Generator Problem

[Bluewater gal]

Well, it won't start...it's like it's locked up.

[DeepFrz]

Probably hydro locked. which means you probably have water in one of the cylinders. You will have to pull the injectors in order to get the water out. Do not keep trying to turn the engine over as it can cause serious damage.

[Bluewater gal]

Thanks...this is such a mess. We will start on that early tomorrow am. We're both really exhausted over this, but y'all have been a tremendous help to us. Will keep you posted tomorrow.

[Bluewater gal]

I do have one more question...once we pull the injectors, how do we get the water out of the cylinders?

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by Bluewater gal

I do have one more question...once we pull the injectors, how do we get the water out of the cylinders?

Just turn it over and the water will spurt out of the hole.
I would then put plenty of oil in the cylinders, let it sit awhile, then put a rag over the hole and spin it again, the rag should catch the oil.
Then fill the cylinders with oil and try to get it to a mechanic ASAP.
Water in the cylinders will ruin an engine faster than anything, the oil though will hopefully prevent any damage, cylinders are very susceptible to rust, I would not wait, get oil in there as soon as you can.

[DeepFrz]

I would suggest, if you don't already have it, that you get Nigel Calder's "Boat Owners Mechanical and Electrical Manual". I think he has a companion guide to that now. I'm not sure what edition is current but I have the 3rd edition and I bought that over 10 yrs. ago. Good luck. I hope you find a good mechanic.

Oh, one other thought. If possible drain the water out of the muffler.

[Bluewater gal]

Ok...we did as directed and all appears good. We have drained the oil a few times, used a motor flush and started the generator. It has been running very smoothly and has been for about 20 min. and the oil is clear and stable. No leakage. There is a small amt of white smoke from the exhaust, so still trying to discern that issue, but all in all, I think we'll be ok. Thanks to everyone who helped us thru this.[emoji1303][emoji926][emoji484]

[a64pilot]

No, you need to find the source of the water or you will ruin your generator.
It happened, you didn't do anything to fix it, it will happen again. You dodged a bullet, you got lucky. Count your blessings, but get this thing fixed ASAP.
Unless of course you have discovered where the water came from and fixed it.

[Bluewater gal]

We have reason to think that ice formed between the strainer to the generator and went thru the impeller which caused the seal to fail. What happened was we came down to our boat and found our electricity had been disconnected. It was during a very cold time and we think some dock workers untied us and moved our boat out a few feet. They denied doing it, but there was no other reason it would have been unplugged. Anyway, we are looking for the source of the leak, but there are no mechanics around, so we are pretty much having to do our own work. Good learning experience. But we are not finished, we are continuing to look for the source and monitoring everything closely.

[a64pilot]

A water pump would not explain water in the cylinders, the only thing that would explain water in the cylinders is water coming in from the exhaust. I know of no other way water can get on top of the pistons, a blown head gasket, cracked cylinder head etc would be engine coolant, not raw water.
Extended unsuccessful cranking can do it though, if you crank and crank without it starting you will eventually fill the exhaust with water, that is not blown out as there is not enough exhaust to blow out the water.

[Bluewater gal]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

A water pump would not explain water in the cylinders, the only thing that would explain water in the cylinders is water coming in from the exhaust. I know of no other way water can get on top of the pistons, a blown head gasket, cracked cylinder head etc would be engine coolant, not raw water.
Extended unsuccessful cranking can do it though, if you crank and crank without it starting you will eventually fill the exhaust with water, that is not blown out as there is not enough exhaust to blow out the water.

Ok, we're back at the boat and we are still working on the generator issue. When the gen is on, the vacuum relief valve has water running out the overflow pipe. We agree that this is an exhaust issue, however we haven't cranked on the engine because it starts right up, but the relief valve is lifting and we replaced the diaphragm. So we know there is a blockage somewhere. We're trying to figure out where that blockage is...maybe the water muffler?