Seven mechanical tips that will make your mechanic proud.
Tip 1
When replacing an oil or secondary fuel filter use a Sharpie to mark the date of change and engine hours…so you know when to change next time around at a glance.
— Capt. Bill Pike
Tip 2
Add a Walker Airsep, even to an old engine. I’ve had one for several years now.
— Capt. Bill Pike
Tip 3
Use a bucket, an old bilge pump, and a product like Trac’s descaler or Ospho to clean the raw-water system without removing it.
Remove the raw-water system, take the exchangers to a radiator shop for cleaning, add new hoses if necessary.
— Capt. Bill Pike
Tip 4
Add a low-amp switch to your fuel filter from Filter Boss. It lets you know via a helm panel when an element is starting to clog well before it is finally clogged.
— Capt. Bill Pike
Tip 5
Substitute Gore-Tex packing in your stuffing box to get virtually dripless operation from a piece of old-fashioned equipment.
— Capt. Bill Pike
Tip 6
Add an in-line paddlewheel-type device from Groco in your raw-water engine intake line to alert you when debris is sucked up or you’re having some other reduced-water-flow issue.
— Capt. Bill Pike
Tip 7
Use an automotive-style pressure gauge to cross check your dash-mounted oil-pressure gauges…just to be sure.
— Capt. Bill Pike
