While I love my boat more often than not sometimes I hate it.
The alternator was overcharging so I took it to an electrician who replaced the regulator and rear bearing.
Salt water pump leaks a drip every 5 seconds so with alternator off try to remove pump. I cannot get at one of the Allen head bolts. Go home and make up some tools to get the bolt out but figure it can wait.
Refit the alternator this afternoon, connect everything up tightly. Start up, light stays on and no charge.
Remove alternator to take back to electrician. Try my special tools on the water pump without success.
Two visits to the boat and absolutely no progress on either problem. I'm going overseas in a few weeks for nearly 3 months and want it going properly before I go. GRRRRRRRR!

Hi Morningbird

What type of engine do you have in her

Regards Don

Sole mini 23. A Mitsubishi based 3 cyl 20hp engine. I really like it, usually.

Is it a access problem you have or is it tight

Regards Don

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MorningBird said..
Sole mini 23. A Mitsubishi based 3 cyl 20hp engine. I really like it, usually.

two things Id try if you can give the head of the allen headed bolt a smack with a hammer and punch as its metric maybe a imperial allen key might be also smacked in with hammer .
Alternatively a good pair of multi grips may do the trick after you have given the allen key head a smack with a punch and hammer ir another way is a impact screw driver

see if you can get a allen key socket

Thanks guys. Unfortunately I can't get at it. It is the lower inner one so there is a narrow gap between the block and pump and underneath limited space as it is directly above the engine mount and the inlet pipe is underneath as well. I have some more tools with flex drives I use on my Triumph sports car which I will try.
I can live with the leak. A litre every hour or two won't sink me, but I don't like anything not being right.

She is just trying you out to see if you really do love her.

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MorningBird said..
Thanks guys. Unfortunately I can't get at it. It is the lower inner one so there is a narrow gap between the block and pump and underneath limited space as it is directly above the engine mount and the inlet pipe is underneath as well. I have some more tools with flex drives I use on my Triumph sports car which I will try.
I can live with the leak. A litre every hour or two won't sink me, but I don't like anything not being right.

if you have to remove the engine mount a few bolts and a few pieces of wood maybe . I think a PM once said life wasn't mean to be easy.
and you know in your heart you wont be happy till you fix it.
It will be in the back of your mind every time you sail.
Is it possible to use a socket headed Allen key . even a few light tps with a hammer from the side with out damaging the Allen key headed bolt.
Take a sickie and fix it

Is this the motor in question MB?

No HG. Mine is an early 80s Sole, looks to be a bit later than that one.
There will be a tool that will do it, I just have to find it.
If I can't figure it out without dismantling mounts etc I would rather pay someone who has more experience at it. My philosophy is I have to be able to do everything that is needed to be done at sea. This isn't one of those things so I'm happy to get it done by a mechanic if it becomes a major project.

Good luck with it and have a great time over seas MB. If I was a bit closer Id give you a hand

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MorningBird said..
My philosophy is I have to be able to do everything that is needed to be done at sea. This isn't one of those things so I'm happy to get it done by a mechanic if it becomes a major project.

Sounds to me like it IS one of those jobs you need to be able to do yourself.

Murphy's Law says:- That minor annoying leak at anchor is going to become a major drama at sea.

I know you did not want to hear that.

I know what you are saying Cisco and agree totally on the principle, but a risk analysis tells me this isn't one of those jobs needed to be done to get out of trouble.

The engine is perfectly serviceable and can be used to its full as is leaking a litre every hour or two. The leak is only there when the engine sea cock is open. This seal has been leaking occasionally for a couple of years, it is not a major issue, I just wanted to sort it out while the alternator was off.

It could only get catastrophic if the seal let go completely e.g. a split in the rubber. It is a lip seal that is leaking around the shaft so there is no reason a major failure is likely to occur. If the unlikely happens and the seal does let go, or any of the rubber fittings in the heat exchange system let go (as has happened in the past when my auto bilge pump came on and alerted me to water in the bilge), simply shut the sea cock and the leak is stopped.

Even if the leak got much worse the engine is still completely useable albeit with a major leak. MB's bilge pumps could cope for a while if I really really needed the engine for a long period.

