In this video, Simon will show you how to do a yearly diesel generator service. This service includes changing the air filter, oil filter, oil, belts, coolant, changing any bad hoses, impeller, cleaning the heat exchanger and putting on a new anode. When we first got a boat, we let others service our engines for us. Time after time we were disappointed to find that things were done wrong or not done at all. Discover how to service a diesel generator on a sailboat yourself.
If you want to be a happy boat owner you need to fall into one of two categories:
- You’re super loaded and happy to pay for ‘experts’ to service your boat (and deal with things not actually getting done).
- You’re good at learning how to service your boat so that you can save money doing it yourself and actually get the job done correctly.
We started off in category number one but are no longer loaded. Why? Because we paid money over and over only to get substandard work at best. Often we had to pay several times to get poor results.
There are still jobs that we can’t do ourselves but we follow a golden rule of boaters.
Always (and I mean always) get several referrals for an ‘expert’ and get them from boat owners that can verify that a job was done well. Any other jobs that can be done by us, we do ourselves. Year after year we add more jobs to our belt 🙂
So, in this video Simon will show you how to service a diesel generator on a sailboat. If you’re not accustomed to working on engines, it can be a bit daunting but it really isn’t difficult at all. And it’s absolutely imperative to have your heat exchanger removed and descaled. In the early days, our genset (another word for generator) overheated month after month.
Six ‘experts’ charged us to tell us that our generator needed to be replaced.
Fortunately for us, we asked one last expert and he told us the generator was fine – it just needed a good service. Simon helped the final expert take apart the engine, clean everything up and get it working correctly. Since then we’ve never had another problem.
Have a go at servicing your own engines. Often, the worst that can happen is that you don’t tighten something enough and get a small leak. The more to do it yourself the more confidence you’ll have and ultimately the more self-sufficient you’ll be.
How To Service A Diesel Generator On A Sailboat
Sailing Britican Resources
- Join the Britican Club and get even more goodies. Get premium content (to see some examples, visit our Members Only area) and access to all of our helpful sailing guides (view all the guides here) and a direct email/phone line to Simon, Kim and Sienna to discuss how we can help you to make your sailing dreams come true. More here: Â Britican Club
- Come sailing with us – Britican Sailing Experience. Come join us for a week-long sailing experience! We’ve opened our boat to singles, couples, and families (up to four people) for a week-long liveaboard experience. Come enjoy the tropical beauty of Grenada and the Grenadines while learning how to sail, understanding what it takes to become a liveaboard boatie and much more. Get the full scoop here: The Britican Experience
- Get a quick start on becoming a Liveaboard Cruiser. Buy one or all of our guides – they’re easy-to-read (no jargon), will get you pointed in the right direction and they’ll most likely help you to save $1000’s by sharing what to do/what not to do/tips, tricks and secrets. Take advantage of our special offer today. Sailing Britican Guides Special Offer
- Become a Patron and get special goodies! Get premium content (view examples here Members Only), get to watch all our videos days before they’re live to the public and have VIP responses to your questions. Find out more here: Patreon Patron
- Buy a Funny Sailing T-shirt for you or a loved one. Grab one of our funny nautical t-shirts or other gifts in our Etsy Shop
Any Questions or Helpful Comment?
Youtube has removed the ability for me to enable comments on my videos. The reason is due to Sienna, our 8-year-old daughter being in some of the videos. I think YouTube has started an initiative so that kids can’t be bullied or inappropriate things written in the comments. That being said, if you’d like to get feedback from us, your best bet is to leave a question or comment here on the blog.
| THE BRITICAN EXPERIENCE - A LIFE CHANGING WEEK-LONG LIVEABOARD EXPERIENCE | |
|---|---|
 | Try-before-you-buy the liveaboard lifestyle. Spend one week with us to give the life a test drive. Learn about sailing, anchoring, maneuvering in marina's, docking, provisioning, cooking, maintaining, troubleshooting AND checking out all the white sandy beaches, snorkeling over the fish-filled reef and testing out exotic tropical drinks. You create the itinerary - if you want to try sailing at night, we'll sail at night. If you want to gain confidence on passage planning, we'll plan passages. Click here for more information. |
