853 Detroit in my 1968 38 ft. Convertable Hatteras engine failure?

[silverback]

I was running at 2550 RPM, 17.2 knots when all of a sudden the starboard engine lost RPM rapidly; and thick, very thick copper gold colored smoke poured out of the ehaust. The engine then tried to find RPM with the tach ranging from 800 to 1500 RPM . I shut the engine down and discovered that all of the coolent was gone. I did not have an overheat prior, It is apparent that the coolant escaped when I had this event occur. Any thoughts from anybody?

 

[Boatsb]

I was running at 2550 RPM, 17.2 knots when all of a sudden the starboard engine lost RPM rapidly; and thick, very thick copper gold colored smoke poured out of the ehaust. The engine then tried to find RPM with the tach ranging from 800 to 1500 RPM . I shut the engine down and discovered that all of the coolent was gone. I did not have an overheat prior, It is apparent that the coolant escaped when I had this event occur. Any thoughts from anybody?

Look at the heat exchanger. Did it pass the coolant out the exhaust?


These engines are pretty solid. If the coolant got into the engine and went through it there's a good chance it's fixable. Don't hydrology it and don't let it sit with waterms or coolant where it doesn't belong.

 

[silverback]

I have checked the dip stick and there is no eveidence of water. But you suggest I should pump out the oil from the engome? I think that is a good idea and will do tomorrow; just to see. Whta did you mean by saying do not hydrology it?

 

[silverback]

How would I know if heat exchanger passed ut the coolant?

 

[Boatsb]

Is it there?


If the coolant is gone or very low that's a sign.


Spell check strikes again. Don't hydrolock it. You can bend and break things.

 

[DCMY #92]

The 53 series are wet liner engines. This means that coolant is in direct contact with the outside of the cylinder liners. This is also true of the 92 series. The coolant is prevented from leaking past the liners and into the air box (below) by 2 O-rings at the base of each liner. If the coolant chemistry is not properly maintained electrolysis will corrode grooves in the liners allowing coolant to bypass the O-rings into the air box. The liners and block are different types of iron/steel setting up the potential for electrolysis. Initially the leak will manifest as coolant dribbling from the air box drains. Eventually a catastrophic seal failure on one, or more, cylinders will occur. It sounds like this is what occurred with your engine.

No coolant will appear in the crankcase oil. The coolant is drawn into the intake ports of the leaking cylinder and nearby cylinders. If this is what happened to your engine you will need an in-frame overhaul with new liners. Depending on engine hours, you should also replace the pistons and rings. It's possible that a cylinder head has been cracked also, but unlikely unless the fire-deck is thinned by corrosion during long periods of lay-up. Don't make the mistake of only replacing the leaking liners. If electrolysis occurred all liners will have suffered damage, but may not have leaked yet.

The best way to determine if a massive coolant leak has occurred is to remove the air box covers and inspect the lower portion of each cylinder liner with a video probe or bore scope. The inside of the air box will be coated with nasty black oily gunk. If coolant is in there it will be beaded up and obvious. You will likely see cracks in the ligaments between the intake ports on the cylinders that injected a large quantity of coolant.

The good news is that cylinder kits (liners, pistons, rings) are readily available for the 53 series. The not so good news is that cylinder heads for the 8V53 are rare if you should need one.

I had this failure on my 6V53s several years ago. Send me a PM if you want to talk more about this.

 

[kelpy]

Do you always cruise at 2550 RPM?

 

[cattledog]

Can you say a little more about the maintenance history on your engines? When was the last time you checked your coolant chemistry or changed it out?Also if you get any photos of the engine internals I am sure everyone here would be interested to see them.Hopefully you know a shop or mechanic that you like and trust. This kind of thing could happen to anyone with a marine diesel, sorry it happened to you.Reminds me of a similar event long ago where I blew up a gas boat engine after the rw intake sucked up a trash bag. Engine was done and needed a full rebuild before I had any idea there was a problem.Chris

 

[jrbrein]

While not the same, I had twin Volvo 30 HP diesels in our 42' catamaran. We were passing a tug boat pushing a barge in the ICW and I had both engines under WOT briefly while passing.

The port engine started billowing white smoke while the over heat alarm sounded. I backed off, let the engine idle (yes there was plenty of water coming out the exhaust) shortly and shut her down.

We limped into the closest marina on the Stbd engine and tied up. Plenty of water in the fresh water side, no restrictions to flow on the raw water side. Started up the engine and black smoke and diesel fuel pouring out of the exhaust!!!

Long story; one of the pistons in this 3 cylinder engine blew apart and scored up the cylinder. The engines were still under warranty and the local Volvo dealer elected to pull the engine, and re-bored the cylinder. The corporate office told me that the engines were over propped and that was the cause of the failure. I think it was just crappy parts in the engine. They honored the warranty anyway. The boat ran fine after that and I sold it 5 years later after an extensive cruise of the the east coast of the US from Maine to the Florida Keys and all of the Bahamas. I did change the props out to lower diameters and pitch losing 0.5 knots of boat speed.

