Discharges Milky White Exhaust Water

[Bobby Harvey]

On my PORT QSC 8.3 engine when I first start the engine it coughs up a cloud of white milky looking water for just a second. Happened twice so far. Not a lot. But noticeable. It clears up immediately and the engine runs great. I thought it might just be coughing up settlement residue from sitting for a week. Any ideas about this? Should I be concerned? My STBD engine doesn’t do this. That’s what made me curious.  Thanks guys!

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[Jason Leslie]

Just wondering why not from starboard

No problem, I hope that is all that is going on. Mine do this all of the time. However mine are equal between starboard and port. Check your zincs in a month or two and see if you have equal sacrifice going on. Normally the fuel/oil cooler zincs will dissolve much faster than the aftercooler and heat exchanger zincs by 2-3:1 rate because they are much smaller. If your port is burning through the zincs faster than the starboard check any loose wiring and or corrosion on any wires on that motor. You might have sone stray currents that are eating up the zincs on that motor faster than the other.

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Tony Athens

[Bobby Harvey]

Zinc Decomposition

That was my first thought also. I just put new zincs in a few weeks ago. Whew! Reassuring to hear it from another person. Makes sense that if it isn’t oily, or floating, that it is most likely the zincs decomposing and not a serious problem. Thanks a lot for taking the time. 

[Jason Leslie]

Could be from your zinc’s

If it is not oily and floating on the surface, my guess is that your zinc decomposition is coming out as a cloud at first start up. Mine do this if it has sat for a long period. Depends how long it has sat. If only one is doing it the other might have no zinc left or the one engine has more stray electric current to it and is eating up the zinc.

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