Steam/Running hot

[Mike Pettee]

Hi all. Port engine started running warm today. Never set off any alarms. Never topped 200. But i noticed what i first throught was smoke from exhaust. It dissipated almost immediately,  which leads me to believe it was steam. This occurred at speed cruise rpm of 2600. 

No loss of power. No adverse running issues.  When i get to dock,  i put it on the hose (fresh water flush setup), and the hose, which normally flattens due to suction from the pump,  does not do so.  

Leads me to believe i lost an impeller. Hoping the vane stayed in the pump, but if not,  where else should i look to ensure its removed from the system?

Topic

[Mike Pettee]

Was a finally quit and pay someone to do it deal…..

[Rob Schepis]

I notice the grinding on the pump mounting base/flange, was probably a not-so-fun R&R ?

[Mike Pettee]

Ok full follow up. Hull was clean, no clogged intake. 

I have fresh water flush on mine.  While flushing I noted water dripping.  Sure enough there was a leak on the water side of the pump, which was apparently there a while. New pump and seem to be back in business.

[Mike Pettee]

Sorry took a while to respond. I inspected the intake hose when I was fishing out the impeller debris. It was on good shape. 

I did not pull the cap on the exchanger, however it was pulled and cleaned by previous owner in 2015, according to his records.  I rydlymed the whole system last year as well. 

Cleaning the strainers helped. I ran steady 190 (per gauge) across the board on plane. Down 5 to 10 degrees from before cleaning, but still warmer than it was prior.  I will dive the hull this week and see if scoop is clogged up. 

[Rob Schepis]

Temps – Further Troubleshooting

Welcome back Mike.  This thread never touched on the other components of your raw water circuit – are they due for full servicing?  Have you popped the caps of the heat-x and peeked inside?  How about that intake hose to the raw water pump – is it possibly an old wire reinforced hose that’s rusting/collapsing internally?  And of course the pickup on the underside of the hull….  I’d focus on the raw water side before pulling the t-stat.

[Mike Pettee]

I wanted to pull this back up for anyone searching for answers on this issue. 

I still ran a little warm after the new impeller. At cruise of 2400 both engines were steady 180. At 2600 the port with the new impeller crept ro about 190 while starboard stayed 180. At 2800 to 3000, starboard barely rose over 180, but port crept a bit higher, to 195 or so (see attached pics).I also got a small bout of steam from exhaust at that rpm. I reas thats within normal range,  but i didnt like it, even though it didnt top 180 at my normal cruise (2400)

Im confident i have no impeller peices in the system. I pulled the strainers and the port was mucked up quite a bit. Cleared both and back in.  I ordered a new thermostat for port motor also, just in case.  

 

 

 

[Rob Schepis]

Good deal Mike. Thank you for bringing this thread full circle. Posting the conclusion adds value to any thread but unfortunately this is not always done. Thanks again

[Mike Pettee]

So I took an annual leave day to work on the living room I’m building, and other stuff. I found this. Most of it was still in the pump, except I felt I was missing 2 large vanes. I took the hose off the fuel cooler at the bottom of the after cooler and the raw water exhaust hose. I flushed the system backwards through the after cooler and out popped a large vane. Felt like a million dollar win, but I still was worried I was missing one. Since the impeller was out, I re hooked up the fuel cooler and back flushed to the pump. No vane bits.  I installed the end cap without an impeller, took the raw water hose off the through hull and again back flushed. Out popped vane number 2. I stuck a vacuum up there just to be sure.  Reinstalled new impeller and closed her up. The O-ring did not seat right and she was leaking. Took her off again and re installed and we are leak free and pumping like a champ. Learned a lot. Mostly that I can in fact fit on the outside of the port engine.      

And here is a pic of her ready to roll again.

[Rob Schepis]

That’s great Mike.  No wonder you don’t want to bother pulling the aftercooler apart if not needed, can’t blame you there..  Do you have fuel coolers btwn the pumps and aftercoolers?

[Mike Pettee]

Aftercoolers are brand new from Seaboard. Maybe 40 hours of use on them. Ill get to it this weekwnd and figure this all out. 

[Rob Schepis]

You could try back flushing and see what you get, if the pieces of debris all match up like a puzzle and you know you have it all then that would be good.  The pieces could be wedged in tight and flushing may not get all.

And yes do check upstream of the pump, those pcs could settle back towards the strainer but under suction they come back up tight to obstruct the pump intake.

Looking at the bigger picture – Is your aftercooler servicing interval up to snuff?  Might be a good time to tackle all….

Corey’s picture could be a catastrophic impeller failure or could be a neglected aftercooler that received small amounts of debris from multiple impellers over many many years…

 

 

[Mike Pettee]

Also, just thinking here. Is there a way to “reverse” flush the cooling system back towards the strainer, or if the impeller is removed the open pump with seacock closed. 

Access is very limited on my port motor. If impeller is missing pieces that may be stuck on the lower after cooler, shouldn’t that push them back out. Maybe hook up a hose through adapter and flush it back out?

[Mike Pettee]

Upstream of the pump? Interesting. 

I should be able to get to it this weekend.  Hoping they are only broken and not distributed throughout the cooling system.  My starboard side had a broken vane, but it was still in the pump.

The picture above looks like it was a catastrophic impeller failure? 

[Bob Patterson]

I was surprised to find substantial impeller debris in the intake hose between the pump and strainer.

[Corey Schmidt]

Impeller bits

Mike, if you have in fact lost an impeller, you’ll need to search downstream of the seawater cooling circuit for the “bits”… many times they can end up getting caught in the aftercooler inlet or even further…

[Rob Schepis]

Impeller Debris

Fuel cooler and/or bottom aftercooler cap..

[Author]

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