Quote:
Originally Posted by ernst
Thank you, Neil and Jerry. Something else I hadn't thought about!
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Situation update: Yesterday I took out the pump again. Of course that included removal of the alternator bracket, which means moving downthe alternator. As expected, there was old gasket material on the flange. After I cleaned that up and installed the new gasket (requiring a trip to the hardware store since the lockwasher on one of the bolts was donated to the bilge), the oil leak is gone.
Whether my whole problem is solved is not clear. Before I started the above-mentioned work, I noticed that the bilge under the motor was again filled with about a half gallon of what looked to be at least partially coolant (no, I did not taste it, I have my limits!). I had not put in a diaper this time, precisely because I wanted to see if I might have a leak somewhere. Nevertheless, I did the multi-stage refilling of the block and heat exchanger, I am getting pretty good at that
, and increased the controlling temperature slowly to 180deg, as prescribed. All went well but when I checked again today, to my surprise the overflow/expansion container was completely empty even though I had filled it to the brim yesterday (by mistake). I was expecting that the motor would have ejected some coolant when it cooled off, leading to an overflow of the expansion container but it looks like the motor sucked in its whole contents! No idea what that means.
Unfortunately, when I was done I had to winterize the boat for the season. We will have a cold snap this week, with 36 hours below freezing (down to the teens). I have things set up so that winterizing is not a big deal so I could presumably go for a last sail next weekend but I am really busy at work so most likely this is the end of my season.
I guess I won't know if this is the end of my saga or not until some time next April.
Again, thanks A LOT for all the advice and hand-holding. I will for sure keep y'all updated once I emerge out of hibernation!