Engine flush. Help!!!

[Bugsy]

DD6V92......

I decided to follow advice from the forum and do my own engine flush with Barnacle Buster.

I put 3 diluted gallons into the 5 gallon pail. I connected "input" to the zinc fitting on the bottom of the transmission cooler after closing the seacock. I connected the discharge to the raw water discharge where it joins to the exhaust.
I turned on the pump.

Air came out the discharge hose as the bucket emptied.....but no mixture!!! I added water. And more water. And another few gallons. None of the discharge returned to my bucket.

Where did it go? What am I doing wrong?

When last done ( by someone who knew what he was doing), the input connection was at the heat exchanger......and the discharge was immediate. If I had NO raw water in the system, it should only have taken about 8 gallons to fill the raw water side. I put in more than that!!

Help/ guidance please?

 

[SeaWhisper]

Do you have just the one discharge hoses or 2 on your exhaust?

 

[johnjen50]

It sounds like you may have drained it out the exhaust outlet, but its hard to tell from your post. When you set this up a hose should be coming from the end of the cooling circuit back into the bucket. Is that the case?

 

[Bugsy]

One. I didn't know there were two.

 

[Bugsy]

JohnJen....

I disconnected the raw water hose where it connects to the exhaust outlet. I connected a pvc hose connection to that raw water hose and put the hose in the bucket. That's the discharge end of my circuit.

Make sense?

 

[saltshaker]

If you're before the exhaust collector shouldn't there be a discharge from each side of the engine? Single or twin turbos?

 

[Bugsy]

Twin turbos. I connected the discharge where the mechanic did. I am only aware of one raw water discharge on each engine and it connects to the exhaust at the bottom of the exhaust elbow.

Just in case...I disconnected everything and started the engine....after opening the seacock and reinstalling the zinc. She started and ran and didn't blow up!! That's a good thing.

 

[racclarkson@gmail.com]

Takes way, way more water than you think. You're also filling every hose. If you're going into a garden hose size return, the hoses are taking much more volume than they would normally with a 2-2 1/2 drain into the exhaust. There are lots of valleys in the system. Think I went through about 30 gallons on each 1271 before I was getting neutral in/out in the barrel. I know that sounds crazy, and I second guessed myself all day. I used a 30 gallon barrel. Your solution will get very diluted; either buy more product or just let it run and run. One of my engines dropped 15 degrees at continuous cruise after cleaning; the other 10 degrees. It's really worth the effort.

 

[SKYCHENEY]

Did you close the seacock? Is it draining back through the raw water pump and out through the pick-up?

On my 6v92's, I run it backwards. I pull the hose at the exhaust showerhead and pump it in there. I then discharge it at the cooling line for the stabilzers which is right at the first elbow from the raw water pump before the fuel cooler. It only takes a few gallons. Not more than a five gallon bucket holds.

 

[Bugsy]

Well...I'm very surprised at the quantity of water "stored"in the system. 30 gallons!!!
That would take a LOT of barnacle buster...at $75. for 4 gallons!!

Yes, Sky. Seacock closed.

Given the presumed capacity, I think I'll connect at the exchanger and pump it through there to the exhaust. The exchanger is the most sensitive to fouling in any event.

This time, I'll start with plain water until I know it is circulating. Much better than throwing three gallons of solution "somewhere" without benefit.

Thanks.

 

[SKYCHENEY]

I have never used anywhere near that much. Two gallons of ospho and two gallons of water and start pumping. I've done the same on my friends 12v71's. No idea where all of your water is going.

 

[SEVEN]

Go to utube and review the post numerous times. Looking at it you should only use about 3 to 5 gallons. Some say to run it for about an hour. The pros have told me to circulate it thru your motors about 4 hours to really get it cleaned. Good luck.

 

[captddis]

My guess is that the seacock is not closing all the way. try to block the intake .

 

[Bugsy]

CaptDis..

1. When I turned on the pump and it began sucking the water, there was almost immediate discharge of air on the discharge side.

2. Assume the seacock remains slightly open....that bucket emptied quite quickly. Would just a very slight opening permit of that volume in such a short time?

Any links to the Youtube instructional video?

As stated, today I will connect to the exchanger instead of the transmission cooler. The discharge path will be shorter and presumably will exit through the exhaust rather than backflow to that seacock if in fact slightly open.

 

[Bugsy]

Capdis....

