Transmission fix!

We didn’t have to replace the transmission after all. The problem turned out to be the oil cooler. The oil cooler is basically a heat exchanger that has raw sea water flowing through tubes, sealed off from, but surrounded by pressurized transmission fluid. What happened was the tubes sprang a leak and the pressure being greater on the oil side caused the transmission oil to vacate through the exhaust, via the cooling tubes. When the oil became low enough the transmission began to slip. In Santa Barbara I purchased a new oil cooler for $145.00, drained and flushed the transmission and filled it up with MD 111 fluid. I also drained the v-drive and replaced the 30W oil in it. As a result the drive train sounds/works great, so far.


We left Santa Barbara yesterday morning at ten, headed for Ventura Harbor. We decided to take a short cruise to make sure the transmission was going to work well. Our attempts to contact anyone at the marina were unsuccessful, so we went to the fuel dock to top off our tank and inquire as to dock/slip availability. Unfortunately, we discovered that they had a slip but the cost was $66.00 per night. It was out of the question to pay this exhorbatent amount for a slip in a stinky/ filthy marina! However, we were informed that six miles south there were slips available at Chanel Islands Marina. By the time we exited Ventura Harbor we had only two hours till dark. No problem though, I just kicked it up a bit to seven knots and we arrived in plenty of time to secure a slip. The Marina is beautiful here, and very clean. It has individual boat slips, much better than Santa Barbara. Although I must say, the blond receptionist is pretty and nice enough, but a bit lacking in the “giving directions department”. The docks are alphabetically marked well enough, but the numbers are not readable from the side of approach. If you go there make her spell it out. Make sure she counts dock fingers!

I spoke with our friend Gary and explained that our problem with the engine is a bad injector. We have been getting diesel in the oil when we shut the engine down. Not a lot, but enough to warrant very frequent oil changes. It seems that the main clue is that when the engine is started cold the exhaust is white. This I am told is due to raw fuel in at least one cylinder. Today I will replace the injectors with the new ones the previous owner was so kind to leave aboard.

Okay, confession time. When following our Canadian friends’ boat, I was unable to pick them up on radar, but I did have a shadow behind us. I knew this to be a shadow, because it was a clear day and there was obviously no boat astern. I later discovered that the boat astern was our friends' boat. How was this possible? Well it seems that when radars are installed they must be installed with the wires entering from the stern side. When I fabricated the solar/radar frame, I ran the wires through the pipe from the forward compartment to the stern. This made them exit the frame on the bow side and I hooked them up on that side, looked great! Unfortunately, this hooking up the wires on the bow side caused the radar to read backwards. Ops! Maybe if I have time after changing the injectors, I will turn the radar around. That’s all folks!