unburned diesel in exhaust

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by crazyoldboatguy

I love all the dire predictions being mentioned here. I wonder if some folks are actually hoping there is a problem - misery loving company and all.

My brother ran the tractor to operate a hydraulically powered log splitter. Previously, the diesel engine was having no problems. Afterwards, he noted oil leaking out of the muffler. There was no loss of power, no different engine noise, no loss of crankcase oil. He had been running the engine with minimal load for about an hour. I told him to get a smaller tractor! Actually, he ran the engine at a higher RPM the next day and the problem resolved - but it took a LONG time to clear the unburnt fuel from the muffler. If you still see a slick after running the engine for 3-4 hours under load, I would worry more.

Fair winds

Yeah... well I'm not so sure.. Every sailboat I've had since '82 has had a alternator for recharging... no solar, no wind gen (one had wind gen used occasionally). None of those boats, Yanmar, Nanni, Perkins, Volvo or Bukh diesel left a sheen on the water from charging...

[Bash]

Originally Posted by crazyoldboatguy

I love all the dire predictions being mentioned here. I wonder if some folks are actually hoping there is a problem - misery loving company and all.

My brother ran the tractor to operate a hydraulically powered log splitter. Previously, the diesel engine was having no problems. Afterwards, he noted oil leaking out of the muffler. There was no loss of power, no different engine noise, no loss of crankcase oil. He had been running the engine with minimal load for about an hour. I told him to get a smaller tractor! Actually, he ran the engine at a higher RPM the next day and the problem resolved - but it took a LONG time to clear the unburnt fuel from the muffler. If you still see a slick after running the engine for 3-4 hours under load, I would worry more.

Fair winds

And the winner is..... crazyoldboatguy.

Turns out all I need is a turbowash.

The problem seems to be that I'm too close to excellent sailing, and I've generally got the sails up and the diesel off within five minutes of leaving the dock. Last year we only used 30 gallons of diesel over a total of 63 sailing days, and the greater part of that was used by the diesel furnace, not the engine.

So yeah, I got another lecture about about how my Yanmar wants to be taken up to 3,400 rpms every once in a while just to clean things out, et cetera.

The nice thing is that with 200 watts of wind generator and 260 watts of solar I haven't needed to charge with the alternator for years. The downside is that I'd still like to be able to do that, even if it's not for a couple more years, without worrying about gunking up the turbocharger.

Relieved that it wasn't anything worse. Thanks to all for the analysis and suggestions.

[crazyoldboatguy]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

Yeah... well I'm not so sure.. Every sailboat I've had since '82 has had a alternator for recharging... no solar, no wind gen (one had wind gen used occasionally). None of those boats, Yanmar, Nanni, Perkins, Volvo or Bukh diesel left a sheen on the water from charging...

Just read the above post, Cheechako. I guess I was right. For once.