Never Easy on Molokai
Nothing is easy as it should be on the friendly Isle of Molokai. Groceries are running low on Sunday and you haven't gotten to the store before 1 pm, good luck. Fuel barge didn't make it in this week, better watch the gas gauge closely. On an island that has no stop lights and all of its supplies are shipped in, the people sacrifice a way of life in lieu of convenience.
Etec 90's being changed out
In my case my boat engine needs to be repaired. I run an E-tec 90. Not so long ago the oil lines rotted leaving my engine without oil for a period of time. A knock developed and writing was on the wall for that engine block. The option to tow the boat over to the Evinrude dealer to get it fixed does not exist over here. So it leaves one with limited options. In my case you might say I got lucky.
A friend informed me of an etec 90 on Oahu with a long shaft (I run a short shaft), very few engine hours and ran extremely well was for sale. My options were to purchase that engine or purchase a new engine block from the mainland. I decided to purchase the used engine.
Sounds simple but the engine was on Oahu. I had to coordinate getting the engine on barge and shipped to Molokai. Now I had an engine, with a good block, but lack of any experience removing and installing engine blocks. Next step fly a mechanic over from Oahu to give me a hand.
One power head off. One to go.
Last weekend Jason was the point person in this operation which consisted of:
- Removing existing bad engine block, including dropping the leg.
- Cleaning the mounting surface
- Removing good block from used engine
- Cleaning mounting surface of good engine
- Mounting good block on old engine leg (short leg)
- Reinstalling leg, fuel lines, gear shift etc...
Made the switch. Engine fired up on first turn of the key. Ran the boat in the ocean the next day. All systems are a go. And I am back on the flats guiding with a dependable engine. Look out bonefish!
A little TLC for the mount before putting good block on.