On the Eve of Destruction...

...or disaster, or maybe major inconvenience, or minor inconvenience, or nothing at all ...

As any regular reader of this blog well knows the WesterBeast and I have the definition of a dysfunctional relationship. For my part I try to keep it happy, well fed, and puttering along living an easy life. For its part, well, I don't really know what is in its evil little mind.

The coolant is going somewhere. Not a lot of it, and not very fast, but it definitely disappears at an irregular rate. In response I have been searching diligently for a leak, checking the fluids regularly, and generally pampering the thing. With Deb doing errands this morning off the boat, I set about pampering the thing some more. The coolant level was down a bit, no surprise. But the oil level seemed to be up a bit. Somewhat large and unpleasant surprise. The oil wasn't foamy, didn't particularly smell like anything but oil out of a diesel engine with slightly low compression, but there was just enough too much to catch my attention (maybe 3/16 inch more on the stick then I expected).

So I topped the coolant and awoke the Beast, running it enough to bring all the temperatures up to normal. Then, engine still running, I started looking around (being careful to stay clear of the belts.) No sign of coolant escaping, and just the normal sheen of oil that keeps the Beast's skin nice and young looking. (Not really.) If the coolant is leaking outside the engine I sure can't find any sign.

Shut down, and now the oil level reads a bit low. Also, I can almost imagine just a hint of hot coolant stink wafting out of the oil filler cap. You see, today's exploration is the result of Deb complaining about the smell in her galley after the engine ran long enough to get us into the harbor. She thought it might be something else until I mentioned "coolant", whereupon she said, "Yep, that's it."

So I don't know what is going on with the Beast. Were I a real diesel guy, and were this some customer's engine, I might be suggesting they get ready for a noticeable nick about to be taken out of their bank account. Coolant level down, oil level up equals a) head gasket, b) cracked head, or c) cracked block. But I am not a diesel guy, this is not a customer's engine, and we are a long way from anyplace where "a", "b", or "c", can be easily remedied, especially "c".

For now all I can do is keep and eye on the Beast, say nice things about it, keep it watered and oiled up, and hope it wants to make it back into the States. Like my old Gramps used to tell me, "If it works, don't fix it. I don't know if the Beast really is working, but I don't know that it isn't working either. As long as it keeps moving the boat when I need it to, I guess we'll just keep going being as gentle with it as we can.

The fact is, whatever happens, we will figure it out, do what we need, and keep going. If my experience with Kintala has taught me anything, its that some fool built this thing in the first place, I can probably figure out a way to keep it going.