Oh Dear

My nightly engine check yesterday revealed a disturbingly low level of oil on the dipstick. I topped up with the oil I had to bring the level jus to the end of the dispstick. At around 11 this morning the buzzer on the control panel went off and the little red light came on, with the oil pressure gauge showing zero. We stopped immediately and tied up. A check of the oil level showed nothing on the stick and a lot of oil in the engine bilge. Oh dear.

I got the Brompton out of it's locker and cycled up to Whilton (about 4 miles). I really should have gone by road, not the towpath as bicycle tyres and hawthorn hedge clippings don't mix well. I had to stop and pump up the front tyre three times as I now have a slow puncture in it. Whilton lock chandlery sold me some oil and an oil extraction gadget to suck the oil out of the bilge. As we'd cached the car at Whilton I didn't have to carry all this back on the bike. They didn't have an engine fitter available but as we had broken down at Stowe Hill I asked at the workshop and Rob and Graham kindly fitted us in. They did an outstanding job, stripping down the engine and diagnosing the problem, a leaking crankshaft oil seal. The part is on order from Beta Marine and is due to be delivered tomorrow morning.

Here is the problem area. One last pulley to remove. Loads of oil in the engine bilge.

Moored at Stowe Hill Marina.
Total distance is 1 mile, 4½ flg and 0 locks.