Posted by skyebyrd2003 (skyebyrd2003@…>)
My wife and I have just completed this years cruise and are home,
resting up for our foray to the Bahamas this coming January. We’ve
been cruising part-time for the past 3 years and have detailed the
adventure on our web page(www.skybirdcruise.com).
Recently, in the past month, I experienced a problem of saltwater
dripping from my air intake filter. I have a freshwater cooled
system. I immediately released compression on the 3 cylinders and
manually rotated the engine. Water poured from the now open air
intake and I could hear the water gurgling in the cylinders as I
rotated the engine. Once the gurgling sound stopped, I used the
starter to turn the engine over for 5 seconds or so (compression
released). With some effort, I got the engine started and it ran and
sounded perfectly fine. We pulled into Charleston,SC and I had a
diesel mechanic look at the engine. He found a loose riser on the
exhaust manifold and figured that it might be the problem. It wasn’t.
However, the problem seemed to stop until a few days later when I
again found water in the cylinders. I repeated the procedure to clear
and start the engine. Same result. Everything worked well. When we
got to Brunswick, GA, I had a second mechanic look at the engine.
Same diagnosis but the riser is good and there’s nothing wrong with
the exhaust manifold. He left shaking his head and saying that the
engine looked and sounded just fine.
Perhaps some of you have experienced my problem and found an answer
to what’s happening. Thanks,
Posted by Jerome M Weinraub (zayde@…>)
I would check the manifold gasket. It is the most likely place for salt water to get into the intake. Head gasket problem would give fresh water in the cylinders . .----- Original Message ----- s
From: skyebyrd2003
To: freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, November 06, 2003 10:16 AM
Subject: [freedomyachts2003] Puzzling problem with Yanmar 3gm on F-32
My wife and I have just completed this years cruise and are home, resting up for our foray to the Bahamas this coming January. We’ve been cruising part-time for the past 3 years and have detailed the adventure on our web page(www.skybirdcruise.com). Recently, in the past month, I experienced a problem of saltwater dripping from my air intake filter. I have a freshwater cooled system. I immediately released compression on the 3 cylinders and manually rotated the engine. Water poured from the now open air intake and I could hear the water gurgling in the cylinders as I rotated the engine. Once the gurgling sound stopped, I used the starter to turn the engine over for 5 seconds or so (compression released). With some effort, I got the engine started and it ran and sounded perfectly fine. We pulled into Charleston,SC and I had a diesel mechanic look at the engine. He found a loose riser on the exhaust manifold and figured that it might be the problem. It wasn’t. However, the problem seemed to stop until a few days later when I again found water in the cylinders. I repeated the procedure to clear and start the engine. Same result. Everything worked well. When we got to Brunswick, GA, I had a second mechanic look at the engine. Same diagnosis but the riser is good and there’s nothing wrong with the exhaust manifold. He left shaking his head and saying that the engine looked and sounded just fine. Perhaps some of you have experienced my problem and found an answer to what’s happening. Thanks,To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:freedomyachts2003-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.comYour use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
Posted by rick_simonds (rick_simonds@…>)
I have an '84 F32, Hull #59 w/ a Yanmar 3GMD converted by Freedom to
fresh water cooling. There was not syphon breaker in my raw water
cooling intake system originally.
About 2 years ago my engine suddenly quit one day (in a 65 MPH
thunderstorm in a narrow channel with 5 non-sailors aboard and 2
broken bilge pumps and a flooded bilge from a broken cockpit drain
hose and a towed inflateable dinghy bow bag with $400 worth of stuff
in it that broke loose and floated away never to be seen again and
later having the CG Auxiliary tow me hard aground outside the
channel,… but I digress.) It turned out to be a broken intake
valve. Unknown to me, seawater had been laying in the engine
regularly for years and the valve was eaten away to nothing.
Fortunately the broken valve pieces flew out the exhaust instead of
punching holes in the piston.
The water appeared to be coming in from the exhaust hose but it
simply can’t be coming in backwards through the exhaust system, the
exhaust outlet exits the hull above the waterline. I took a while for
me to figure it out. I can’t say how it actually manages to do this,
it doesn’t seem possible, but I can say it was definitely coming in
through the raw water intake in my case. (It truly doesn’t make any
sense, how does it get past the impeller in the raw water pump?)
Though it is coming from the intake side it gradually fills up the
exhaust system, dumping it in at the mixing elbow. There is a high
loop in the exhaust hose just before the muffler and another high
loop behind the transom. Unfortunately the transom loop is higher
than the muffler loop. This seems totally wrong to me. If the transom
loop was lower the water would drain harmlessly out the transom, as
it is the water has nowhere to go but into the engine once it fills
the exhaust system. I have checked this and Yanmar insists the
transom loop SHOULD be higher. It is shown in their installation
manual that way, they told me it should be this way in an email about
this and a trusted mechanic said to make the transom loop as high as
possible. It still seems completely wrong to me but they’ve worn me
down.
