Multi-grade Oil and Light on Coolant

There is a 48' Ricker sport fish (I never hear of it either) that came in a year or so ago here. The boat was a real POS with busted holding tank and the smell to prove it along with a long list of issues. The hardtop was held down by a ratchet strap. The word was it was picked up at auction. Well, the new owner ran it for a bit and decided to dump it. The 6V92 single turbos were probably the best things going on the boat.

At this point it's not clear who did what or when. The new owners took the boat to the yard for a bottom job and lots of work including removal of the hardtop and supports--nothing up there to anchor to anymore. When it came in last week, it was smoking enough to notice. A few days later a guy who works on cranes at the port, thereby claiming mechanic status, came aboard to tune the motors and service them. BTW, this was his first DD experience. It must have been a good one because he and a friend are starting up a diesel mechanicing business.

What he found were receipts for 10W-40 oil, ostensibly the same in the motors and a few gallon jugs to spare. He also noted one of the gears (Allison) showed black oil. He guessed it hadn't been serviced for an extended period. I suggested it was black from engine oil leaking in (Guessing here as I never had any Allisons. Maybe the seal was OK and the thin oil helped it leak, I don't know). I suggested checking the level, and he said it was noticeably higher than the other side.

Anyway, the mechanic said one of the cooling systems was way low on coolant. He said the owner mentioned it had run hot; how hot wasn't discussed. He wanted to show me the smoke, so he cranked them. It was a cold day and he couldn't get them up to temp at the dock, but GEEEEEEEZUS! Those motors did not smoke when the boat arrived a year ago. But now it's smoke-screen city. A good bit of white smoke with the usual cold start stuff, so that sounds like maybe we're figuring out just how hot they got. But, only one motor was lacking enough coolant. Being 92's, I understand what too much heat will do.

I can't say how long the 10W-40 was in the motors. This was the new owner's first oil change. I never heard about the oil being changed in that boat, and I know the guy that would've done it. So, it's looking like the boat was run up from S FL on the oil or maybe...

A buddy docked next to the Ricker is on an '84 43C Hat. From his talking to the new owner, it appears he just spent what he paid for the boat at the yard. He is currently under a death threat from his wife to gut the interior (mold, mildew, pink sinks and formica), and now the motors are suspect. My friends comment took me back a few years to one of the more bizarre things I've ever seen.

Driving through the low country of SC, I thought my eyes were deceiving me. I had to turn around. Yep, a brick veneer single wide mobile home with attached brick garage. Not imitation brick wall board mind you, real brick. I touched it and took pictures. Now that's REAL money! But even after spending all that money on brick plus probably winning yard of the month, they were still living in a single wide trailer. No matter how much he spends and no matter how nice it may turn out, the guy with the Ricker will still end up with a Ricker.

Just interesting, that's all.