If I don't have the right tool or can't find it I'll pay a mechanic to take the pump off when MB is next in a boat yard, just before Lord Howe this year. I will pull the pump apart and replace the seals, and shaft if necessary, and put it back on.

It is at times like this I do wish the boat was at the bottom of the backyard so I could play with it at my leisure rather than drive for 40-45 minutes to get to the jetty.

Maybe what you really wish is that your back yard was harbour front with your own slipway, jetty and a mooring to complete it.

Every yachtsman's dream.

I met a guy at Dangar Island, Brooklyn years ago who actually had that situation. I was extremely jealous.

No success with my latest attempts to remove the hard to get at bolt on my water pump.

Does anyone have an opinion on putting a flex drive (the ones for drills) on the bolt and trying to unscrew it with a spanner on the hex head instead of a drill. I am concerned using a drill might be risky.

I also don't have a working alternator. It has been rebuilt but the regulator override switch has been removed and I now have to put a wire on the P terminal, which I plan to put from the ignition wire on the starter motor. I thought I had it sorted but I hate electrics.

I have used the cable flexi drive extension that except a 1/4" bit. Undoing a right hand thread often tries to unwind the twist of the cable ultimately losing power to crack the thread off it is tight. I have often had good success with a 1/4" hex bit in a ring spanner or open ender to free a bolt in a tight space. Sometimes you need to bend a spanner too

The flex drive won't do it. You need something solid to crack it. Jolene is on the money.

Unfortunately I can't get any form of spanner in to it. The other bolts weren't overly tight so it might not take much to loosen it.
I will try to borrow a drive and give it a go. I have modified my alternator mount making it easier to remove/replace so I'll get the alternator working today and worry about the pump later.

you'll get there eventually MB

Yep Andy. I'll get there eventually. I wish I had your patience, the work you have been doing on your 34 is impressive.
Today I wired in the alternator as per the instructions and it won't flash up. I spoke to my marina owner and the electrician and will take MB down there on Friday.
The electrician will confirm all the wiring is ok. If it is the overhauled alternator is defective, either because I cocked something up or it just is. It worked on the bench during the week and I have not run it or put power on it without it all connected up. If it is not working I will put the $190 repair down to experience and buy a new 80 amps one.
The marina guys will have a look at the water pump. If they reckon they can get a tool on the recalcitrant bolt we will pull it off and I'll overhaul the pump. If they don't reckon a tool can do it I'll look at the job of removing the engine mount and getting the pump off myself. It will be a major job involving supporting the engine, removing an engine mount that also has no access and a number of cooling components before getting to the pump. In the worst case it might require the engine to be lifted up.
My other option is to put up with a litre every hour into the bilge.
I am probably like many of us. I don't mind doing things that improve the boat or where the work is productive. Four visits to the boat to get nowhere is a waste of my precious time on this planet.

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MorningBird said..

Today I wired in the alternator as per the instructions and it won't flash up.

Used to be that you had to flick the charging wire over the alternator terminal to set it's polarity or excite it or something. Not sure if that is still the case these days but worth asking the sparky about.

Good point Cisco. I just googled it and it is a common issue with generators but is also a factor in getting alternators charging. The posts I read said it is only if the alternator has been sitting for a long time and has lost its residual magnetism. This alternator was working on the bench last Wednesday.
I will put it to the sparky on Friday. It just could be the quick fix.
Thanks mate.

Its amazing how little things can become so complicated!! I'd be close to chucking that alternator over the side. Not that i would ever pollute our waterways And that water pump bolt ??? did you run over a chinaman MB???

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cisco said..

MorningBird said..

Today I wired in the alternator as per the instructions and it won't flash up.

Used to be that you had to flick the charging wire over the alternator terminal to set it's polarity or excite it or something. Not sure if that is still the case these days but worth asking the sparky about.

I use to have an 240vlt electric motor driving an alternator mounted on a battery cart . I used it for charging batteries in the workshop. It had no switch or light connected to the alternator so to excite the fields in the alternator I would just touch the exciter wire to the positive terminal and it would fire straight up. Maybe you have a resistance problem in the light circuit.

I forgot to say that I latter on swapped the 1440rpm electric motor over to a 2800 rpm motor( 2hp) and If I remember correctly the alternator would self excite,,, . But a really flat battery would nearly stall the electric motor.