Aint life Grand!!!

Jon

 

[silverback]

Thanks to all who have responded. I am going to pump out the oil this am just to see if there is any evidence of water in the oil. I appreciate the comment re: wont find any but want to do so for my own satisfaction. Actually I expect the worst. It has been 22 years since this engine even had the valve covers off. She was the engine that never gave me a lick of trouble. I have been telling myself since last year I need to do my fresh water/raw water service which I do every five years. Had planned on doing so after this holiday trip (company out of town, you know the deal); anyways Murphy, I believe got me. I do have a mechanic who I trust implicitly and he will do what ever it takes to make sure I have a soild, strong engine when he's done (what ever that is).

To the question of how often I run at 2550, all the time I am running at cruise I realize that is 90% WOT but for 22 years that has been her sweet spot.

I will take pics of whatever I find and post as asked. Probably will post in about a week. Thanks again.

 

[silverback]

Well,being a southern boy; there is an expression...".Even a blind squirrel gets an acorn now and again"

So...as it turns out the spindle gear in the blower broke. When the gear broke the blower stopped turning and the engine shut down. No engine failure, no water issues no internal problems at all. Thank the good Lord.

 

[Walter P]

Thanks Silverback for the relatively good news that it wasn't a liner leak. I always worry about that since my 48 MY has 92 series engines with wet liners. While I think the wet liner engines are more efficient for cooling and are generally easier to replace liners than the dry liner 71 series the possibility of a coolant leak causing a catastrophic event are very unnerving.

Walt

 

[Finalee]

Where did the coolant go?

 

[TopHatFL]

The 53 series are wet liner engines. This means that coolant is in direct contact with the outside of the cylinder liners. This is also true of the 92 series. The coolant is prevented from leaking past the liners and into the air box (below) by 2 O-rings at the base of each liner. If the coolant chemistry is not properly maintained electrolysis will corrode grooves in the liners allowing coolant to bypass the O-rings into the air box. The liners and block are different types of iron/steel setting up the potential for electrolysis. Initially the leak will manifest as coolant dribbling from the air box drains. Eventually a catastrophic seal failure on one, or more, cylinders will occur. It sounds like this is what occurred with your engine.No coolant will appear in the crankcase oil. The coolant is drawn into the intake ports of the leaking cylinder and nearby cylinders. If this is what happened to your engine you will need an in-frame overhaul with new liners. Depending on engine hours, you should also replace the pistons and rings. It's possible that a cylinder head has been cracked also, but unlikely unless the fire-deck is thinned by corrosion during long periods of lay-up. Don't make the mistake of only replacing the leaking liners. If electrolysis occurred all liners will have suffered damage, but may not have leaked yet.The best way to determine if a massive coolant leak has occurred is to remove the air box covers and inspect the lower portion of each cylinder liner with a video probe or bore scope. The inside of the air box will be coated with nasty black oily gunk. If coolant is in there it will be beaded up and obvious. You will likely see cracks in the ligaments between the intake ports on the cylinders that injected a large quantity of coolant. The good news is that cylinder kits (liners, pistons, rings) are readily available for the 53 series. The not so good news is that cylinder heads for the 8V53 are rare if you should need one.I had this failure on my 6V53s several years ago. Send me a PM if you want to talk more about this.

In order to change the cylinders, does the engine have to come out of the boat? Our engine is hydrolocked and we have been getting mixed answers. Taking the air box off Friday to look more into why. Can't find a mechanic that wants to work on it.

 

[bobk]

In order to change the cylinders, does the engine have to come out of the boat? Our engine is hydrolocked and we have been getting mixed answers. Taking the air box off Friday to look more into why. Can't find a mechanic that wants to work on it.

Where is the boat in Florida? Someone might be able to provide a reference.

Bobk

 

[SeaEric]

AFAIK you have to get the oil pan off so it may mean lifting the engine up but not necessarily removing it.

 

[DCMY #92]

In order to change the cylinders, does the engine have to come out of the boat? Our engine is hydrolocked and we have been getting mixed answers. Taking the air box off Friday to look more into why. Can't find a mechanic that wants to work on it.

I've overhauled my DDCs in our 41 DCMY by hoisting them up into the salon on a portable gantry. What model Hat and where are you located. Maybe I can suggest a mechanic.

 

[silverback]

Thought I would post the picture of the gear that failed. It was explained to nme that the round assembly that holds the rear of the gear has tension spring flat metal parts (for the sake of a better explanation) over time this metal parts lose their tension and that caused the gear to start to wobble. Over time ,,,well you see the results.