ENGINE DIES WITH WHITE SMOKE PERIODICALLY

[Ex-Calif]

Change the headgasket immediately - The guy with the biggest font is always correct!

[Chief Engineer]

Sorry, I was just trying to be humerus. sorry it didn't get your funny bone

[hellosailor]

Dunno, Dan, quits after two hours IS kinda puzzling. But unless you can find that specific symptom in a troubleshooting guide someplace...I'd still start with the basics, eliminate questions like head gasket. As Holmes said to Watson, once you have eliminated everything else, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, is...something or other.

If it runs for two hours I'd think everything was good, after all, what can clog, leak, or otherwise stop after running faithfully for that long? No ignition system, so we can't suspect that. Fuel clog or air in the lines? Wouldn't make it smoke, wouldn't let it restart.

What stops a diesel? (Ignoring the two hours.) If it has fuel, air, and compression, it runs. The injectors and pump can be pulled and checked, maybe the injectors are haunted--but eyeballing them probably will confirm there's nothing wrong there. Leaving...? Maybe it "burps" and loses compression, or ingests some coolant water and quenches the flamefront in the cylinder, stopping the engine? (Burp, as in the heat distortion finally catches up to it and allows something to open up?)

I had an engine that drove me crazy, replaced the head gasket after replacing the thermostat and everything else that might be causing a chronic overheat. STILL overheated--turned out to be a bad gauge sender. You betcha, I remember to check senders now.[g]

[Ex-Calif]

Originally Posted by Chief Engineer

Sorry, I was just trying to be humerus. sorry it didn't get your funny bone

My weak attempt a humorous retort apparently missed its mark - LOL...

[Unicorn Dreams]

White smoke is also caused by fuel starvation, bad fuel line, small enough of a leak to starve the engine, engine dies, quits sucking air,runs normally for a while,then sucks air, starts smoking again, and no power.
Had the exact same problems with a 3208 cat. Start blowng white smoke, lose power, then die. After a few minutes crank it back up and would run good for about 100 miles.
Turn out that the fuel line which was 18 years old was collapsing on the inside. When engine quit,pressure was relieved and fuel would flow normally again....

[mikereed100]

Turn out that the fuel line which was 18 years old was collapsing on the inside. When engine quit,pressure was relieved and fuel would flow normally again....

This should happen only between the fuel tank and lift pump where there is negative pressure. Flicka's diesel is gravity fed however, so the fuel line should not collapse. Otherwise sounds like a very plausible explanation.

[Chief Engineer]

But there are some on this board that take life to cereally.

Real sailors love to laugh at themselves....it happens to me a couple times a day.......that's why I don't have to take blood pressure meds...

Originally Posted by Ex-Calif

My weak attempt a humorous retort apparently missed its mark - LOL...

Bunper sticker/window sticker I saw on a sailboat today

"Dog is my co-pyrate"

[Wanderlust]

I'm no diesel expert but Santana's comments reminded me of a similar symptom I had on a skiboat years ago.

After noticing that the problem was worse with a full tank, a little bit of investigation showed the tank's air intake just a little too small, causing a vaccuum inside the tank. Stop for a few minutes and the vaccuum equalised.

Look for the simplest explanation first. Easy to diagnose by a test run with the filler cap off.

[hellosailor]

Excellent thought, Steve! Insect nests can block the vent line causing that problem too.

[TexSail]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

Excellent thought, Steve! Insect nests can block the vent line causing that problem too.

Good idea, you could take the gas cap off for a second when you had the problem and see if that helped.

[TexSail]

We have a neighbor who had an outboard that was having somewhat similar problems and it turned out to be seaweed fouling the propeller. Put the prop in reverse and rev it up, then continue forward to see if that's it. Just for the hell of it, when the problem arises, you might want to get down and feel the stuffing box to see if it is heating up and trying to seize.

(not the most likely diagnoses but trying to eliminate the easy stuff first)