Doug Sanderson, Leak Detective

Why is all that oil and water ending up in my engines' drip pan??? This was my first day as a Leak Detective after cleaning up my engine and heat exchangers. The first leaks I found were all the fittings I forgot to tighten when I put the heat exchangers back on the engine (oops).

The next leak I found was a slight drip in the fuel line connection on one engine shown below. I guess it vibrated loose over time??? I tightened the connection and the drip stopped. I guess if you are going to have a fuel leak, it is better to have one on a diesel engine than a gas engine.

The oil pressure sender was leaking on both engines. I think this might be the main source of the oil that was getting into the drip pan.

The starboard engine had a leak at the bottom of a huge hose that connects to the engine exhaust. I guess the hose is too old and brittle, because there are THREE big-ass hose clamps on this connection and there is still a slow drip-drip-drip leak. I think I'll have to replace the hose to stop the dripping.

The port engine also had a water leak. The hose running from the strainer to the impeller was double-clamped, which is normally a good thing. But in this case, one hose clamp was on top of the metal hose barbs inside the hose (as it should be) but the other hose clamp was beyond the barb, which is bad because the clamp was crushing the hose against the side of the end of the hose barb inside, and the relatively sharp end of the hose barb eventually cut through the hose. I put a bandaid fix on the problem today, but I will need to replace this nose as well.

As for the "oil in the antifreeze" problem, I'm still working that issue. It may not be so easily fixed.