Yes!!! Finally back on the river!!!

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watson1959

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After 3 months of agony, numerous problems and different views of what was wrong...... We are finally back in action with the engine running beautifully but £2k out of pocket.....

I'll post a full debrief later..... Now it's cold beer with my son at the George and Dragon....booootiful!
 
Yeah baby.....watch out!

So...in brief because its been a pain in the 4rse :D

1. Local diesel injection specialist charged me £300+ to come and look at it and found nothing until I pointed out an intermittent electrical connection. Even then they couldnt think what might be causing the clouds of smoke and 'rumbling'.

2. Found a splendid local boat electrician called Mark Kirton (www.kirtonnarrowboats.com) who went meticulously through the electrics including the ECU which is mounted in an horrendous position. Fixed some poor connections, got her running, did some tidying up......but still the smoke.

3. Harrassed Mr Savage but unfortunately he's too bl00dy good and is fully booked.....but he referred me to an acquaintance Nick Roberts......THANK GOD.

4. After an initial session assessing detail of what was happenning/history/recent work, Mark decided the turbo needed servicing as the wastegate actuator was jammed. Ended up finding/choosing Turbo Developments in Brentford. They also truned out to be excellent customer service people and VERY responsive: patient, listened, did what they could.

5. They assessed that the original Garrett turbo had so many modifications to it that they would have to just refurb it as best possible instead of replace. Most seem to have been done a LONG time ago. The whole thing was 'back to front'.

6. Picked up turbo looking like new and with a new wastegate mechanism fixed. (Now done 80 miles!). Nick came back to boat.........AAAAARGGGHHHH

7. Turbo Developments did what we asked: fixed what I took in. WRONG!! Someone at some stage had fitted a VACUUM wastegate when in fact it needed a PRESSURE wastegate....this had never worked...been permanently open, causing over work/wrong mix/damage to turbo and eventual oil leak which was the cause of the smoke.

8. Back to Brentford..twice.....drop off then pickup. Swapped it for a pressure wastegate.....Nick came back. I have to say that his attention to detail; logic of what is happenning; persistence with previously botched work etc is commendable.

9. Boat now goes double the previous speed, purrrrrrrs like a pussy cat.....creates a wake that people will complain about....and is only running at half power because they limited the pressure on the wastegate as a precaution. :D

10. Next season :Mlines.......watch out.....we will be skiing down to Henley :D

Expensive........but fixed. Now.......so long as it doesnt rain till September I was made redundant today: so lots of time to enjoy!
 
mlines said:
Thats really good news, sorry the guys I pointed you at first of all looked to be pretty useless.

I had better get some practice in then, off to Maidenhead tomorrow to get up some speed.
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No prob at all Martin: you were helping.

I'm off to wax my water-skis..........
 
Lovely feeling isn't it, when it's all finally finished and back in the water.

We will swerve out of your way as you plane down the Thames on your water-skis... :D:D:D

Enjoy!!!! :)
 
HONEYMOMMY said:
Lovely feeling isn't it, when it's all finally finished and back in the water.

We will swerve out of your way as you plane down the Thames on your water-skis... :D:D:D

Enjoy!!!! :)
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It was just so stressful! The only consolation was that long period when all the warning boards were out so we couldn't use her anyhow.

Above all it's the satisfaction of fixing an issue that existed many years before we bought her ( and was in part known to limit her performance when we bought her). So hopefully will now add value as opposed to just cost !
 
watson1959 said:
Above all it's the satisfaction of fixing an issue that existed many years before we bought her ( and was in part known to limit her performance when we bought her). So hopefully will now add value as opposed to just cost !
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Do make sure you thoroughly document the information about the work that was needed etc so that a future owner can avoid your trials and tribulations !

Peeps may denigrate the ubiquitous VileVo green lumps but they are usually pretty easy to sort and fix !
 
boatone said:
Do make sure you thoroughly document the information about the work that was needed etc so that a future owner can avoid your trials and tribulations !

Peeps may denigrate the ubiquitous VileVo green lumps but they are usually pretty easy to sort and fix !
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For sure.... I've a file with all servicing documents which I inherited and keep up to date.
 
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