Water in engine room

[madhatter1]

Took a little trip and along the way my starboard tach acted up and was dropping down. No change in actual rpm’s. Stop to check for any issues and everything was fine and dry. Continue on and it dropped down a little but not way down like first time. This was on plane 1800 rpm.

Get to marina and go to check and uh-oh. Water everywhere. Was even on the battery boxes which are up by fuel filters. Water all on top of all 4 racors at the rear of the engines. More water on port side. Was even on top of generator. Can the coupling if under water throw that much water all around?

No for the mystery. Where did it come from. Definitely salt. So before I rinse everything down I start each engine to see where it’s coming from. Nothing. Not even a drip. The only thing I can think of is the seawater bypass discharge line which I believe only gets flow when needed.

Luckily I already have my new mechanic scheduled to come soon as we are going to spend a couple days to go over every service item on the engines. I’ll run home slow tomorrow and keep an eye on things while the wife drives. Maybe I’ll see what it is. But any ideas anyone has would be helpful.

Engines are 8-92 650 HP.

 

[oscarvan]

Can the coupling if under water throw that much water all around?

Oh yes. It's like taking the lid off the blender.

 

[Pascal]

When you started the engines at the dock, did you bring the RPMs up to increase water flow?

I doubt it s coming from the coupling splashing bulge water... that would take a lot of water.

Could it be a leak from the Air con ? Are they nearby ?

 

[madhatter1]

Tomorrow when I start up I’ll get the rpm’s up. Did not think of that at the time. Definitely not AC’s. They are starboard and easy to see. I believe I had enough water that the couplind was under. Each engine bed has its own bay and bilge pump which is forward so it would not have pumped out until I dropped off plane and I guess I didn’t notice the pump came on. Shame on me, I usually watch those along with gauges very often.

 

[madhatter1]

So I ran the engines at the dock. No visible leak at idle. Bump them up to 1000 rpms and before I even get down into the I can see sprinkles of water. Get in and it’s coming from overhead. A raw water crossover hose about 2 inches long lost a clamp. The clamp broke because it makes contact with the housing directly under it. Will address that this week with mechanic and well as check the one on the other engine. Also need to rinse everything down but will do so under guidance of the mechanic.

 

[Pascal]

So it only showed up at higher RPM. Makes sense.

If the fittings are long enough, use double clamp preferably solid band clamps. It takes very little rust on a perforated clamp for one to fail

 

[madhatter1]

Was the right clamp, was just rubbing on something. All the clamps are current. Captain Dave handed me a gem. But it’s been a little while so we are going to go through everything and update/replace as needed. Clamps, oil lines, fuel lines, water hoses. I have but one chance to keep this engine room pristine.

 

[Boatsb]

Just got AWAB stainless clamps (316) for a buddy's 8v92s. I guess we caught it ahead of the failure once.

 

[madhatter1]

Everything is cleaned up. Mechanic on board tomorrow. Starting with fuel filters, going over everything as a check. Then we run to verify temps and tach's. Back at dock we will do oil samples. Between mechanic trips I'll do the oil changes and a few other things. Next mechanic visit in a week or so is every zinc, impellers, go through shutdown flaps and reset, and a bunch of other things I need to know how to do.

Establish new baseline and mechanic will be on board at least once a year to go through everything. I will do the simple maintenance and repairs. Mechanic will be my eyes on what needs to be checked and take care of cooling system and major repairs. I prefer to go out and work on what I know how to do and pay a professional to do their thing.

 

[racclarkson@gmail.com]

Double clamping everywhere possible is recommended. I find smearing a corrosion inhibitor on clamps is helpful. Also rinsing hoses off and a bit of phosphoric will neutralize rust residue on the hoses. On critical hoses, I place extra clamps on ready to slide in place if need be. Good clamps will fail sooner or later. This is all based on a similar experience to yours years ago.

 

[Dazed338]

So it only showed up at higher RPM. Makes sense.

If the fittings are long enough, use double clamp preferably solid band clamps. It takes very little rust on a perforated clamp for one to fail

Also even more so on the water good quality hose clamps, Auto Tech and see cheap ones fail just from heat expansion.

 

[Dazed338]

Double clamping everywhere possible is recommended. I find smearing a corrosion inhibitor on clamps is helpful. Also rinsing hoses off and a bit of phosphoric will neutralize rust residue on the hoses. On critical hoses, I place extra clamps on ready to slide in place if need be. Good clamps will fail sooner or later. This is all based on a similar experience to yours years ago.

Comes under New never means good Found a few places on my 67 31C I can triple clamp. I love the extra clamps on ready idea. Then again seen your Engine Room Altho smaller hope mine looks that sweet some day.