Oil in coolant?

[footrope]

Flushing the cooling system

I haven't read the hour meter yet, but using a stopwatch I figure I've got about 2 hours running on the reassembled engine. The injector fuel leaks are fixed.

Oil level is stable and the oil is clear. After about an hour with water and Cascade powder in the cooling system (no thermostat), I rigged the pictured flush "system" which is actually a piece of 3/4" nylon reinforced water hose, a 5 gallon bucket and the two hose adapters. I'll do another flush today, after I empty all my one gallon containers. And then probably do another one in a few more hours of running.

Flushing cooling systems on these engines turned out to be easier than I thought. "All you gotta do now is flush the cooling system" is kind of a tossed off phrase, as if everyone has done it. Except I don't usually do this myself. Since I'm this far into the repair, it seemed silly not to figure out how. The water squirter has a hose thread on the end, under the rubber protective cover, and this worked out very nicely for me. I was considering buying a ball valve to control the flow, but the squirter worked great. I might reverse the flow for the next flush.

Getting rid of the contaminated water and oil is another issue. Fortunately there is a Household Hazardous Waste collection site not too far from the marina and they're open Thursday through Saturday. They take coolant, oil and fuel, and any combination of contaminated fluids for free. I can get my containers back from this place in South Seattle, too, if I don't mind waiting. I think they take expired flares also. This beats putting all the fluids in the trash.

 

[footrope]

As of yesterday at 6 pm all looks good oil-wise with 3.5 hours running since re-assembly. The last two coolant flushes brought out less oil than the first. No surprise there. Prior to the most recent flush I installed the thermostat and got the coolant about 25-30 degrees F hotter, but didn't use any soap. When I draw down the level in the cooling jacket I notice that oil is sticking to the inside surfaces. I have a feeling that I'll be circulating and flushing oil for a long time. There are some areas in the jacket that don't get good circulation.

One thing I notice, which is a significant change from the pre-repair operation, warm or hot starts require quite a bit more cranking than a cold start. It used to start instantly when hot. Now it has been starting instantly when cold, but not when hot. When it does start hot, the cylinders fire irregularly and then smooth out, just like there's air in the lines. I will be changing the fuel filters this week, since it's been about 3 years.

 

[Alan Gomes]

As of yesterday at 6 pm all looks good oil-wise with 3.5 hours running since re-assembly. The last two coolant flushes brought out less oil than the first. No surprise there. Prior to the most recent flush I installed the thermostat and got the coolant about 25-30 degrees F hotter, but didn't use any soap. When I draw down the level in the cooling jacket I notice that oil is sticking to the inside surfaces. I have a feeling that I'll be circulating and flushing oil for a long time. There are some areas in the jacket that don't get good circulation.

One thing I notice, which is a significant change from the pre-repair operation, warm or hot starts require quite a bit more cranking than a cold start. It used to start instantly when hot. Now it has been starting instantly when cold, but not when hot. When it does start hot, the cylinders fire irregularly and then smooth out, just like there's air in the lines. I will be changing the fuel filters this week, since it's been about 3 years.

Sounds like you are nearing the end of your considerable ordeal with this engine. Give us the word when we can pop the champagne corks and celebrate with you!

I guess the one bright spot in all this is that you must now have a high degree of confidence in your ability to maintain your engine since you know it far more intimately than most of us will ever know ours! Your work on it has been impressive.

 

[footrope]

Thanks, Alan. I have much more confidence and know-how around the engine compartment now. And I saved myself from getting rid of a perfectly good engine. Well, perfectly good once the hole in the head was plugged.

I'll be posting again once the engine has been run at power and I'm confident I can cruise again.

 

[footrope]

It's been 10 days since my last report and not too much has changed, unfortunately. Family duties had to be attended to and that took 5 days out of the program. A couple notes from previous posts can be updated.

I replaced the 10 micron Racor fuel filter and the 2 micron onboard fuel filter. They had been in there about 3 years and the Racor was showing a little more sediment since last season's cruise. Bled and started OK, for the most part. Changing these two filters is difficult because of the tight space and then there's always the loss of some fuel into the engine bilge even if I drain the Racor first.

I mentioned that the engine seemed harder to start since getting it back together. It was taking longer cranking and then it ran rough for a few seconds like there was air in the fuel system. That has changed with the last set of starts to very little cranking and smooth running. So, there probably was still some air working its way out of the filters and through the lines.

I put my second alternator back on, which charges the house batteries, and hooked it up with reverse polarity. Dumb. When I turned on the battery, there was crackling and smoke from the alternator. I'll open a new thread for this only because the smoke came from an external component that I am learning about and planning to replace. This is a 190-amp alternator and the information about the device, which is a transient voltage suppressor, may be of interest to others with large alternators. The PO, who modified the charging systems, was a EE and he probably had a good reason to add it. Anyway there were two rectifiers also blown and they have been replaced and the alternator tests good. $120 dumb.

 

[footrope]

Out on the river

We keep the boat on the Duwamish River here in Seattle. The marina sits at the south tip of an island that is home to Seattle's container port. Tuesday afternoon we twisted off the crusty dock lines and got out on the river to get the boat up to speed and heat the engine up. Success. The bottom of the boat is pretty furry and the prop probably has a few barnacles on it, but we got going and knocked some rust off our skills for about 45 minutes. It ran fine, smooth. We got our customary light steam at the exhaust and the coolant temperature stabilized at about 170F with a 160F thermostat. Every variation in vibration and noise got our attention, but the engine and drive train seem ok. I think I'll schedule a brief haulout and clean the bottom and prop. I have a short list of things to do including putting a grease fitting into the rudder tube.

Just in time for some Indian Summer!? cruising.