MD17C in A25

[Beta Don]

Hook up a 12 volt pump and force kerosene (or diesel fuel) into the outlet where the stock oil pump pressurizes the block and turn on the pump. Wherever you see fluid coming out, plug it up the hole with a small piece of wood whittled to fit the orfice and that will force the fluid to go through every other passage possible - You may have to put the camshaft back in to close off those holes. If there was a blockage caused by old dried gunky oil, you want a solvent to clean it out. When you're all finished, pull all the plugs and put compressed air into the pump outlet and that will blow out and/or evaporate any remaining kerosene and you should have a block with whistle clean oil passages

Don

[kerrye]

You can get a 12 volt diesel fuel pump at auto supply stores and use that. Then, when you need to drain your fuel tank for some reason, you've got a pump ready to go. I put alligator clips on the end of my pump's wires so I can clip it to the battery and I'm good to go.

[WillieC]

Don and Kerry, great replies. Thank you. Camshaft has not been removed, only oil pump and connecting rods and the feed lines to the rocker arms and a feed line for the cold start device: an ancient, glowplug-free VP innovation that uses lack of oil pressure at start-up to advance the throttle position beyond the moon; when throttle is pulled back quickly as soon as it fires, a small pin held erect, dare I say, by the oil pressure of the running engine serves as the full throttle stop. Pretty ingenious and it only took me three years to figure it out. The shop manuals must be translated from Swedish since they don't explain anything about how the goofy thing works, but it works. This also is why we old VP owners should have our injectors tested maybe a bit more often. That rich starts dumps a lot of fuel.

Kerosene/diesel is a key piece of advice. Yes I need something closer to solvent if I want to flush anything out. And I do plan on other uses for the pump, maybe leave it dedicated for my new oil change drain line.

Here is another metallurgy question for y'all. Spent most of Saturday in the shop scraping the last of the block and polishing the flywheel, don't ask why, I'm retired. It was a bit chilly for these parts, low 30s, even though I fired up the woodstove, the shop doesn't get overly warm. And the engine is hanging from the block and tackle over an inverted drum well away from the stove. Not too bright. Anyhow, by the time I packed it in around dusk, I was pretty well chilled and my new hip leg was killing me. OK, I have been known to overdo it from time to time, but I didn't think I was abusing my body. This morning the Admiral pondered that maybe the new hunk of metal in my hip got cold and that affected all the nearby muscles and tendons. I have heard of old geezers being able to forecast weather by the various aches and pains of old war injuries and the like. Just never thought it would happen to me. Still glad I did it. I just want to feel 20 years old again.

Coastal Marine in Seattle called late Friday informing me the parts are in. Will pick up on Monday. Let the fun begin. Finally!

[Beta Don]

Unless your lips were turning blue, I seriously doubt any piece of metal inside your body got much colder than 85 or 90 degrees

I think the 'old man's weather forecasting' had more to do with changes in barometric pressure and the effect that has on old semi-calcified joints acting up

Don

[WillieC]

The human body is quite the heat engine. The superunobtainium hip joint is probably closer to 98.6F. I was just fishing for a better reason than old age on which to blame all my aches and pains. Running out of excuses.

Surprised by a couple inches of soggy snow this morning. It'll be gone by noon or so. I'll hang out much closer to the woodstove today. Might have to add some 'heat' to my coffee, too.

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[WillieC]

I can't wait for prime weather so I made my own. Went through half my wood supply but I got the temp up, enough, and the humidity, well this is the PNW. We don't worry about humidity, much.

Not too many sags. Though the heavy sags on the original and faux second paint job were not easy to remove.

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[Hobbit]

You aren't going to be like the old car guys that only drive it twice a year because its too pretty are you?

[WillieC]

I'm just trying to get an engine that runs for more than two hours without burping all the antifreeze out. How hard can that be?

I think the first picture already has the ospho treatment. I had to do a little sanding of thick spots of ospho and to knock the crystals down a bit, then do the white cloth wipe down, so this picture is just before primer.

[Beta Don]

I'm just trying to get an engine that runs for more than two hours without burping all the antifreeze out. How hard can that be?

I think Volvo predetermined how hard that might be long before you came along!

You do have three of the absolute luckiest hunks of iron Volvo ever produced - When you get through, your engine will belong in the Volvo museum . . . . not in a 40 year old boat!!

Is there another Volvo owner anywhere on the planet who is worried in the slightest about a run in the paint on the side of the block? I think you're one in a million! Lucky indeed . . . . none of those engines are worthy of having you as an owner!!

Don

[WillieC]

Thanks for the kind words, Don. I think back to our first look at our 25. We stepped aboard and one of the first things we noticed was lack of diesel smell. Only later did it occur to us that other boats we had looked at over the years were mostly wooden hulls. Fiberglass doesn't soak up near the fuel that a woody does. And, this Albin had plenty of fuel leaks.

What I distinctly remember was the amount of rust on the engine. Almost like a splotchy sunburn. We were very green around boats, this being our first, and I just assumed that chunking rust was part of the deal. There were three fairly shiny parts on the top of the engine that I later came to recognize as injectors. Only they had never been painted. That became my first clue to re-use those injectors on my refreshed engine, because (I deduced that) they had recently been serviced and LEFT UNPAINTED and succumbed to ever-worsening rust. So these became three of the four I took into H&H Diesel in Tacoma. Minor clean and adjust and good to go. $12 each. And they got bead-blasted, just like the injector pumps. They are currently hermetically sealed in bags from H&H. I'll paint them just before I install them.

