[C320-list] Perkins M30 Owners - Exhaust Mixing Elbow

[JeffWillis111 at aol.com]

Hey Warren,
 
I am finishing the same project.  I did not have a failure but pulled  my 
Perkins elbow to  check for restrictions due to low engine  RPM's.  It turned 
out to contain a lot of build up reducing opening  size by about 50%.   
What concerned me just as much was the build up  and reduced opening in the 
heat exchanger housing.  The metal near the  elbow seemed "swollen" and covered 
in rust/carbon goo.  Like a goof ball, I  decided to scrape some of the 
rust and carbon loose and very quickly scraped a  hole in the bottom and busted 
through into a water jacket beneath and obviously  ruined my housing.  So I 
pulled the housing and found quit  a bit of  carbon inside the exhaust port 
of the aft most cylinder.  Did you clean  that out as well?   If so, how?  
Gently wipe out with rag or  paper towel or some kind of chemical?
 
I purchased  new elbow from TA Diesels for $380 or so.  Looks  like you got 
a better deal but I did need mine very quickly.  the new  housing came from 
TADiesels as well for only $270.  The problem is the 4  studs that screw 
into housing that the elbow mounts to are  not available  from Perkins in the 
US.  I am trying to complete the repairs as quickly as  possible because I 
have sold my boat and trying to resolve survey issues and  close the deal. 
The new owners are anxious to take over. 
 
What type of sealant did you use on the new gaskets?  Do you recommend  
sealant on gasket between heat exchanger housing and the block too?
 
There was a vendor on ebay selling a "stainless" elbow for about  $230.  
Anyone with experience on the stainless elbow I would like to hear  from..
 
It should be noted my Perkins has 975 hours on it according to Hour  meter.
I will post some of my photos on the website as well.   
 
Warren, did you have any trouble reconnecting the elbow to the  muffler?  I 
am very concerned about using the very stiff exhaust hose on  such a short 
run.  I worry about putting too much pressure on muffler tube  when trying 
to wrestle the hose onto it.  Any tips you have on this would  be very 
helpful.
 
Thanks,
 
Jeff Willis 
Esprit, #174
 
 
In a message dated 4/19/2015 6:02:19 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
wupdike at hotmail.com writes:

Back to  serious posts. Just completed replacement of the exhaust elbow.
Unlike some  of the later engines, the Perkins elbow is cast iron and ours
has been  in-place 20 yrs and over 2,000 hrs. Knowing now what I learned 
with
this  project, I wouldn't have waited for a failure. I recommend pulling  
the
elbow every 5 years, having it cleaned, and de-carbonizing the exhaust  port
in the block. (Replace with a new gasket and sealant.)

What  happened was not a catastrophic failure. There is a burn-thru in the
side  of the casting that allowed hot water and junk to run down the side of
the  elbow into the pit below with nothing more than some rust stains on  
the
block. I got prices in the US for $400 and up for the elbow. I found  a
distributor in GB and save myself $100. I made the payment in Euros  via
PayPal and the transaction was as easy as poop through a goose. Now we  are
waiting our spring launch to test it out. 

I have lots of  pictures and plan on doing an article for the web site and
maybe for the  Mainsheet. Now, we are up to our ears with boat duty and home
duty, so it  may take a while.

If anyone has specific questions, just  reply.



Warren and Pattie Updike

1994 C320 "Warr de Mar"  #62