Wrong Hole
While talking with a boating buddy earlier today, he recounted a recent winterization incident that while surprising to him, is likely all too common. Last weekend, while he was putting antifreeze into his fresh water system something seemed amiss; even after pouring two full gallons of antifreeze into the system, the pump would not prime. After consulting with his friend, he poured another gallon in, with the same result. Together, they discussed the possible causes: a bad pump, a plugged funnel, faulty vent, etc.. After a few minutes, my buddy decided to start at the source, the funnel and much to his dismay, instantly discovered the issue. Instead of pouring the antifreeze down the water fill-pipe, he had been pouring it down the diesel fuel fill…not a good thing. Needless to say, he was mortified at his mistake and rushed to take action, calling a specialized fuel firm to promptly remove the now contaminated fuel supply. When the company arrived, he carefully supervised the operation and helped put things back to right once more. It was an expensive lesson, probably about $1,000 all told. But, as funny as the story seems, it’s much too easy to make this type of mistake when you’re in a rush and the different fill caps are adjacent to each other. He won’t forget this painful lesson; hopefully, by reading this story, you won’t either.
