After a breakfast of fresh bread from the local bakery aboard the boat, Wolfgang and I headed to the industrial area in order to locate the local Cummins-Mercury dealer and service point in search of an answer to the engine drain question. This industrial zone was surprisingly large and we later found out that it is the 2nd biggest in France! At first we didn’t find the shop and we were close to giving up when Wolfgang suggested we take a parallel street and there it was, we even got a parking space right in front of the store. Inside we were passed on to a gentleman who spoke excellent English and he spoke with Cummins-Mercury in Florida and after a while he was told that this was a difficult problem and that they would send pictures and instruction in a mail or fax and he’d pass that on to us. We waited for a while and then, after an hour, agreed that we’d return to the boat and he’d send the instructions to me via e-mail when he received it.
On the way back I got a small wireless router so that I could broadcast my WiFi signal to the myriad devices that the family had brought along. After a lengthy period I finally got a response from the factory and recommended that I unplug one of the two capped pipes on the rear portion of the engine that are used to move hot coolant to a water heater. We found these two capped outlets and, much to my amazement, they were easily accessible from the rear of the engine between my dual Racor filter system and the engine, just below the turbocharger and air inlet. I went and bought some tubing of the correct diameter and hose clamps (since the clamps looked like those one-time-use crimp style which I’d have to almost destroy to get off. Wolfgang and I managed to get the cap off with merely a drop or two of coolant escaping and then spent hours flushing the system. First a drain, then diluted cleaning fluid, running the engine, draining and repeating the procedure. Filling water into the engine was difficult due to access – we could only fill about 250ml at a time but at least we were finally making progress and soon had clear water, free of contaminants (and of cleaning fluid) running from the drains. Finally, after a lot of stress and frustration at a badly designed system, we were ready to depart without having to worry about the engine failing.
We went to a local restaurant after our work was complete, a place that looks just like a the Hard Rock Cafe (named “Zoo Rock Café”) from the outside color scheme and logo but which served wonderful Kebab meals and we all retired, secure in the knowledge that we could finally depart the docks the next morning!
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