Potomac Rendezvous at Port Kinsale

alexander38 · Post by **alexander38** » Mon Aug 08, 2011 4:47 am

seen the story over at the other site on your engine jm any more news on it ?, And would like to see a Carver/Trojan 440 at a get together.

prowlersfish · Post by **prowlersfish** » Mon Aug 08, 2011 6:44 am

jmeirhofer , what engines do you have in your Trojan 440 ? What proplems are you having ?

jmeirhofer · Post by **jmeirhofer** » Mon Aug 08, 2011 12:43 pm

Thanks for the inquiry. The motors are Cat 3126TA 420hp. Still have not gotton to the bottom of it but had water/antifreeze intrusion into the #3 cylinder. They think there is a crack in that cylinder but they are not sure. It is however scored too. Also found traces of antifreeze in the oil And traces of oil in the antifreeze. Also oil residue in the antifreeze overflow. No antifreeze in either the tank or the overflow and not much in the motor itself. The guess, at this point that is all it is and will be, is that the turbo or the oil cooler was the cause of the leak and the subsequent overheat likely led to the the block issue. One other issue that is puzzleing, the coolant tank cap when pressure tested failed. However, the day this all came to a head, when I checked the antifreeze level it was good as was the overflow tank. I have never had to put antifreeze in either motor. There was no antifreeze in the bilge and there was not any smoke out of the exhaust. Not sure where all the antifreeze went but it was not in the crank case.

The reason I said that is all it will be is I am not willing to spend several hundred in additional diagnosis money. I know the block is damaged and needs replaced. The head may be as well. I know the heat exchanger is okay as it pressure tested fine. I am getting a reman long block and having the turbo rebuilt. The oil cooler comes with the block. i do not need them to test the head or the oil cooler to figure out if it was the culprit at $85 an hour. At this point I am more comfortable with having everything rebuilt.

The insurance guy is coming mid-week to make a determination if it is covered. I am not holding my breath on that one. The new motor will be here on Friday. With a little luck everything will be assembled and ready by the following weekend. The motor has a one year warranty and I will likely purchase an extended warranty for another year or two.

Going in with the attitude that I know nothing of the history of the starboard motor, I will be taking a pro-active approach on the maintenance and consider that nothing has been done. Over the next couple months I will be removing cleaning and testing all of the components starting with the heat exchanger and oil cooler. I recently had a service done on that motor so I will wait a few hours to do an oil sample. I am also going to flush the anitfreeze on that one since I now have no idea how old it is. Basically everything that is in the service manual short of rebuilding it. I will be following the manual on both motors pretty religously here on out I can assure you.

I do have the basic service manual and am pretty good mechanically. I have seen nothing that I can not service myself (save maybe turbo rebuild or injector rebuild) given the appropriate amount of time. In the end I will know it was done and done correctly.

I had always done all of my own maintenance and repairs on everything from boats to motorcycles and cars. Even worked on a few airplanes back in the day. I had gotten lazy and let other people do it for me the last few years due to committments to other things. I think I need to change that.

Blowing into the teens in boat bucks will have you quickly re-evaluate things that is for sure. Sucks that it happened but stuff breaks. I am just glad I am in a position to afford the cost.

Sorry for the long post but you guys asked.

Wes · Post by **Wes** » Mon Aug 08, 2011 8:15 pm

We were at the rendezvous at each destination and I vote we try for cooler weather. At Lankford Bay it was so hot everyone stayed in their air conditioned boats. The Solomons was a little better but still HOT! Unfortunately it will take us all of next year to pay for this year's trip. Hopefully in 2 years we can do it again and tease all the dock queens.

Wes · Post by **Wes** » Mon Aug 08, 2011 8:16 pm

Excuse me, I mean "dock sitters".

Stripermann2 · Post by **Stripermann2** » Mon Aug 08, 2011 9:30 pm

Wes, is it was a pleasure to meet you and your wife. I hope your travels were enjoyable!
I look forward to the next accommodating cruise where we'll be able to spend more time sharing stories and catching up!

Maybe 2013...

Wes · Post by **Wes** » Tue Aug 09, 2011 9:41 am

Jamie,
The pleasure was ours. Next time, due to expenses, we'll probably have to drive down. When we departed Cape May for Manasquan we looked at the Atlantic and I didn't like what I saw. I decided to take the Intracoastal waterway through NJ. I heard on the radio that there were small craft warnings on the ocean. Other than that, just about everything was wonderful except for the oppressive heat. We logged 1052 miles on the trip. No "dock sitter" here. LOL
Be well and keep enjoying thet "Trojan".
Wes

alexander38 · Post by **alexander38** » Tue Aug 09, 2011 12:59 pm

Glad to see your home and safe. Michelle and I enjoyed meeting you all and seeing a 1 of 12 Trojan. And you better know it no more round ups in july!

Wes · Post by **Wes** » Tue Aug 09, 2011 2:58 pm

Thanks Tony,

I actually didn't want to stay on the boat after we arrived back at our home port. I needed a few days ashore, but I'll be back there on Friday.

willietrojan · Post by **willietrojan** » Tue Aug 16, 2011 11:36 am

does anyone have any pictures they can post?

Wes · Post by **Wes** » Tue Aug 16, 2011 12:07 pm

I just sent some to Paul and I'm sure he'll post a few of them.

prowlersfish · Post by **prowlersfish** » Tue Aug 16, 2011 12:11 pm

Willie We where looking for you to show up , have you found a boat yet ? I see what photos I can dig up . I took very few on this trip mostly at the Solomons .

I will see what Wes has when I get them .