Important engine checks

pvb said:
Please don't start the "I always wear a lifejacket" discussion.
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Why not? Im not a fan of all the time, but mine are ready, inspected and worn exactly when they need to be. My flares, lifejackets, liferaft smoke detectors are operative and routinely checked. As are my fire extinguishers, Tender inflated often. Outboard checked that it runs.

Etc, etc ad nauseum. Because its important for safety at sea so you can relax and enjoy your sailing without being a menace to others.......

Soapbox switched off. :)
 
capnsensible said:
Did you not read the previous posts??

Good all round look. Anything looking wrong, unusual leaks.

Quick shake up of sea water inlet valve.

Fresh water level.

Engine oil level.

Fan belt(s) tension.

Gearbox oil level.

Wipe around under engine.

Time taken three minutes. Anyone who cannot be arsed to do basic checks is either scared of engines, lazy or doesnt want to admit they dont know what they are doing..........

Peeps you can all argue all night for not bothering, but Im not interested in that. Safety first, your duty is clear. :encouragement:
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And does this look around allow you to check whether nuts and bolts are properly torqued? After all, that's what the OP started this thread with. However, if nuts and bolts are properly torqued in the first place, they're not going to come undone. As I said before, you wouldn't mess around looking under the bonnet of your car before going out every day.

PS I'm bemused by your "Quick shake up of sea water inlet valve", what on earth does that involve?
 
pvb said:
Not a very good illustration, I'm afraid. Saying "I've worn them everyday I've been on a boat" would seem to indicate that you have little ability to assess real risks. There are lots of days when it's quite safe to go out on a boat without wearing a lifejacket (unless perhaps you have issues with balance or stability). It worries me when I see people in flat calm conditions going out of the marina wearing lifejackets - I can only think that they have zero idea of what constitutes a risk.
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What if they cant swim?
 
capnsensible said:
Why not? Im not a fan of all the time, but mine are ready, inspected and worn exactly when they need to be.
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Good, that means you make a sensible judgement of when it's advisable to wear a lifejacket, rather than blindly putting one on every time you step on a boat.
 
pvb said:
And does this look around allow you to check whether nuts and bolts are properly torqued? After all, that's what the OP started this thread with. However, if nuts and bolts are properly torqued in the first place, they're not going to come undone. As I said before, you wouldn't mess around looking under the bonnet of your car before going out every day.

PS I'm bemused by your "Quick shake up of sea water inlet valve", what on earth does that involve?
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As Ive said before, you can pull over to the side of the road in a car.

What do you think you can do with a hull valve other than open and shut it a few times?

I think you are being picky and obstinate because you know those that choose to be thorough are correct.

But that doesnt make you a bad person. :)
 
capnsensible said:
As Ive said before, you can pull over to the side of the road in a car.

What do you think you can do with a hull valve other than open and shut it a few times?

I think you are being picky and obstinate because you know those that choose to be thorough are correct.

But that doesnt make you a bad person. :)
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Not sure what opening and closing a seacock tells you; it's good practice to open and close all seacocks regularly anyway. I'm not being picky, I just think that many people religiously follow unnecessary routines for no good reason.
 
pvb said:
Not sure what opening and closing a seacock tells you; it's good practice to open and close all seacocks regularly anyway. I'm not being picky, I just think that many people religiously follow unnecessary routines for no good reason.
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Ok. But its not 'religiously following' to do daily engine checks, in my opinion. Its sensible safety precautions. Planes , trains, ships and boats, plain to me.
 
pvb said:
Not a very good illustration, I'm afraid. Saying "I've worn them everyday I've been on a boat" would seem to indicate that you have little ability to assess real risks. There are lots of days when it's quite safe to go out on a boat without wearing a lifejacket (unless perhaps you have issues with balance or stability). It worries me when I see people in flat calm conditions going out of the marina wearing lifejackets - I can only think that they have zero idea of what constitutes a risk.
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Nothing could be further from the truth. The day job is all about risk assessment in a safety critical industry.

I thought we were not going to get into the life jacket debate.;)
 
Sandy said:
Do you not check this ever day?

Water
Oil
BELT
Battery
Leaks
Exhaust.
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No not every day. Or not every time I start up.
If I am only going for a day sail it quite abbreviated.

