My Generator Got Wet , What Now ?

[rrr]

Hi ,I been slowly redoing a 34 Hat over the last 4 yrs or so. I bought a pair of cummins and a like new diesel generator out of another boat and transferred them over to my Hat . Well in order to save $50. I hooked the generator up to a scoop thru hull and guess what . I had the boat in the water 2yrs ago then stored it in my shop until now , the generator was locked up ,the starter wouldn't turn it so I took a 1/2" ratchet [not a breaker bar] and gave it a slight kick and it broke loose and spins easy now with the starter . My question is what should I do ? Try to start it or What ? Please help me do something smart for a change. Thanks Ray

 

[Avenger]

Any water in the oil?

 

[rrr]

No sir the oil looks good .

 

[workingonadream]

I would pull the injectors and have them tested to make sure they are working properly, and are not damaged as a result of the genset getting wet.

 

[Avenger]

My understanding is the water got into the engine, not the fuel system. I don't think I'd panic about the injectors until I know the rest of it is healthy.

Frankly, if it really had seawater in it I'd doubt that it would unstick as easily as you describe.

You might want to pull the valve cover off and observe the monkey motion to be sure a valve isn't sticking, but other than that if it spins through multiple revolutions freely, and the oil is clean, offhand I can't think of any reason not to try to fire it up.

 

[MikeP]

I totally agree with Scrod; if the oil looks OK and you can bar it over by hand with no issues, give the starter a shot at it!

 

[Mike36c]

Above advice sounds reasonable, and as I'm sure you know the scoop has to go. Northern Lights has a nice install guide called don't drown me, it applies to all marine generators.

 

[krush]

What ya got to lose? Run it lol.

 

[Reefgeorge]

Just make sure that the cylinders are dry (water) which they should be. Take off the valve cover and make sure that its not a disaster under there. Then fire it up and check the oil after 15 minutes.

Some years back my generator's raw water pump seal failed and my oil was full of water, with chocolate ice cream/yogurt packed under the valve cover. I rebuilt the pump, kept scraping and vacuuming out the top end, and changing the oil and filter until the oil was clear. Then back online I went. That was about 5 years ago. No problems since.

Same story with a transmission 30 years ago with the same positive outcome.

Your better off diving into this with some thought rather than let it sit and get worse.

Good luck.

 

[krush]

An old trick to help get water out of the oil. Mix some varsol, keroscene, diesel, ATF, or whtever with it. Run it a little bit then change out. Otherwise, it may take forever to get the water out of the oil (like 5 oil changes!). Running it with those things is better than running it with water/milkshake oil. Obviously, just idle, no load blah blah.

 

[Reefgeorge]

An old trick to help get water out of the oil. Mix some varsol, keroscene, diesel, ATF, or whtever with it. Run it a little bit then change out. Otherwise, it may take forever to get the water out of the oil (like 5 oil changes!). Running it with those things is better than running it with water/milkshake oil. Obviously, just idle, no load blah blah.

Just be careful going this route as some of these options can damage seals, score cylinders, etc. Just changing oil alone does take longer but it is safer.

 

[rrr]

Thanks to everyone for all the help , I will go for it this weekend. Again Thanks

 

[Avenger]

Good luck. And remember... God hates a coward.

 

[dsharp]

I wouldn't start it without pulling the heads and looking at the valves and cylinders. Why take the chance of wiping out the block.

 

[rrr]

Now I'm Scared . I guess that would be the safe thing to do .

 

[Avenger]

If you're that concerned see if you can find someone with a borescope to look inside the thing for you. I wouldn't pull an engine apart unless I knew it needed to come apart.

 

[34Hatt]

If you're that concerned see if you can find someone with a borescope to look inside the thing for you. I wouldn't pull an engine apart unless I knew it needed to come apart.

And if you don't find someone with one, buy one it could pay itself off on the first job

 

[rrr]

OK What do I look for , Rust on the cylinder walls ?

 

[yachtsmanbill]

Don't forget to change the O rings on the rocket motors while yer in there... ws

 

[jim rosenthal]

Willy, you need to visit this young man and help him out. You are the king of submarine resuscitations. Look at the photos.