If you have the same engine, try disconnecting the water hose that
connects to the mixing elbow nipple, but disconnect it at the other
end, the engine end. Open and close the intake seacock. Does seawater
dribble out of the hose with the seacock open and stop when it’s
closed? Mine did, though it seemed possible for the engine to stop in
just the right position for the raw water pump to seal it off
sometimes. Try bumping the starter a few times to see if you just
happened to hit the magic spot.
I added an anti-syphon valve. I installed it (Vetus brand) in that
hose, the last item before the water goes into the mixing elbow. The
anti-syphon valve should be mounted as high as possible under the
sink, well above the waterline even when heeled. (For reference, the
cabin sole of an F32 is about 16" below the waterline, BTW. That
means most of the engine is actually underwater.) I’m not sure if
it’s the anti-syphon valve itself or just the high loop that it makes
but it seems to have done the trick either way. No more water backing
up into the engine.
Good luck.
Posted by Fred Molden (fred_molden@…>)
There was a diesel mechanic at the Block Island Freedom rendezvous several years ago and as I recall he said that it was possible to get the cooling water to back up into the engine if you kept cranking and it didn’t start right away. Theory was that the water pump impeller kept pushing the raw water into the manifold and exhaust system until it reached the siphon level which is above the level of the motor exhaust valves. Then the raw (salt) water could flow back into the motor possibly causing the motor to lock up when it tried to compress the water when starting. Once the motor starts or if there is sufficient exhaust gas pressure the exhaust gas pressure would blow the water out the exhaust (through the water lift muffler) and keep it from backing into the motor and the motor would run as normal.
I guess I would check the water lift muffler and the exhaust system in general. It sounds like the raw water is not getting out. By the way I am NOT a diesel mechanic so please check it out with someone qualified.
A friend once had a long term overheating problem and after changing all water system components a mechanic connected a strong pressure dock water hose to the raw water input and out popped a partial bird nest from the exhaust. Only became a problem when he was pushing hard, like to make a bridge opening.
skyebyrd2003 <skyebyrd2003@…> wrote:
My wife and I have just completed this years cruise and are home, resting up for our foray to the Bahamas this coming January. We’ve been cruising part-time for the past 3 years and have detailed the adventure on our web page(www.skybirdcruise.com). Recently, in the past month, I experienced a problem of saltwater dripping from my air intake filter. I have a freshwater cooled system. I immediately released compression on the 3 cylinders and manually rotated the engine. Water poured from the now open air intake and I could hear the water gurgling in the cylinders as I rotated the engine. Once the gurgling sound stopped, I used the starter to turn the engine over for 5 seconds or so (compression released). With some effort, I got the engine started and it ran and sounded perfectly fine. We pulled into Charleston,SC and I had a
diesel mechanic look at the engine. He found a loose riser on the exhaust manifold and figured that it might be the problem. It wasn’t. However, the problem seemed to stop until a few days later when I again found water in the cylinders. I repeated the procedure to clear and start the engine. Same result. Everything worked well. When we got to Brunswick, GA, I had a second mechanic look at the engine. Same diagnosis but the riser is good and there’s nothing wrong with the exhaust manifold. He left shaking his head and saying that the engine looked and sounded just fine. Perhaps some of you have experienced my problem and found an answer to what’s happening. Thanks,To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:freedomyachts2003-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.comYour use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
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Posted by Fred Molden (fred_molden@…>)
I just finished reading your account of this past Oct. Brought back many memories of our trip last year. We left Annapolis on Oct 27, 2002 with a 25 kt northern wind and made it to St Augustine FL in about three weeks. Along the way we stopped at 80% of the places you stopped so you recounting was very enjoyable. We hope to do the Bahamas in a year or two also.
Fred Molden
F35 “Volant”
fredmolden@…
skyebyrd2003 <skyebyrd2003@…> wrote:
My wife and I have just completed this years cruise and are home, resting up for our foray to the Bahamas this coming January. We’ve been cruising part-time for the past 3 years and have detailed the adventure on our web page(www.skybirdcruise.com). Recently, in the past month, I experienced a problem of saltwater dripping from my air intake filter. I have a freshwater cooled system. I immediately released compression on the 3 cylinders and manually rotated the engine. Water poured from the now open air intake and I could hear the water gurgling in the cylinders as I rotated the engine. Once the gurgling sound stopped, I used the starter to turn the engine over for 5 seconds or so (compression released). With some effort, I got the engine started and it ran and sounded perfectly fine. We pulled into Charleston,SC and I had a
diesel mechanic look at the engine. He found a loose riser on the exhaust manifold and figured that it might be the problem. It wasn’t. However, the problem seemed to stop until a few days later when I again found water in the cylinders. I repeated the procedure to clear and start the engine. Same result. Everything worked well. When we got to Brunswick, GA, I had a second mechanic look at the engine. Same diagnosis but the riser is good and there’s nothing wrong with the exhaust manifold. He left shaking his head and saying that the engine looked and sounded just fine. Perhaps some of you have experienced my problem and found an answer to what’s happening. Thanks,To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:freedomyachts2003-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.comYour use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
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