Delivery Trip Failure

[Seahope]

Hi all,

Several months after buying my 2nd hand boat I arranged for a qualified delivery skipper to move our boat to its new berth. Being an optimist I decided we should travel to the boat by train (using the GroupSave 4 railcard option) assuming a one way trip.

We started the engines and left them for 15 minutes to check all was OK before setting off. Initially all was well and then about two minutes after leaving the berth the skipper went for power up to get up onto the plane and immediately the port engine warning light came on with an infernal buzzing. We shut it down.

I happened to remember the name of the company that had serviced the engines and subsequently performed an engine test and sea trial for me and so gave them a call. The engine servicing side of the company no longer seems to exists, but one of their engineers remains (in some way) . We met up with him, cruising slowly on the starboard engine but he was unable to fix the port engine. He remembered the service of the engines and the history around this, which was very interesting but I shall say no more

He advised a lift of the boat as the seacock on the port engine does not fully shut off the water and he wasn't able to find the impeller removal tool and attempting to remove this with water flowing was not possible/comfortable for him.

The theory is that bits of an impellor (possibly not the current one) have blocked the pipes to the heat exchanger causing the engine to overheat. I have had to leave the boat with him and travel back home by train, helpfully he gave us a lift to the local station.

As the boat was fully serviced and then apparently had two sea trials: the original one for which I have a signed engine report and secondly after the diesel tanks were cleaned and the fuel replaced I am very surprised that the port engine over heated so rapidly. I should say that I have not used the boat since it was serviced a couple of months ago. Unfortunately, due to the weather and my work I was unable to attend either of these trips.

Once I have heard on Monday how much this has cost to fix I will contact the vendor and request that they recompense me. I expect them to recover this from the original engineers.

The delivery skipper was amazed at how calm I was being over this incident. Am I being too reasonable and how would you handle this situation differently?

 

[Medskipper]

Thats really bad luck, sorry to hear of your troubles. It is of course possible that pieces of impellor have caused the overheating, but it is more likely that the heat exchangers have become blocked due to a calcium build up. Its like the fur inside a kettle and it blocks the heat exchanger causing the overheating. If you purchased the boat from a private seller its is highly unlikely that you have any chance of recompense.

All the best

Barry

 

[Searush]

As you have two signed off sea trials, I would expect the vendor to claim that it was OK when he sold it. You could try contacting those who carried out the trials, but it may be difficult to prove there was a problem during them if you weren't there.

I have no relevant expertise, it's just the opinion of a fellow forumite. Good luck anyway.

 

[DAKA]

Hi all,


He advised a lift of the boat as the seacock on the port engine does not fully shut off the water

The only seacock I have had that wouldnt close fully didnt open 1/2 the time either.
If the seacock is seized 4/5 closed and the handle just spins round then that may account for the previous burnt out impeller and the current over heat issue.
recommend testing the seacock and replacing it if in doubt as 4/5 closed could account for a boat passing a sea trial in short spurts of speed.
No need to lift it out to test the seacock, just take the pipe off while closed and then open/close it quickly before putting the pipe back on.

An impeller can be changed without a lift out anyway, take the hose off the pump, wooden plug it while you change impeller.

if the seacock and impeller prove satisfactory then take off the hose from both ends of the heat exchanger and fasten a fresh water hose to the exit to reverse flow and wash most the bits out.
I bypassed the seacocks on my last boat and still managed to change impellers at sea, remember the impellers are well up so water pressure is low.

Its not time to go home its time to enjoy 'boating'
Quayside repair, delivery skipper my .....

 

[volvopaul]

So what engines are they and who did the service and sea trial? yes if the impeller has lost its blades they will end up in the next available cooler blocking off the flow.

Could the inlet pipe not be partially blocked with a tapered plug of rag? so that a new impeller can be fitted.

A lot of engines have the impeller below sea level so water can pour in when the pump face plate is removed, usually on a volvo 41 series for example, just remove one clip and pull down the rubber hose, then lift it up or plug it with a rag, then get on with the impeller change.

Sometime blade may be forced back towards the sea cock then when the engine is started the blades are sucked into the pump blocking off the flow, its a good idea to lay the inlet pipe down and check that water flows in on its own before reconnecting it to the pump.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Sorry, I don't see what case you have against the vendor unless he have you some kind of warranty which is still current. Assuming there is no current warranty, I suspect the vendor will simply say that you have owned the boat several months and there is no proof that this fault was present at the time of the sale or that the fault was not caused by your use or servicing of the boat. In addition, presumably you carried out a survey/seatrial before you bought the boat and presumably, neither of these highlighted this fault. I think the biggest problem you have is that it is several months since you bought the boat and therefore the vendor's responsibility has long ceased