Flooded Kohler genset. What to do?

[captmikecoin]

I've been informed by the Greek yard where my yacht is stored for the winter that the genset has been flooded by oily bilgewater possibly caused by rain through an open hatch. My insurer doesn't want to know. After further investigation it seems the water only came a couple of inches or so up the side of the casing and the engine is OK. However the electrical machine seems to have got wet and those parts not actually underwater were very damp.

Having removed the genset from the boat the yard have consulted the Kohler agent who want to take the whole set to Athens (some 500km away) to give the engine and generator a "full service". As they will not give any cost indication I suspect this will be an ultra-expensive option. So, as I'm not there, I plan to have the yard wash the genset in fresh water, all the lids off the various control boxes and then thoroughly dried.

Does anyone have any other suggestions? This is a 2011 genset with about 50hrs on it.

Cheers,

Mike

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by captmikecoin

I've been informed by the Greek yard where my yacht is stored for the winter that the genset has been flooded by oily bilgewater possibly caused by rain through an open hatch. My insurer doesn't want to know. After further investigation it seems the water only came a couple of inches or so up the side of the casing and the engine is OK. However the electrical machine seems to have got wet and those parts not actually underwater were very damp.

Having removed the genset from the boat the yard have consulted the Kohler agent who want to take the whole set to Athens (some 500km away) to give the engine and generator a "full service". As they will not give any cost indication I suspect this will be an ultra-expensive option. So, as I'm not there, I plan to have the yard wash the genset in fresh water, all the lids off the various control boxes and then thoroughly dried.

Does anyone have any other suggestions? This is a 2011 genset with about 50hrs on it.

Cheers,

Mike

I wouldn't let the yard anywhere near it. Get the agent to fix it and warranty it.

Dave

[djmarchand]

Rain water with oil? If your genset has to be flooded with anything that is the best!! The following will take someone with mechanical and electrical skills and it will try tricky to do do it long distance, but give this a try:

It sounds like the generator end was wet to some degree. Have your yard remove the generator, spray all exposed electrical connectors with WD40 or similar water displacing solvent and put it in an oven and bake at low temperature- 100 C for a day or so. It may be fine after that treatment.

The engine sounds likes it may be ok, but some parts need attention- certainly the starter. Remove it and bake it with the generator. Did water get in the crankcase? If not (and you can easily check the oil level to find out), try to start it and run it for a few minutes. The oil will look chocolatey brown if even a little water got in it. But change the oil and run it for another few minutes.

Hook up the generator end and see if the whole thing works. At worst it sounds like you are looking at a new generator end, but maybe not even that.

David

[Opie91]

Same thing happened to a friend of mine. We ended up having to change the stator, but his was flooded with salt water not fresh. You might get away with it. Drying everything out and stopping corrosion is a must.

Kohler has excellent manuals for checking all the electrical stuff out. I believe most of them are free on their website.

Good Luck!!!

[captmikecoin]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I've downloaded the manuals for future reference but decided to send the set to the Athens agents for examination. We'll see what they come up with.

Cheers,

Mike