Beginning of the trip. For most. If I am out for a few days or a week Just the exhaust water. My usual routine on my boat. which I may add to under some circumstances. Or not bother with on the second day. Even so this list filled up pretty quick.
I know the OP question was engines. But once you mention Battery. I think engine and electrical.

Water? Beginning of trip, For Level, I check every few days. My Older engine looses cooling water and I need to top up about 1 or twice a season. If I don't the high temp alarm will go off.

Oil? the dip stick like most sailboat engines is impossible to see I have to take it out and put it back by feel. Beginning of trip or weekly. So far no problems using oil. Oil and filter is changed with annual service.

Belt, Beginning of trip, Daily start up check easy to see. Easy to feel for tension before start up and a quick look after for leaks.

Battery, Beginning of trip, Daily. If sailing for long period, Isolate and check every few on long sail during trip. I still have the old 1 2 both system. Seasonally all connections clean, dry, tight.
Pre departure, Breakers, Nav lights, Gas sensor solenoid, Radio on, GPS on Instruments ON, Sounder On,

Leaks? See belts. Add Bilges for level and pump works, pre departure and periodically during trip.

Gear shift? In out of gear, Throttle, Shut Off,

Exhaust? Immediately after, Every Startup. Check for cooling water? sight and hearing. Also look at exhaust color. Periodically when engine running. Gear Shift, ahead astern?

Fuel? I have a sailboat with a small tank, I have a fuel gage but? I tend to top up regularly when I pass a fuel dock JIK. I keep a rough track on running hours. If I have had a longish run on the motor I top up soon after. I use 20 gallon tank 1.5 gal/hr guesstimate top up after 10 hrs. I never use this much. its a GM 30

If I charter a boat or when I used to instruct. Even for day sails. I never knew who used the boat before me.

I will do all of the above as pre start up or pre trip check. Including fuel level. Gas bottle, Stove works, Top up FW. Basic safety equipment, As required and location? When I rent a car I take photos, Rent a boat why not?

Sea Cocks, So I know where they are, on a strange boat how were they left open or closed?
(I tagged along as crew on a charter boat a couple of decades ago, The skipper didn't check assuming all the boats in the fleet keep the cocks open. Seized both engines)
Anchor? Stowed secured? How to let go?

Annual engine service, for fuel filters, oil filters, oil change, Impellor Change, Pre trip spares on board spare belt is a good idea as well.
 
Uricanejack said:
No not every day. Or not every time I start up.
If I am only going for a day sail it quite abbreviated.

Beginning of the trip. For most. If I am out for a few days or a week Just the exhaust water. My usual routine on my boat. which I may add to under some circumstances. Or not bother with on the second day. Even so this list filled up pretty quick.
I know the OP question was engines. But once you mention Battery. I think engine and electrical.

Water? Beginning of trip, For Level, I check every few days. My Older engine looses cooling water and I need to top up about 1 or twice a season. If I don't the high temp alarm will go off.

Oil? the dip stick like most sailboat engines is impossible to see I have to take it out and put it back by feel. Beginning of trip or weekly. So far no problems using oil. Oil and filter is changed with annual service.

Belt, Beginning of trip, Daily start up check easy to see. Easy to feel for tension before start up and a quick look after for leaks.

Battery, Beginning of trip, Daily. If sailing for long period, Isolate and check every few on long sail during trip. I still have the old 1 2 both system. Seasonally all connections clean, dry, tight.
Pre departure, Breakers, Nav lights, Gas sensor solenoid, Radio on, GPS on Instruments ON, Sounder On,

Leaks? See belts. Add Bilges for level and pump works, pre departure and periodically during trip.

Gear shift? In out of gear, Throttle, Shut Off,

Exhaust? Immediately after, Every Startup. Check for cooling water? sight and hearing. Also look at exhaust color. Periodically when engine running. Gear Shift, ahead astern?

Fuel? I have a sailboat with a small tank, I have a fuel gage but? I tend to top up regularly when I pass a fuel dock JIK. I keep a rough track on running hours. If I have had a longish run on the motor I top up soon after. I use 20 gallon tank 1.5 gal/hr guesstimate top up after 10 hrs. I never use this much. its a GM 30

If I charter a boat or when I used to instruct. Even for day sails. I never knew who used the boat before me.

I will do all of the above as pre start up or pre trip check. Including fuel level. Gas bottle, Stove works, Top up FW. Basic safety equipment, As required and location? When I rent a car I take photos, Rent a boat why not?