Additional note regarding seacock......I was just reminded that when I began disassembly, we disconnected the input fitting (seacock still closed) and almost immediately we collected at least 6 gallons discharging from that input connection. Therefore, the solution was NOT emptying out past the seacock.

When posters speak of using 3-5 gallons in a closed circuit, are they putting the solution through the entire system using a 5 gallon pail and water puppy pump or similar?

 

[SKYCHENEY]

When posters speak of using 3-5 gallons in a closed circuit, are they putting the solution through the entire system using a 5 gallon pail and water puppy pump or similar?

Yes, exactly

 

[SEVEN]

Just type in Barnacal Buster and there are 5 good videos to watch. They are all well done.

 

[Bugsy]

Ok.....I have a few suggestions and a few personal observations. The first issue is the raw water system capacity. The coolant side is around 10 gallons. If the raw water side is the same or similar, one would require that quantity of cleaning mixture to reach equilibrium. That would explain why I would suck up 8 gallons with no discharge.

But if true, how can Sky (for eg) circulate only 3 gallons IF circulated through the entire system?

I went ahead and connected to the exchanger instead of the transmission cooler and presto!!! About 1/2 gallon of suction and then discharge.

I therefore suspect that as posted by racclarkson, the setup I made required a LOT more mixture.

If anyone read this far....my pump is not continuous duty so if I am to circulate continuously for 3 hours...like Bob on Chateau de mer...what economical 110 pump is recommended?

Thank you all.

 

[Colwyn D]

I use a 500gph bilge pump, 12v for my boat. Connected to 1 1/4" pvc hose and dumped in the Ospho bucket. Runs for a couple of hours ok.

 

[racclarkson@gmail.com]

Let me add to my posting.

The seacock was not in play in my operation. I removed the raw water inlet at the raw water pump (2 7/8" hose) and the pump's impeller. In this way, the entire system was fed. Treating just the heat exchanger is fine if you like, but it ignores the transmission cooler and the intercooler. The transmission cooler, especially, is a low spot good for holding seawater; I'd do it.

I used a submersible pump and ran for an hour and a half and verified discharge was clear. I then reversed the fittings and ran the same solution through the engine entering at the exhaust riser (2 or 2 1/4" I think. Even though no particulate matter was noted in this cycle, I ran it for about a half hour--ended up using the solution I have purchased for two engines and was still thin.

I then disconnected the solution hoses as quickly as I could to leave as much solution in the system as possible. After replacing the pump impeller and reinstalling all hoses, I ran the engine for a bit to evacuate the solution through the exhaust shower head. I doubt that much effect was achieved there, but it did take several minutes before the exhaust water at the transom stopped foaming.

After all that, the inside of the raw water pump shined like a new penny, the intercoolers looked like a mirror and overall operating temps on one engine dropped 10-15 degrees at continuous cruse. The other dropped about engine about 10 degrees. The seawater temp in Charleston dropped about 3 degrees during this time, so there's some of the improvement.

I don't know where the 5 gallon bucket numbers are coming from. I don't dispute them, but it took no time to empty five or six 5 gallon buckets on my engine before I got a return. Hence, then use of a 30 gallon barrel when I did the second engine. You could come off the HE with the discharge as opposed to the exhaust elbow connection and maybe save 5 gallons; in my case, it was just easier to plumb it all at the back of the motor.

On a related topic, I flushed my starboard 1271TI FRESHWATER CIRCUIT this weekend. The Covington Diesel manual for my engines called for a 13 gallon freshwater capacity--IT AIN'T CORRECT. I drained, refilled with enough flush agent for 13 gallons and tap water and ran for 10 mins and 140 degrees. Drained and refilled with distilled water; ran for 10 minutes. Drained and refilled with Power Cool and distilled water.

But... each refill required 21 1/2 gallons. After the tap water cycle (not measured), I pumped In 21.5 gallons of distilled water. On final fill, I used my case (6 Gals.) of Power Cool concentrate plus 3 gallons of Cat RP-329 concentrate (9 gals total concentrate) and, after returning to the grocery store, 12 gallons of distilled water plus some top-off premix. After running under load for an hour or so the next day, the overflow bottle just about filled up (about a quart). 42% is plenty good for SC.

So it seems both sides of the cooling systems on my DD's are pretty thirsty. I can't explain the numbers, but I'll pickup 2 cases of Power Cool for the port engine.