Current Position: 17 33.957’S 149 37.068’W; Local Timezone: UTC-10; HDG: N/A; COG: N/A; SOG: N/A; Distance to Waypoint (Tahiti, Carrefour Bay): At Anchor; Total Miles Sailed: 4229 nm;
Comments: I took a day off yesterday and did something cultural … attended a fund-raising banquet for the dance troupe O Tahiti E. Today, I have been making up for it by working into the engine room all day. I rebuilt the fuel polishing system, reinstalled the big pre-filter, cleaned the Racor water separator, and installed a replacement secondary fuel pump (my last one … so fingers crossed it lasts). I started by polishing the fuel in the day tank for an hour … which removed a little water. I then turned to the main tank. At first, it seemed to work, and I separated a large amount of water, After about an hour, it pulled large amounts of air. I cannot figure out where the air is coming from. It may be necessary to remove the flange with the pipes to see if one is loose. In any case, once the fuel filter on the engine was replaced, I started up the engine with the polished fuel and it seems to be running fine. It will go to 3600 rpm without a load, but still stops at 2000 with a load. I need to change the prop pitch and try again. I will try that tomorrow. I will also try to find the air leak in the line tomorrow.
Comments: I took a day off yesterday and did something cultural … attended a fund-raising banquet for the dance troupe O Tahiti E. Today, I have been making up for it by working into the engine room all day. I rebuilt the fuel polishing system, reinstalled the big pre-filter, cleaned the Racor water separator, and installed a replacement secondary fuel pump (my last one … so fingers crossed it lasts). I started by polishing the fuel in the day tank for an hour … which removed a little water. I then turned to the main tank. At first, it seemed to work, and I separated a large amount of water, After about an hour, it pulled large amounts of air. I cannot figure out where the air is coming from. It may be necessary to remove the flange with the pipes to see if one is loose. In any case, once the fuel filter on the engine was replaced, I started up the engine with the polished fuel and it seems to be running fine. It will go to 3600 rpm without a load, but still stops at 2000 with a load. I need to change the prop pitch and try again. I will try that tomorrow. I will also try to find the air leak in the line tomorrow.