Captain's Blog

          This is my 3rd oil change since we bought the boat. Since it is winter and the boat will be idle with very little if any use until Spring, it is a good idea to change the oil. This way I have new clean oil sitting in the engine for the winter months without all those contaminates eating away at it.     Changing oil in the 200 HP Volvo TAMD41-P is pretty straight forward.  I firmly believe that virtually every boat owner should do this maintenance job themselves. Two reasons, 1. You save money, 2. You learn your engine.     I use Shell Rotella T4 15W-40 , as do many. Currently there is a shortage of Shell Rotella, just like everything else in this post-COVID world.  I usually keep enough oil on the boat for 2 oil changes. The Volvo TAMD41-P has an oil capacity of 11.6 qts. The OEM oil filter is Volvo Part# 471034-9 , a replacement for that can be a FRAM part# PH3306A , I use an oil filter from NAPA Gold #1596 which also w...

    The instrument panel on the Fly Bridge had become ragged. The panel itself was cracked at 3 of the 4 corners and the top gauges had yellowed from 20 plus years in the elements and difficult to read. I tried to buff them out but all I could manage was a polished foggy yellow lens. The 52mm rings on 2 of the gauges were broken and the volt gauge was hanging underneath the console.      My first thought was that since I have a shop with the right tools, I could fabricate a new panel from Acrylic. I knew it would look awesome but I did some research and found that I could buy the OEM panel only  Volvo Part #860182  for less than $100. Somewhat expensive but I figured I'd spend way more time drawing and cutting it.  Way easier. The Tachometer was fine although the LED hour meter wasn't showing. The LED hour meter at the lower helm comes and goes, but I handled that with a new analog hour meter at the lower helm a few months ago.     I att...

  I want to preface this post with this. I am not a trained mechanic, I just like learning and doing as much to my boat myself as I can. With that said, I take no responsibility for any results positive or negative if these directions are followed. This is for informational purposes only. If you have any comments about the procedure and how it can be improved, I would love to hear them. My Cheat Sheet My Volvo TAMD41P 200 hp engine now has 3120 hours on it.  Valve adjustment should be done every 1000 to 3000 hours. I have no idea when mine was done last as there were no maintenance records.  It was time. Basic Tools for Valve Adjustment To start with here is a basic list of tools you will need. 21 mm Socket & Ratchet - Rotating Engine 10 mm Socket & Ratchet - Valve Cover Nuts 10 mm Wrench - Valve Cover Nuts 1/2" Wrench - Valve Adjustment Lock Nut Flathead Screwdriver - Valve Adjustment 0.40 mm Feeler Gauge - Valve Gap The Volvo "Workshop Manual / Engine Body" pag...

On the Travel Lift at Twin Rivers Marina, Crystal River      This is the second time I have hauled out Pau Hana since we purchased her in June of 2020.  The first was right after we bought her. See "The Dreaded Dripless Shaft Seal Part II" .       This time I had a couple of issues I wanted to attend to.  She had been in the water almost a year and a half. If you read the Blog Entry  "Movin' on Up...or Down" then you might remember that one of those issues was the Keel Protector. It had sustained some damage when we hit a rock on our way to Tampa. Minor Damage to the Keel Protector     Also, I had a slight vibration only at 1200 RPM, above or below that, was fine. Coming past Madeira Beach this summer at idle speed, we heard a strange "pop" sound and a momentary RPM reduction, then all seemed normal. I couldn't tell for sure but thought I heard a different sort of sound when running. I suspected we picked up a rope in the Inter...