Coolant exchange 6bta – continued

[Troels]

Hi all, got some good advice a few weeks ago on the process. Got to work on it this weekend – I am experiencing the weird thing that I can only drain approx. 7 liters(2 gallons) – as the manual says it contains 20 liters I am only ably to get a third out. I got to try many times as I have flushed with freshwater – result is the same every time – after draining and reI drain the engine through the “small pipe plug coolant drain” (https://www.sbmar.com/articles/cummins-b-series-coolant-plumbing/) as well as through the hoses going to the water heater which I simply disconnected from the heater. While it should be pretty simply to drain it, I am about to go crazy over what it is I am overlooking here ?

Topic

[Troels]

Thanks, yes I meant all water, we filled it up to test and make a final flush. I did the change to coolant
the day after based on the recommendation to get it out fast.

[Rob Schepis]

Do you mean all water – zero coolant ? Water is corrosive, if you’re sitting all water / zero coolant I’d get the coolant in there sooner than later…

[Troels]

Hi Rob, thanks – that is exactly what we did. I did however fill with tap-water for the final flush and not distilled water – any issues with having tap-water in the engine for a few weeks ? (besides freezing temperatures which we will be far from here)

Tony: already on my schedule, thanks 🙂 this issue was one of those nasty ones which won’t show up as missing coolant.

I have premixed Fleetguard OAT (the pink stuff), which will be the last step for now on this engine

[Tony Athens]

Coolant Level & oil level Checks = DAILY (in the O&M Manual) but on a vessel with 50+ HP/liter diesels = to me that is COMMON SENSE..

Tony

[Rob Schepis]

Thanks for keeping the thread updated. I’d use some garden hose pressure wherever you can at the ports where the hoses were removed and then fill and flush with distilled water.

[Troels]

Problem seems to be solved. We disconnected all hoses and flushed them individually with water
.. a lot of “gunk” came out. We also took the heat exchanger of and cleaned it.

[Troels]

Next part of the tale – Now, a few days after the test trip ( and still waiting for my mechanic to have time to come by and locate the issue).  I went by the boat today and out of curiosity removed the expansion tank cap again to re-check coolant level – suddenly there was a huge vacuum, and the expansion tank drained into the engine in seconds. Clearly this indicated that a lot of air was trapped in the system (at least an amount equating to the content of the expansion tank)

[Troels]

So we got to go for a test-trip with an IR temp gun were it was revealed that it is “only” the exhaust manifold which does not get sufficient cooling. Next step will be to reveal what the issue is

[Troels]

Besides making me do some acrobatics in the engine room I also discovered the pencil zinc on the heat exchanger has been / is leaking ( quite convenient that Rob just posted a guide on this very topic)

and yes, I know it is in dire need for a clean-up / TLC 🙂 just haven’t gotten to that part yet…

I have taken quite a lot so neither e-mail nor attach here is feasible. I have stored on google drive: Pictures   

[Tony Athens]

I want to see good pictures of your engines from all angles and all perspectives.. If this means lifting hatches /floors, etc,  so be it………………….Something is missing here……………….Post here, if easy for you,  but also send direct as .jpg attachments in med to high res–I can add them here for all to see if that makes it easier———————–All must be clear & in-focus…… Just pretend I am there and crawling around your engine room .. 

 

Tony

[Rob Schepis]

Sounds like it was an ideal time to have a laser temp gun in hand for a full point by point monitoring of the coolant path/loop..

[Troels]

Hi Tony, thanks – I can post pictures later. The other symptoms I discovered was:

1: temperature readings on the gauge on the suspected engine came up slower than on the “fresh” engine. I take it as potential large temperature difference between where the coolant temp sensor is and rest of the coolant system

2:the coolant in the expansion tank on the suspected engine was stone cold after 10 minutes of operation and a temp reading on the gauge of around 150 F (this is where I shut down the suspected engine. On the fresh engine the expansion tank was warm as usual. I take it as a potential symptom that the coolant flow inside engine is way off

3: I kept the engine hatch open during the trial and started seeing slight smoke coming from the suspected engine. Touching the engine  top it was slightly hotter than the fresh engine which had reached “normal” operating temperature on the gauge (just above 170f). I take it as a potential symptom of “isolated” temperature increase due to restricted or blocked flow.

 

Please correct me if I am totally off here.

[Tony Athens]

Any chance of posting some “pics” from all around your engines?  Other than not being able to drain your engines ( per your post) , how do they run temp wise?………………I think something is missing here or you are leaving out…

 

Tony

 

 

[Troels]

After a short carefull test run I guess I found the likely cause. The cooling channels seems to be completely blocked somewhere. I’m gonna call in a mechanic for this one..

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