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

[P.F. Ross]

Christian,

Very similar thing here.

We were leaving on a multi-day cruise, boat was fully packed and we were
quite happy to finally be getting underway.  I started the engine an hour
before we shoved off to get some heat on it and an instant after if fired
up I heard a light thump, not necessarily alarming but different.  One
thing I have always done is to look at exhaust water (and listen to it as
well) after the engine has started.  After 26 years of doing this, I knew
what it should look and sound like.  The small stream coming out told me
something was wrong and I shut down the engine.

I went below to check the strainer and thru-hull.  Strainer good, but when
I exercised the valve, I could not close it all the way so it was obvious I
had sucked up something.  Since the thru hull is a 90 degree elbow
configuration, I figured It would not be easy to run a wire through so I
thought I might be able to flush it out with a water hose.  I removed the
hose from the strainer end (and found very little flow) and was able to
make a good seal against the nozzle of my dock water hose and backflushed
it.  I then found the thru hull valve would now move normally through its
full 90 degree travel so patted myself on the back.

We cast off but I was still cautious heading down our canal to the bay.
Good thing, too, since before we got to the end of our canal, water temp
was rapidly climbing.  Fortunately, we were able to get turned around and
back to our dock without overheating although water temp was higher than I
had ever seen it (200 on my gauge).

At this point, it was about 2 o'clock on Fri afternoon and our trip was
about to be scuttled.  Had we been in the Gulf, I would have gone in
myself, but the dark tannin waters of our canal are just a little too
creepy for me.  Amazingly, I was able to get our diver out on very short
notice and he pulled most of (albeit somewhat shredded) a 13 gal white
trash bag out of the engine cooling water inlet.  We were underway at 3pm
and barely made it to our first stop before dark.

So, all's well that ends well although next time our boat is on the hard I
will look into a scoop strainer.

Frank Ross
Beta Wave #206
Naples, FL



On Tue, Jun 1, 2021 at 11:15 AM jackbrennan <jackbrennan at bellsouth.net>
wrote:

> My story varies slightly. We were anchored in the Keys a couple of years
> ago when the diesel went hot on startup. Turns out some grass clogged the
> hose between the through hull and strainetr. Found it by accident when I
> noticed no water was coming into the strainer, even though the flow was
> fine from the through hull.Jack BrennanSonas, 1998 Catalina 320Tierra
> Verde, Fl.Sent from my Galaxy
> -------- Original message --------From: Mike Mellon <mmellon at cruzio.com>
> Date: 6/1/21  11:12 AM  (GMT-05:00) To: c320-list at lists.catalina320.com
> Subject: Re: [C320-list] White Smoke and Overheating Diagnosis (A Lesson)
> 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.MikeLaVida 324On 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 Mellon45 Ortalon
> AveSanta Cruz, CA 95060mmellon at cruzio.com831-425-5583 Home