[C320-list] White Smoke and Overheating Diagnosis (A Lesson)

[Mike Mellon]

We had an identical problem on LaVida with a plastic bag stuck in the 
raw cooling water intake.  So apparently not unusual.  We overheated so 
quickly we had to get a tow back to the berth, at night.  I'm going to 
investigate the strainer idea.

Thanks.

Mike

LaVida 324


On 6/1/2021 8:03 AM, Chris White wrote:
>   Hi Christian
> Thanks for the story.I had a similar experience some years ago and have since fitted a scoop inlet strainer.These are available in brass or composite.Once the boat is out of the water you can easily fit these over the existing water inlet.
> Regards
> Chris WhiteC320 #449 'Dandy'Hythe Marina VillageUK
>
>      On Tuesday, 1 June 2021, 15:28:20 BST, Christian <ccaper at gmail.com> wrote:
>   
>   This list has taught me so much, other's stories have helped me, so I
> thought I'd share an experience I had on Sunday, so others might learn.
>
> I sail in Chicago, where we are on the hard for 7.5 months of the year.
> Sunday, we launched, and launch day, though cathartic, is always a nerve
> wracking shake down cruise for me of what's gonna go wrong now after being
> on the hard.  My yard is on a river, about mile-ish off Lake Michigan.
>
> Before leaving the yard dock, was idling engine for about an hour, checking
> engine temp (fine), exhaust flow (seemed a hair low, but wasn't terribly
> concerned, just a mental note).  After casting off, I had to wait for 2
> bridges to be raised, requiring circling for about 45 mins with light load
> on the engine.  After we passed the second bridge, now revving to higher
> RPM (about 25) I checked exhaust again, and noticed some light white smoke
> from exhaust, steady stream.  Started monitoring engine temp, and began
> seeing the engine temp creep up slowly, going higher than normal (180), and
> ticking up to about 190, still steady light white smoke.  We went on to our
> harbor, able to raise sails soon.
>
> Got to mooring safely.  Concerned I had coolant mixing with oil and was
> burning coolant, once the engine cooled I checked oil color for milkiness.
> Clean, and no oil burned.  Checked coolant level, same level.  Reading up
> that night on white smoke, I read it's often steam or unburnt diesel.
> Could be cooling problem, or could be a valve, timing, or injector pump
> problem, crossed fingers it was cooling.  Since I wasn't blowing white
> smoke on cold engine start, only when engine got hot, this was likely
> steam, and an overheating problem.
>
> Monday, I went back to the boat to dive into problem.  I'd replaced my
> fresh water pump, thermostat, and mixing elbow 4 years ago, so eliminated
> those as likely culprits.  I'd just replaced impeller, so knew that wasn't
> a likely culprit either.  I took off the raw water strainer, clean.  With
> the bowl off, I opened raw water thru hull to inspect flow, just a
> trickle.  Interesting.  So I took the hose off the sea cock, opened thru
> hull again, barely a trickle.  Felt into sea cock with pinky, felt squishy
> stuff.  Flash light showed white plastic shopping back pieces.
>
> Luckily I keep a coat hanger on board for random needs like this.  Bent an
> end 90 degrees, went on a fishing expedition.  Over the next 2 hours, I
> worked out a complete plastic shopping bag that had been sucked into, and
> deepy jammed, in the valve on my seacock.  It was so jammed, at one point I
> thought I would have to rebuild the seacock to free it, but eventually got
> the entire bag out.  Most of the time I had to rock the seacock lever back
> and forth to inch the bag through the valve. Now seacock flowed perfect.  I
> think I picked up the plastic bag in the river, on our last Fall return to
> yard, is my guess.
>
> Hope this story helps others diagnose overheating problems, and the
> importance of monitoring your exhaust, every sail.  This random mishap
> could have become a costly repair if I wasn't closely monitoring my exhaust
> and engine temp. And happy 2021 sailing season for us Great Lake sailors!
>
> -Christian Caperton
> 1994 C320 #138 "Canuck" Monroe Harbor, Chicago, IL
>    

-- 
Michael Mellon
45 Ortalon Ave
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
mmellon at cruzio.com
831-425-5583 Home