Schmokin'

Well it all happened at once. The Webasto water heater failed, so no hot water in the mornings and no central heating at night, not that we need it, its been reasonably warm. Actually its been failed for some time The engine failed, or to be more precise the silencer failed and has been for some time it seems. There was a big hole in it and Kevin from PBS Pittams Boat Services came to repair it for us. And what a stirling job he did too, with fast and friendly service. Of course a new silencer needs to be fitted, in fact its just as well to replace the whole exhaust system, and that will be done at some point. What happened was...as I've said the silencer was holed and diesel fumes and smut filled the engine 'ole. This means the engine is drawing in its own (nasty) smell and reprocessing it, making the smell even nastier. As it draws air in the air filter captures all the smut which builds up and eventually blocks the filter. Now the engine can't breathe, but the same amount of fuel is metered into the cylinders with a reduced quantity of air hence the lack of power and the thick black smoke.

Air filter totally choked with soot

Kevin hard at work mixing the paste

That piece of tin next to the paste pot was formerly a beer can. Recycling at its finest.