In the last minute scramble to prepare for cyclone Kimi, Alan started the engine to run the windlass to tighten the anchor chain Suddenly clouds of white smoke came pouring out of the exhaust. It looked like we were on fire. To make matters worse, Alan could not get the engine to turn off. We were instantly surrounded by people wanting to help. Adam, the marina manager, actually jumped into the water, swam over and climbed up over the side. Several other staff jumped on board.from shore. Someone brought a fire extinguisher. All of the other yachties came running from their boats. Alan dashed down below to try to cut off the fuel supply to the engine. Finally, after what seemed forever but was actually only a few minutes, the engine quit and the smoke cleared. The water was full of thick black oil but there did not seem to be any damage. No fire, no smoking engine, no leaks. The marina crew squirted deterrent into the water and the oil broke up and drifted away with the outgoing tide. Everyone went back to finishing cyclone preparations before it got dark.
What the heck had happened? The only thing Alan could discover was that there seemed to be way too much oil in the crankcase. Had he somehow put in too much last time he changed the oil? Had the excess oil over pressurized the engine and blown a head gasket? Nothing to do until after the cyclone passed. Then he brought in a good mechanic who diagnosed the problem as a bad lift pump. Somehow it was pumping fuel into the oil where it naturally caught on fire. That is probably also why we were unable to kill the engine..
So now we need to fix the problem. Of course the lift pump is in an almost inaccessible place. After 3 days of greasy struggle Alan finally got it off. Now we need to fix or replace it. The Perkins parts supply shop in town assured me that if they just had the number they could get it from Suva in a week. Of course none of the numbers we gave them matched anything in their computer system. When Alan finally took the part in to show them, they actually could not get a replacement. There is a possibility that a shop at the other end of town can rebuild it but now it is the weekend and we are scheduled to be hauled out on Monday, so it will be Tuesday or Wednesday before we find out if they can do the work
