Recent content by RickyD

I have Cat 3208s, different I know, but my port oil cooler leaked and I had black oil floating in my coolant. I didn't have recycle bottles on my engines so I didn't notice it until I stuck my finger in the coolant. Without the bottles the coolant level would just stabilize a bit below the...

I had a very good SH on my sailboat for 20 years. When bought my 47' trawler the radio was dead. My boat neighbor had a Uniden and loved it, though his boat almost never left the docks. Went to West Marine and installed it. Later I tried to reach a friends boat in front of me and he had...

I've been told that pickling will deteriorate the membranes. My watermaker mechanic prefers frequent flushing. Now, regarding how to flush, I have tapped into my freshwater pressure system and run it to a large (Big Blue) carbon block filter and I flush with that. This makes it very easy...

Ok, me again, the microswitch preventing the start of the engine when in gear went bad. Based on the part number, $125. I one on Grainger for less than half that and I got two on Amazon for $12.

My buddy broke the rectangular frame that holds in is Caterpillar 3208 After cooler. It is made of pot metal, has several holes in it for the bolts, over $700 with tax. Yiikess

Well I clicked on Quote to comment on when water will evaporate. I'm not sure what happened. Water and other liquids have a vapor pressure from evaporation. The higher the temperature the higher the vapor pressure goes and the more it evaporates. Get it good and hot and it will be gone under...

One other thing to check would be the micro switch that won't allow you to start the engine in gear. Yes be sure all stations are in neutral but also go back to the transmission and close to that are two wires connected to a micro switch and an eccentric that pushes on the microswitch lever or...

OC Diver is right. Also, I regularly use a toilet brush to keep the bowl seal clean. Then next problem could be warped duckbill valves. I replaced the valves in the aft Vac Head in 2018. Just now they are starting to leak a little so the vac pump will go off early in the morning hours unless...

I use a Liba bug zapper that has an electric screen and two bulbs to attract the pests. Works great. The only problem is the bugs explode with a loud pop that scares my dog. I find it a satisfying sound. I have two neighbors using the same one which is why I bought one. Found it on Amazon...

I use that water sep/fuel filter on my dink. Seems to work. Thanks for reminding me, time to change the filter and drain any moisture.

Here is my observation: I had a Lien Hwa 47' with twins and I learned to spin it quite well. When I moved over the to the Cal 55 I felt that the 47 spun 3 times easier. I don't often use the bow thruster to spin but I do use more or less throttle. You know....scutt up towards a dock, put the...

At the risk of co-opting this I have also a question about zincs. When I bought my 55 it had two zincs per shaft. Someone suggested I may be over zinced. My shafts are so long they are in two segments connected and I have two struts per shaft. My zincs are not wasting away quickly so I'm not...

Hey Socalrider I love my Californian 55. Its 33 years old and only the stb engine has been rebuilt due to a serious overheat from a prior owner. No they don't make them anymore but some survive.

Of course I have a newer Furuno Time Zero system and I didn't think of using the track option to determine fuel use. I'll do that next time

Well my question was: do I take the measurement at right angles to the bow and stern or actually following the curve of the boat?