[C320-list] Engine and Reefing Questions

[mike hunter]

I’ll start by saying I love this boat!  I have a couple of questions regarding engine temperature and what looked like steam coming out of the exhaust, but I’ll get back to those in a bit.  
   
  Friday afternoon we fueled up and went for a little cruise around the San Diego bay, running the engine at different RPMs.  We found another ‘sweet spot’ at 2800 and kept it there for roughly an hour.  The engine stayed at its normal operating temperature of just a hair below 180 degrees.  
   
  Saturday morning we motor sailed to the mouth of the bay (~ 45 min.) and then proceeded to have a fantastic day of sailing.  It always feels so good to shut down the engine J.  That evening while coming in, we started the motor and motor sailed through the bay to the no wake zone then dropped the RPMs down to around 2000.  It was shortly after doing this my Wife noticed the temperature had risen to just a hair above 180 and there was what looked like steam coming out of the exhaust with the water.  She dropped the RPMs down to 1200 and I went below to check out the strainer.  The strainer had accumulated a little bit of debris but it was mostly clear.  When I came back up the temperature had dropped back down to normal and the ‘steaming’ had stopped.  It almost seemed like we sucked up something and then blew it out??? 
   
  My plan now is to clean the strainer, check the flow through the intake hose and inspect the water pump impeller - which I replaced 2 weeks ago.  
   
  Finally, my engine questions:
   
  -         What is considered ‘hot’ for a Yanmar 3GM30F?
  -         Does the engine shut down when it reaches a certain temperature to prevent damage?
  -         Am I on the right path or is there something else I should look at?
   
  I also have a more important sailing question.  The wind varied from 8 – 12 knots throughout the day and the boat sailed beautifully.  At what wind speed do most of you reef?  
   
  Thanks!
   
  Mike
  #637

       
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