Running hot
- Thread starter Gregory S
- Start date
Flushed the problem engine last night with Barnacle Buster, for two hours. Easy to do. The amount of crud that came out of the exchangers and cooler was amazing. Kept getting dirtier the entire time. Ran the engine afterward, noticeable difference in engine and elbow temps. I'll do the other side tonight. Seeing this much crud come out of the system makes me think this should be routine maintenance every few years.
It's easy Al. First, you need a pump that will push 2 -3 gal/ min. I found a 12 volt pump at Harbor Freight that worked well. Next, you'll need some hose and adapters(Home Depot). The pump draws the solution from the bucket and the flush starts at the U-cooler. I used an adapter to get me from the 3/4 " pump output hose to the 1&1/4 " inlet for the U-cooler. I disconnected the hose leading from the raw water pump to the U-Cooler. MKe sure your sea cock is closed. The fluid then follows the normal raw water flow to and thru the heat exchanger. From the heat exchanger, the fluid follows tha raw water route to the exhaust elbows. I disconnected each hose going to each exhaust elbow and used adapters to allow me to mate them to a piece of garden hose. Those 2 hoses are the drainage back to the 5 gallon bucket. Once you're set up, put about a gallon of water in the bucket and turn the pump on to check for leaks. If you don't have any leaks, add a gallon of Barnacle a Buster CONCENTRATE . Make sure you use the concentrate. Then add 3 more gallons of water. Turn the pump back on and let it ccirculate for about 2 hours. Sounds complicated but very easy to do. A gallon of Barnacle Buster costs about $79 at West Marine.
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2002
- RO Number
- 10265
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- 9,958
Do you run the motor or just let it circulate with pump pressure?
I heard that some run it backwards thru the motor as it pushes the crud the other way.
Something I would like to do as well but nervous forcing water thru the motor.
Always afraid it can get forced where it doesn't belong.
I run saltaway thru motor in fall but don't circulate, i run it in, stop motor, let it soak, then winterize.
I heard that some run it backwards thru the motor as it pushes the crud the other way.
Something I would like to do as well but nervous forcing water thru the motor.
Always afraid it can get forced where it doesn't belong.
I run saltaway thru motor in fall but don't circulate, i run it in, stop motor, let it soak, then winterize.
I'm interested to hear if this worked. The true test will be away from the dock and under load. I can understand how crud in the system will cause a motor to run hot, but in the description of the symptoms you mentioned steam in the exhaust. Steam in the exhaust is a symptom of water in the combustion chamber.
Steam quite often (and a lot more often than water in the combustion chamber) happens when RW flow is for any reason insufficient to cool exhaust temps below 212*F, so what water is still injected into the riser outlet will flash to steam almost immediately and be noticeably visible in the exhaust.
Bad RW impeller, restricted RW intake or strainer or cooler or heat exchanger or riser/elbow are some of the RW flow related things which can cause steam in the exhaust of a FWC engine.
What Sandy said. 454s make some steam, no matter how good raw water flow is. I know by experience with these engines that when raw water glow is decreased, they do exactly what Sandy said. It was interesting that when I started flushing, the return hoses to the elbows had low water flow. It picked up considerably as the flushing progressed. Haven't been able to run the engines with a load yet because of weather, but at 2000 RPMs at the dock, the elbows are at least 30 degrees cooler then before the flush. Hopefully I can test under load tomorrow..
Dave, I didn't run th motors. The pump circulates the mixture. I let it circulate for 2 hours.m if you use your motors, you shut them down after you run in 5,gallons and let it sit overnight. I'm told that's not as effective.
Dave, I didn't run th motors. The pump circulates the mixture. I let it circulate for 2 hours.m if you use your motors, you shut them down after you run in 5,gallons and let it sit overnight. I'm told that's not as effective.
Dave, you can run it backward at the end. Your not pushing the mixture thru the engine, only through the re water system. Look for the U tube video showing the process to flush Ccat Marine diesels with Barnacle buster. Same process for gas engines.