Engine Running Temperature? Ericson 32 Universal

G

Geordie

Boadicea Ericson 32-3
i have an Ericson 32-3 with a Universal 23HP. For several years after purchase it took a long time to heat up and never seemed to get up past 180 if that, but ran fine. I recently had an overheating and boil over issue due to coolant leakage, and now after repair the engine heats up quickly to 180, then to 190/195 when at cruisiing RPMs. (temp per cockpit gauge). A reputable mechanic has worked on the overheating issue multiple times, thinks it might be the gauge and suggests testing actual heat with a heat gun.

I'm curious if anyone has a similar experince and what you think normal operating temp is. I have done some online research and it seems 180 to 195 is not beyond the pale, but it seems hot compared with my past experience.
 
Alan Gomes

Alan Gomes

Sustaining Partner
Geordie said:
i have an Ericson 32-3 with a Universal 23HP. For several years after purchase it took a long time to heat up and never seemed to get up past 180 if that, but ran fine. I recently had an overheating and boil over issue due to coolant leakage, and now after repair the engine heats up quickly to 180, then to 190/195 when at cruisiing RPMs. (temp per cockpit gauge). A reputable mechanic has worked on the overheating issue multiple times, thinks it might be the gauge and suggests testing actual heat with a heat gun.

I'm curious if anyone has a similar experince and what you think normal operating temp is. I have done some online research and it seems 180 to 195 is not beyond the pale, but it seems hot compared with my past experience.
Click to expand...
If you lost coolant through a leak, repaired the leak, and then refilled with coolant, it could be that your problem is an air lock in the fresh water side of the cooling circuit. On my previous boat (a Catalina 30) I had the same engine and it was prone to get an air bubble in it when I'd change the coolant due to the presence of the water heater. That is, the cooling circuit included a path to and through the 6 gal. water heater, allowing the engine to produce hot water when away from electrical shore power. The air bubble would presumably develop somewhere in connection with the run to this heater.

I wrote up a short procedure for avoiding this problem, which I shared on the Catalina 30 list. I'm reproducing it below in case it could prove helpful to you. Of course, this assumes that you do have a water heater in the circuit and that it is plumbed as it was on my boat. But this may give you some hints on adapting it to your configuration, should it differ from the one I had.

Regards,
Alan

I thought it might be helpful to mention a way to avoid airlock (and hence overheating) when you replace the coolant:

Take off the 3/8” hose at the bottom of the thermostat housing. (This is the hose that goes to the water heater.) You then refill the system through this hose. The best way is to get one of those hand pumps like this: http://www.westmarine.com/buy/jabsco--manually-operated-hand-pump--7422371 You can probably find an even cheaper one of these at Harbor Freight that might do the job for you.

Pump the coolant through the system until it fills up the manifold and starts coming out the hose nipple at the bottom of the thermostat housing, i.e., the nipple from which you just removed the hose. You might want to position a cup or something to catch the overflow. Then remove the 3/8” hose from the hand pump and reconnect it to the thermostat housing. You should not have any airlock at this point.

If you don't have a pump you can accomplish the job by raising the 3/8” hose as high as possible and filling it through a funnel, letting gravity do the work. I was able to do it successfully using this method but it was very slow, whereas the hand pump will do it lickety split.

I highly recommend this method as sometimes it can be quite an ordeal getting a stubborn airlock out of the system.
 
C

Ccaptain

Ccaptain
Alan has hit the nail on the head. I had a Universal 18 on my O'Day that was acting the same way. The problem was solved by adding one teaspoonful of coolant to the area above the thermostat. The engine has run perfectly ever since then (5 yrs).

Ccaptain
 
mkollerjr

mkollerjr

Member III
Blogs Author
My Yanmar 3HM35F runs at about 170F (according to MY gauge). However, temperature gauges are not generally accurate (i.e. giving actual engine temp) but they can be precise (i.e. repeatability of temp reading). The important thing is to establish what the normal operating temperature of your engine is (as read on YOUR gauge) and watch for deviations which can signal abnormal operating conditions.

I recently replaced my coolant. Flushed several times and re-filled. I thought that I had the system completely filled, but there must have been air in my lines going to/from the water heater. The engine ran hot, and I discovered the coolant to be quite low (not completely covering the HX with coolant). I topped it off and now it is operating at normal temps.

Mark
 
P

Pat O'Connell

Member III
Overheating

Hi Respected Sailors

Had that overheating problem when the boat was new. Called Ericson or Universal and they suggested installing a overflow tank above the heat exchanger making sure the overflow hose flowed down from the overflow tank with no kinks to the heat exchanger. I think that fixed the problem. Now when I change antifreeze and refill all is well.
Chips was a Newport Boat Show Boat. I noticed some black, toasty, paint on the block and adjusted my offer accordingly. Dealer swore no problems and he was probably right as I never have had a prob. Then again???
Best Regards

Pat O'Connell
1981 E28+ Chips
 
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