Question: I have a 1994 Mainship 31 with a pair of 315-hp Yanmar diesels with 2,000 hours on them. While running at full throttle (about 33 knots) for five minutes, the starboard engine temperature creeps up enough to set off an alarm. If I ease ‘er back to half-throttle, the temperature returns to normal after a couple of minutes. The starboard engine has always run a bit warmer
Question: While performing routine maintenance on my Caterpillar C7, I was surprised to find a substance about the size of a quarter at the top of my Racor—it looked like algae. There was no water in the bowl, and the engine-mounted filter was found to be clean. My Cat runs fine now and I would like to keep it that way. I am getting a lot of suggestions from friends as to what
Q. I have a 2003 Sea Ray Sundancer 420 and am moving from the New York City area to Florida soon. Do I need to do anything different in Florida in terms of boat maintenance? I am especially concerned about the warmer waters down there and the algae growth in fuel tanks I’ve heard so many bad things about.
Dan Markow
North Haledon, New Jersey
A:
Question: I’ve always wondered if there was anything special I should do when getting my boat ready for launch in the spring. My mechanic says no, just start her up, but I wonder.
— M.C.K.,
Tidewater, VA
Professor Diesel: The best advice I can give anyone is to start with the engine’s operator’s manual.
Question: I have a 1994 Mainship 31 with a pair of 315-hp Yanmar diesels with 2,000 hours on them. While running at full throttle (about 33 knots) for five minutes, the starboard engine temperature creeps up enough to set off an alarm. If I ease ‘er back to half-throttle, the temperature returns to normal after a couple of minutes. The starboard engine has always run a bit warmer
Question: While performing routine maintenance on my Caterpillar C7, I was surprised to find a substance about the size of a quarter at the top of my Racor—it looked like algae. There was no water in the bowl, and the engine-mounted filter was found to be clean. My Cat runs fine now and I would like to keep it that way. I am getting a lot of suggestions from friends as to what
Q. I have a 2003 Sea Ray Sundancer 420 and am moving from the New York City area to Florida soon. Do I need to do anything different in Florida in terms of boat maintenance? I am especially concerned about the warmer waters down there and the algae growth in fuel tanks I’ve heard so many bad things about.
Dan Markow
North Haledon, New Jersey
A:
Question: I’ve always wondered if there was anything special I should do when getting my boat ready for launch in the spring. My mechanic says no, just start her up, but I wonder.
— M.C.K.,
Tidewater, VA
Professor Diesel: The best advice I can give anyone is to start with the engine’s operator’s manual.
