Westerbeke Gen. white smoke

F

firstlight

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Mar 25, 2005
RO Number
16749
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5.0 westerbeke approx.350 hrs. first time start this season.
I am getting a lot of white smoke from exhaust when under load and warmed up. It runs well, no overheat, no water in oil and no loss of antifreeze. Thanks Frank
 
I suspect insufficient raw water flow. Check everything before you melt the exhaust hose.
 
"I am getting a lot of white smoke from exhaust when under load and warmed up."

Diesel or gas which model number?
 
5.0 I m guessing gas,

Either way, white smoke is usually steam so you likely have restricted water flow, not just restricted enough to cause an overheat but if you let it go it will eventually shutdown on high temp.

Start with the basics... Look at the flow out the exhaust which is something you should do routinely anyway. If low, then check the strainer, intake thruhull, impeller.
 
No it is diesel and it is smoke not steam. I checked strainer and impeller bot are fine. Thanks
 
"No it is diesel and it is smoke not steam. I checked strainer and impeller bot are fine. Thanks"

Did it start all of a sudden or did it come on slowly?
And how many hours are in the genny now?
Are you sure the fuel itself is good? Did you just add any fuel?
Common reasons for white smoke are partially unburned fuel droplets.
Possible reasons for that include: poor injectors, valve clearances, injector timing, exhaust elbow is a know issue that blocks at water injection point, and or partially blocked air flow.

Do you get a faint smell of diesel and/or a very light fuel sheen on the water mostly at startup as well?
Have you changed the exhaust in nay way and added any back pressure or restrictions?

Try and give us a few more hints here for running this down.
 
Unit is seven years old with approx. 350 hours and has been properly serviced . No fuel in water, only smokes under a load and when it reaches 170 degrees which is operating temp.
It started when I launched from winter storage.
When we winterized we hooked up a garden hose to a fitting on the strainer. The water pressure , unknown to me at that time, was so high it caused the gasket on the impeller pump to blow out. Inspected impeller and replaced gasket,mean unit on leaks. Could that have caused issue?
Thanks so much for your help.
 
quote:
Originally posted by PascalG

5.0 I m guessing gas,

Either way, white smoke is usually steam so you likely have restricted water flow, not just restricted enough to cause an overheat but if you let it go it will eventually shutdown on high temp.

Start with the basics... Look at the flow out the exhaust which is something you should do routinely anyway. If low, then check the strainer, intake thruhull, impeller.

Click to expand...
Why gas? Westerbeke makes diesel generators all the way down to 3.3kw.

Since we are talking about diesel are you saying it smokes under a heavy load? Does it only smoke when it comes up to temperature (170)?
Thanks,
Bill
 
Firstlight,

Was the engine running when you had the gasket failure? If not where was the water going when it was running but the engine was not started? IS there a water lift muffler and/or a high water loop exhaust hose on that genset? Do you have a vented loop valve to break vacuum in that water exhaust line? Is it possible that you drove water into the engine when applying that water pressure that caused the water pump gasket to fail?

Back to the smoke issue at load and at temperature - Are you using up lube oil when you run the genset? Can you detect a vibration from one of the cylinders that was not present last season? Exactly how much load did you put on it and did it run noticeably slower (less amps and vltg) than it did last season with a similar load?

Based upon your posts there is a possibility that water has entered a cylinder and affected an injector tip or worse - but extra fuel that is not atomized is one common reason for white smoke. "white" smoke can also be seen if you are burning lube oil although most would call it blue smoke on a genset at these volumes and speeds you will likely see it as white.

Hope this helps
 
did you find all the pieces of the old impeller?????
 
"did you find all the pieces of the old impeller?????"

An excellent question Bruce but I did not get the impression that the impeller failed.
Firstlight - please help us with some more information here.
 
Engine not running when high water pressure was pushed thru strainer. The impeller was fine the impeller gasket sprung a leak and was replaced. There is a loop and muffler in exhaust. The generator is I. A 36 ft 2006 Tiara.
The load is stove, air condition, hot water heater, and battery charger.
It runs well no difference from last season.
I don't follow what you mean by pub oil?
It starts smoking when it reaches 170 under a load.
Thanks all for your help.
 
Can you see the water exhaust? Is it louder than in the past?

Until the water flow is absolutely certain don't bother with more exotic theories.
 
"Until the water flow is absolutely certain don't bother with more exotic theories."

Can't argue with that - makes all the sense in the world to be sure about this first.
 
Difficult to see water discharge it is under the swim platform.
But I will give it a look tomorrow morning. Thanks for the follow up responses.
 
White smoke turned out to be white steam. The water temp. Is 52 degrees hot exhaust under swim platform coupled with cold damp weather makes steam. Diesel machanic was aboard and that is his diagnoses.
Thanks so much for all the input .
 
Possible but depending on amount I am skeptical if it is heavy
 
Firstlight - congratulations I think , please note pdecats concern as possible.

We boat in Northport NY about 20 miles as the crow flies away from you and have seen similar 'smoke' on colder more humid mornings so we can understand your situation. This weekend it is forecasted to much drier and warmer in the afternoons so please try out the genset then under a decent load and expect to see much less of this smoke. In any case the smoke should vary greatly with the weather temps and humidity even on the same day and if not than your chase is not over.

Hope this helps
 
I ran generator over weekend with temps in the 80's ran perfectly. Thanks for all you help
 
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