What a mess!! Engine oil all over the engine room!
08 December 2010 | Curacao
Marlene

This morning, while the generator was still running after recharging the house batteries, Benno started transferring diesel oil from the saddle tank to the day tank, which gravity feeds the engine. All of a sudden we smell smoke and puzzled Benno lifts the wheel house floor engine room hatch to have a look. Holy smokes -- and this time the phrase fits. Oil is spraying from the generator all over the engine room. In a flash we have the gen set shut down, but the damage is already done. About a third of a quart of black oil is now dripping from the walls and the ceiling, has coated the main diesel engine and everything else that is in the engine room. What a mess.
The dip stick is missing and had shot right from the gen set somewhere. Benno can't seem to find it. Only later, during the clean-up job, does he locate it. Why it shot out? We don't know. Benno found yesterday that the rubber in the engine mounts were partially disintegrated, causing the generator to sit uneaven and of course make it rattle. I ordered new ones to be shipped asap. But the generator didn't shake that much to spit the dip stick out! Later Benno discovered the ball in the engine breather valve was sticking and the building pressure must have blown the dip stick right out of the tube like a cannon ball out of the barrel with plenty of oil smoke to follow.
As you can see on this picture, Benno is a happy camper when he can fix something and fiddle with oil.