The Bumblebee was wrong

Apparently the bee Dave rescued isn’t ready to moonlight as a mechanic — it wasn’t a compression issue, but a badly clogged mixing elbow.

Those of you who read last month’s column know I saved the life of a bumblebee and that, as he was headed to shore, he buzzed me. Not that kind of buzz. More of an informational kind of buzz. You see, my engine had been broken, losing high rpm, for quite some time. Since last August the top-end rpm went from the normal 3,200 down to 2,400, then down to 2,000. Countless mechanics, advisors, idiots, and yours truly – maybe in that class also, but someone who has quite a bit of engine experience – had provided incorrect diagnoses. Many, including myself early on, thought the exhaust mixing elbow was the culprit. But I’d removed the exhaust pieces, including the check valve (which I found broken) and the raw-water cooling intake fitting that goes into the mixing elbow (which I found clogged), and given it all to someone to fully check and/or replace. It all came back new. Except for the mixing elbow itself, which, I was told, was cleaned with muriatic acid and water-flow tested.

So, back to the diagnosis. One thing I’d learned years ago when dealing with an engine problem was to always start with the absolute simplest question: is there fuel in the tank? Then go from there, following the chain from simplest to most complex, checking off each one. So, after the exhaust work last spring, I did just that: fuel – check, fuel filters – check, air cleaner – check, fuel pick-up tube – check, clogged injectors – check, throttle linkage and governor – check, valve clearance – check. We were down to either the injection pump or what the bumblebee buzzed me about: bad compression. Who was I to argue at this stage, even with a bumblebee?

So I called a truly reputable mechanic from a great little boatyard in Salem, told him the whole story, and out he came to my boat. He was stumped and we figured, since I had a spare, we might go for the injection pump as the source of the problem. But this mechanic kept shaking his head.

“You’re sure that mixing elbow is clear?” he asked.

“That’s what I was told,” I said.

“It’s just that, the way those things are built, it’s really hard to tell.”

He got in his yard boat and headed off. Ten minutes later my cell phone rang.

“I’ve been thinking, before we do this with the injection pump, let me call this guru mechanic I know and run all this by him.”

“I thought you were the guru?”

“Well, this guy . . . let me call him.”

When he called me back he said, “The guru says it won’t be the injection pump. They almost never fail.”

“What did he say then?”

“He said it’s the mixing elbow. Replace it.”

So that’s what we did.

The whole process, which started nearly a year ago, ended.

So you’re all invited to come by and listen to a 1979 two-cylinder Yanmar motor that now sounds and runs like a V12 Lamborghini, with a top-end rpm that drives us . . . well, let’s put it this way: faster than a bumblebee.

Dave Roper’s new novel, “Rounding the bend: The Life and Times of Big Red,” was released in mid-June and is available from Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.