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

Tue Jun 1 13:44:28 PDT 2021

 My 1994 C320 w/Perkins 30 engine is fitted with a T fitting between the raw-water seacock and the water strainer. The T accepts a short garden hose but is normally capped.
If I suspect a clog in the seacock, I'll temporarily close that valve, twist on a short garden hose (beats tearing off a rubber hose from the Marelon fitting). Then, with the open end of the garden hose held above the waterline, I'll open the seacock and use an air horn to blast out the debris.
BTW, the garden hose helps in sucking in pink antifreeze when it comes time to winterize.
- Joe Jablonowski  s/v Assignment #103

=================================================================
    On Tuesday, June 1, 2021, 04:17:45 PM EDT, Jack Brennan <jackbrennan at bellsouth.net> wrote:  

 Just for the record, the absolute worst clog is the seacock for the holding tank.

Once you clear it, the sewage winds up in a hard-to-reach corner at the end of the holding tank. It does not seep directly into the bilge, so the cleanup is difficult and nasty.

Jack Brennan
Sonas, 1998 Catalina 320
Tierra Verde, Fl.

Sent from Mail for Windows 10

From: Jon Vez
Sent: Tuesday, June 1, 2021 3:56 PM
To: C320-List at catalina320.com
Subject: Re: [C320-list] White Smoke and Overheating Diagnosis (A Lesson)

One trick that works well to clear the hose and seacock is the air pump for your dinghy. The air pump hose conveniently fits just inside the hose end and usually takes just one pump at the low psi setting to blow everything out.
Just remove the hose from the strainer end and stick the pump hose in and you should clear everything out. This is one reason an external strainer may not be the best choice...

Sent from my iPad

> On Jun 1, 2021, at 12:15 PM, 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