Hate this guy. Well, that seems kind of obvious. Doesn’t it? Although I’ve learned this truism and share it with all who will listen, I sometimes forget to take my own advice.
We’ve always had a nagging temperature gremlin with Odyssey’s main engine. As long as you keep an eye on the gauge, when she starts to get hot, a timely rev of the engine cools things down. But forget to look and she will overheat at the worst moment.
Now, I’ve got a bit of engine experience and I know this shouldn’t have been happening. I tried most everything I could think of, both cheep and expensive. At times it seemed we were close to solving things, but then, we didn’t.
In desperation I installed a temperature alarm so we could keep things from getting damaged. We learned to live with the problem, not fix it.
It’s now two years later and couple months away from our longest cruise. I really wanted to be done with this worry. I didn’t want to take it with us to the Broughtons.
We’ve always had a nagging temperature gremlin with Odyssey’s main engine. As long as you keep an eye on the gauge, when she starts to get hot, a timely rev of the engine cools things down. But forget to look and she will overheat at the worst moment.
Now, I’ve got a bit of engine experience and I know this shouldn’t have been happening. I tried most everything I could think of, both cheep and expensive. At times it seemed we were close to solving things, but then, we didn’t.
In desperation I installed a temperature alarm so we could keep things from getting damaged. We learned to live with the problem, not fix it.
It’s now two years later and couple months away from our longest cruise. I really wanted to be done with this worry. I didn’t want to take it with us to the Broughtons.
A good view of our engine.
So there I was, for the 20th time, with the cover off the engine, on my knees, with flashlight and knuckle-gloves. I checked every potential problem that might cause overheating, but just like before, I couldn’t find anything wrong. I was frustrated and a bit pissed off.
That’s when I remembered my mantra. Question everything. Maybe there wasn’t anything wrong with the engine. Maybe there wasn’t anything broken, but if not, what else could it be?
Odyssey had gone through a very expensive refit before we bought her. It was particularly expensive because all of the work was done by marine mechanics and installers. Good for us right? I mean, they wouldn’t install something wrong, would they?
I’ll take pity on the details, but there I was, on the floor, staring at the engine, when I realized something about the hoses seemed wrong. In fact, as far as I could tell, the way the cooling system was plumbed might cause all the problems we were having. Was it possible that things were just installed wrong?
It took ten minutes to reroute a hose so I could test the theory. With that done, try as I might, the temperature remained stable. She wouldn’t overheat! I had to smile. Yup, they had messed up.
So the gremlin is gone. Finally, our little engine is as dependable as she should be. Next time I’ll be a little smarter, next time I’ll question everything.
That’s when I remembered my mantra. Question everything. Maybe there wasn’t anything wrong with the engine. Maybe there wasn’t anything broken, but if not, what else could it be?
Odyssey had gone through a very expensive refit before we bought her. It was particularly expensive because all of the work was done by marine mechanics and installers. Good for us right? I mean, they wouldn’t install something wrong, would they?
I’ll take pity on the details, but there I was, on the floor, staring at the engine, when I realized something about the hoses seemed wrong. In fact, as far as I could tell, the way the cooling system was plumbed might cause all the problems we were having. Was it possible that things were just installed wrong?
It took ten minutes to reroute a hose so I could test the theory. With that done, try as I might, the temperature remained stable. She wouldn’t overheat! I had to smile. Yup, they had messed up.
So the gremlin is gone. Finally, our little engine is as dependable as she should be. Next time I’ll be a little smarter, next time I’ll question everything.
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