I am hoping to have no leaks, oil, fuel or anti-freeze, but I know better. (I have not removed the flywheel, hoping that the mainseal is ok. Dreamer.) I much prefer to have all that slide over fresh paint rather than soak into pitted, porous, pinholed cast iron, hopefully making it easier to find the source of trouble. As you can see by looking at the picture of the bare block just before application of primer, you can almost read the history of the right cylinder springing a leak, back in the day when it was saltwater cooled, getting under the poorly primed original paint, staining not only the area just under the cylinder, but also the lower section of the block all the way to the back end. Gravity, not acceleration, drew that rust rearward. The PO, or more likely the @#$@#& that sold the spare engine to the PO, didn't bother to prep or prime anything, just throw a fresh coat of Fahrest Green over it and call it an engine with less than 2000 hours.

I know fresh paint doesn't mean a damn thing. But I will know what I have in this engine. And the paint is my stamp of approval. And it will be a daily driver. No museum piece here. Merry Christmas, everybody who is still reading!

[DesertAlbin736]

Yes Rick, it's looking very, very good. My that thing has a huge flywheel! Certain amount of antique-y charm to see those individually cast cylinders and that big flywheel spinning on the front end. So different from Yanmars that are more like regular automotive engine configurations with cylinders cast en bloc with starter at the back end and flywheel out of sight inside the bell housing.

And no, as inspiring as your work is, no plans in the works here to repaint our engine, except maybe that air intake horn one of these days.

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You will be so proud when the day comes you'll be ready to post a YouTube like this...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nl0e835H9ds

Merry Christmas to all!

[WillieC]

I was going to say something about that intake....Probably better to wait until the bottom of the oil pan needs paint.

I am approaching crisis mode. Ready to topcoat valve covers and I can't decide what color! I have gloss black and VP green on hand. Maybe some sliver leftover from the HX paint job last year.

12V oil/fuel xfer pumps are not so easy to find anymore. Closest I got was a $35 unit at NAPA. Tried to find something at HF online and all I got was manual and muy espensivo. Any other suggestions?

[DesertAlbin736]

12V oil/fuel xfer pumps are not so easy to find anymore. Closest I got was a $35 unit at NAPA. Tried to find something at HF online and all I got was manual and muy espensivo. Any other suggestions?

$115 is kind of expensive (says the guy who spent almost $1,500 on dinghy davits), but if you consider that to be a price worth paying in exchange for forever eliminating the need to fotch around with hand pumps & suction tubes, then this all purpose Shurflo 12V pump from Wholesale Marine might be your ticket. These pumps are self priming & rated for oil & fuel transfer. If I were going on a long cruise where lack of fuel docks necessitated carrrying extra fuel in jerry cans, I'd want one of these & not risk an oil spill refilling my tank from the spare cans. Maybe you could ask Santa for one? Ho, Ho, Ho! Merry Christmas!!!

https://www.wholesalemarine.com/shurflo ... pose-pump/

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Or, if you don't want to hard wire a permanent installation, then for $133 you can get this one with 8 foot cable & alligator clips.

https://www.wholesalemarine.com/shurflo ... -hose-kit/

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[WillieC]

Know what I use to transfer fuel from the jerry cans? This. After three years of wrestling the spill proof, fuel transfer proof nozzle on the jug:

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Also, while pondering my thrifty ways, it came to me that I have, wired in the boat, an electric fuel pump for use in emergencies AND for priming the notoriously tricky Bosch no-return-line-to-the-tank fuel system. Works like a champ.

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Why not use IT for my oil galley colonic cleanse pump? I will try to tear myself away from the festivities tomorrow and give it a go. Just have to be sure to autoclave it after each use. Or not.

Also, color coordination crisis is OVER! The Commander of the Pacific Fleet, recently upgraded from Admiral, has weighed in: Volvo Green. End of discussion! Now as to the air intakes. Hmm, I kind of like DesertAlbin's look. Rustic. Gently used. Aged patina. NOT!

[Beta Don]

I've used these el cheapo Chinese made pumps for several years and for all sorts of uses

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Gas-Diesel- ... fresh=true

I used one as the main fuel pump aboard for my genset. I used another to drain about 40 gallons of fuel from my Albin tank when I needed to clean the tank. I used another one as a fuel transfer pump. Sometimes I would refuel by carrying a pair of 5 gallon cans in the dink. I had a place in the lazarette to store them as 'extra' just in case reserve. I made me a cord with a lighter plug socket, added a 2 foot piece of 1/4 copper tubing, a filter on the input side and a length of 1/4 fuel hose on the output side. Drop the copper tube into the 5 gallon can, stick the hose in the deck fill and plug it in. They use very little power and pump about 15 gallons per hour, so 20 minutes or so and you've emptied a 5 gallon can with no danger of spilling any trying to pour it into the deck fill

A friend on an off shore sailboat has 3 or 4 of these permanently plumbed into his 'fuel system' aboard and he can move fuel from 3 different tanks into the 'day tank' he runs his engine from. Open a valve and flip the switch - At roughly 5 gallons every 20 minutes he moves what he wants from whichever tank he wants. He also uses them on his 'fuel polishing system' where he pumps fuel through a huge Racor with a 2 micron filter out of the tank and back into the same one . . . . or through the filter and into the day tank. After filling the tanks, he runs the 'polishing system' for several hours whenever he's running the engine so as to run the new fuel through the big filter several times before it puts any of it into the day tank - He's got 3 or 4 of these pumps plumbed into the system and about 8 or 10 quarter turn valves for moving the fuel around. He carries a couple spare pumps, but don't think he's had a failure over the past 5 or 6 years and a couple thousand engine hours. They're amazingly durable for the price

I *think* you could also use one as an oil change pump, assuming you have run the engine to heat up the oil before you do the change

Order 2 or 3 - They're very handy to have around!

Don