The case of the intermittent water cooling system

[brownoarsman]

So I have everything hooked up again. The manifold mating surfaces are pretty corroded so I used RTV on the gaskets. However, after running for a few seconds two days ago (shut engine down because thermostat gasket was leaking), my bowmost cylinder is throwing water out today.
Could this be a bad manifold to riser gasket? What could be causing this? Thoughts appreciated as I deal with another hydrolock.


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[Terra Nova]

Originally Posted by brownoarsman

...The manifold mating surfaces are pretty corroded so I used RTV on the gaskets. However, after running for a few seconds two days ago (shut engine down because thermostat gasket was leaking), my bowmost cylinder is throwing water out today...
What could be causing this?...

Corroded mating surfaces. JBweld and RTV can only get you just so far.

[DeepFrz]

Any progress on getting your engine running reliably?

[brownoarsman]

Thanks for checking in deepfrz! I actually just got back on the boat last night. My twin brother had flown in for our 30th birthdays, thinking that the engine was be fixed we were planning to sail to the bahamas
... We flew instead
Pulling the manifold off today to get it into the shop and make sure there's no cracks in it, then taking it to a machine shop to see, as others have posted, if it's cheaper to get a custom one made or if this one can be saved.


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[DeepFrz]

Good luck with that. Geez, 30th birthday. I can hardly remember my 50th.

[SkiprJohn]

I hope they can sort it out for you. Happy Birthday whipper snapper!

[brownoarsman]

Spun the water out and pickled the cylinders with sea foam deep creep before I left, but after having spun the sea foam out with about 150 revolutions of the crank shaft, can't get her to fire - with that many revs I don't think the problem is with any residual sea foam. Fuel delivery looks fine, and I'm getting smoke out of the manifold outlet which leads me to believe I've still got enough compression to make things hot in there! Hopefully the two days the water was in the cylinder before I caught it didn't kill her. The 'adventure' continues tomorrow when I get a helping hand to hold the starter button while I either spray wd-40 into the air intake or hold a gasoline soaked rag against it.
Thanks for the birthday wishes!


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[Terra Nova]

Originally Posted by brownoarsman

...The 'adventure' continues tomorrow when I get a helping hand to hold the starter button while I either spray wd-40 into the air intake or hold a gasoline soaked rag against it...

It should be a simple matter to start the engine at the solenoid without using the start button.

[brownoarsman]

That's a great idea, thanks! I hadn't thought of that but you're right, it's simple to do with a short length of wire.


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[brownoarsman]

Won't run on wd40, but after a few rounds of seafoam and hand turning the engine with the fuel line petcock shut, and then opening the petcock, I did get her going, once. However, I have been unable to repeat that success.
It was fun to see the sparks fly on the starter solenoid.


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[a64pilot]

WD-40 isn't a good starting fluid, it is safe though, where gas on a rag isn't.
I'd get her spinning, then hit it with ether, it will start, and sound horrible as ether will detonate, actually any fuel that comes in with the air will detonate. A few seconds of that will convince you she will run,


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[Terra Nova]

He just had it running, so it will run.

brown--when you get serious about making it run you will forget such nonsense as gasoline-soaked rags (for what?). Search out and fix the issues. If it runs one time and not the next, look for air leaks in the fuel supply, etc.

[brownoarsman]

After the second hydrolock where water probably sat in the cylinder for at least a day, I wanted to make sure it would still fire and run reliably before investing more money and parts on it, so that's my first priority before replacing or repairing the manifold.
The now intermittent running has me perplexed. I have checked the fuel lines, and I can't find any leaks. Fuel consistently and reliably spurts out of the injector inlets when I crack the nuts off a little, so I don't think there's an issue upstream of that. Per calder's suggestion, I was using wd40 to see if it was a fuel problem, with the theory that if it runs on wd but not without it, it MUST be a fuel problem. Air reliably sucks in at the inlet creating a vacuum, so all good there. Glow plugs work great.
That leaves me, I think, with the possibility of temporarily clogging injectors (assuming the WD40 test was meaningless), or intermittent compression issues, but are compression issues ever intermittent? I suppose it's possible the seafoam could seal the cylinder enough to fire and then burn off, but I've done many, many rounds of sea foam coating of the cylinders and it only worked once.
I am honestly and intently trying to solve these issues, and I sincerely appreciate everyone's advice.


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[brownoarsman]

The resident diesel mechanic here in boot key (who is a great guy and has been super generous with his time and advice, in case you ever find yourselves here), thinks I may just have residual oil in the cylinders from the pickling, as evidenced by the white smoke/exhaust I'm getting out of the manifold (I have the riser off in prep to take off the manifold).
His idea was that the gasoline fumes might burn hot enough to clear out this remaining oil. Engine wouldn't fire off the gas fumes though, so I'm trying to burn it off by turning the engine over with the fuel petcock shut off (his advice).
If that doesn't work, he'll come over and help me with ether, which he advised not to try without knowing what I was doing. Luckily the weather system has held off and the solar is keeping my battery up!


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[a64pilot]

You can bust something with ether if you aren't familiar with it. Rule #1 with ether is never, ever use it if you have working glow plugs, the ether can hit the glow plugs and ignite well before the piston is even close to TDC.
Rule #2 with ether is only use it when the engine is spinning, that way it doesn't get too much in. I am guilty of violating rule #2, but I have seen a couple of heads and head bolts busted with glow plugs and ether. That killed many of the old GM car Diesels as they wouldn't start on a cold day, even with glow plugs.

If you have a mechanic available, best to wait for him.