Sea Cocks, So I know where they are, on a strange boat how were they left open or closed?
(I tagged along as crew on a charter boat a couple of decades ago, The skipper didn't check assuming all the boats in the fleet keep the cocks open. Seized both engines)
Anchor? Stowed secured? How to let go?

Annual engine service, for fuel filters, oil filters, oil change, Impellor Change, Pre trip spares on board spare belt is a good idea as well.
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1.5 gallons per hour (around 7 litres per hour) on a GM30???? Or 1.5 litres per hour? I would reckon on 2.5-3 ltrs per hour -am I under-estimating?

I also do an engine check every day I use the boat just to ensure I haven't missed anything. I know it's probably not necessary and I know that if I checked the oil level yesterday and there is none under the engine today, that it's probably fine but I like the habit of doing the check as I'm lesss likely to miss something stupid like not opening the engine sea cock. Also my (GM30 alternator belt goes slack over time, a daily check builds up a feel for what is ' normal' and what is bad.
 
Most of us are probably sailor's with tiny little sowing machine size auxiliary engines. To help us in and out of docks. Our checks are pretty basic. My thinking if I have a problem? I will just put the sails up.

What about bigger boats and bigger engines? It might be interesting to ask the Motor Boat crowd what checks they do.
I started out crewing on a MOBO. Old 40ft displacement with 2 60hp Thorneycroft.
My uncle had
Pre start up Checks
And
Post start up Checks.
And
Shut Down Checks.

The Engine hatch was opened prior to start up post start up and after shut down. Every time. As far as I know. No sails to put up if there was a problem. Still had two engines.

The boat had hand hammered copper engine bilges , He cleaned them every time. His logic, If you keep the bilge clean. If you ever had a problem you would notice right away.

I think it was a good habit. I check my bilges daily and I keep a clean oil absorbent pad right under the engine.
 
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Homer J said:
1.5 gallons per hour (around 7 litres per hour) on a GM30???? Or 1.5 litres per hour? I would reckon on 2.5-3 ltrs per hour -am I under-estimating?

I also do an engine check every day I use the boat just to ensure I haven't missed anything. I know it's probably not necessary and I know that if I checked the oil level yesterday and there is none under the engine today, that it's probably fine but I like the habit of doing the check as I'm lesss likely to miss something stupid like not opening the engine sea cock. Also my (GM30 alternator belt goes slack over time, a daily check builds up a feel for what is ' normal' and what is bad.
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You are most likely right, I am just very conservative with my guessing, running out of fuel is a PIA. :)
I agree, Regular checks help you notice something is not right.
 
Another day and still the argument goes on . :)

Not sure how you can compare a sailing boat with a plane , ship or train that would do hundreds if not thousand of miles on engines where the most a sail boat will do is a few hours ,
As for engine mounts coming lose I never had that happen I can only imagine there not got the right fixing .

I can understand Captnsensible doing the check every time is starts up .
has an RYA instructor taken clients out on courses ,
I can see by keeping up that routine every time he doesn't forget to do it when his teaching plus it give the students something to do each morning .

but as for everyone else , I am really surprised ,
I can understand if say you engine uses a lot of oil or you had a dripping water pump , then maybe it's time you fixed that leak ,
but sure if your engine is in good nick , and it was used for an hour or three last time out surely you don't recheck it all again .

What happen when your on a longest trip wind died and have to use the engine for say nine hours do you stop the engine every hour and check .
Now there an interesting question .
 
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Sound like I need to buck my ideas up .:)
We done 220 miles over the last five days and about to do another 40 to day , engine hours so far 4.8 most of that used dropping and hauling the anchor , with a good F5 forecaster to day we might end up using the engine for another 30 mins .
I not checked the engine for six days now , and probably won't for another couple unless there signs of. Problem .
My batteries are sealed , I know the tops are clean and vas , a quick look at my MPPT panel tells me every thing I need to know .
I would have to removing all our beds , toppers , mattress to get to mine if I wanted to check them every time .
My engine sea cock stay open as we on board all the time so no need to close it .
All the other sea cock we using all the time also stay open , once every few weeks they given a good turn a few times .
An hour a go we turned on all the instruments, started the engine , listen for the tone of the engine to hear if the water is coming out and all well , has we can't see it and off we went ,
15 mins on , engine off and we sailing at 6 kts .
 
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