connect my bicycle pump and pressurize the pipework system inside.

Good news is that it worked like a charm.

Bad news is that the results didn’t tell me much with the Oil Sump still in place so time to take it off.
PXL_20220118_153520421Once the Oil Pan/Sump is off I was able to test the pipework’s again but the results were still inconclusive so I removed the whole pipework’s from the crankshaft Bridges.
PXL_20220120_143224631Here is the whole pipework assembly minus one of the cast iron pipe connector fittings at the far upper end.


Good news is that I *think* I found the problem and have been discussing with my team of experts at Gardner and elsewhere.

Bad news is that I’m going to replace all this pipework assembly with ones from another 6LXB at Gardner Marine.  Not a problem but it usually takes at least a month, often more to get parts shipped from England to me here, and now with all the shipping and supply slowdowns it takes even longer.  So I think there is a flight to England in my not to distant future!


PXL_20220213_134127114For now this is where I am going to have to leave all of us hanging, while I continue the pursuit of this latest chapter in the seemingly endless Oil Pressure Killer mystery.

Stay tuned for more in the coming weeks.
PXL_20220212_075740100To end on a happier note, one of the other To Do list items I attended to this past week was mounting the new luggage rack system onto our intrepid bicycle.

Christine found this very well built all aluminium rack online and was able to get it delivered in just a few days via Amazon Turkey.
PXL_20220212_075204452She also found these two even more impressive pannier bags which are fully waterproof and made to clip On/Off the bike rack.
PXL_20220212_075159443.MPChristine looks after all our grocery and other shopping at the weekly local fruit and veggie market which is a few miles down the road from the marina and so this setup will make her life MUCH easier.

A happy Captain makes me eXtremely happy so all’s well here in Finike Marina and aboard the Good Ship Möbius.
Thanks for joining us again this week and please do keep contributing all the great questions and comments you have on these weekly Update postings by typing them into the “Join the Discussion” box below.

I’ll be back with the next chapter for you next week.

-Wayne