Finally went for a sail

[DeniseO30]

In my new to me 1986 Hunter 34 owned about 2.5 months now.

Happy and Bummed.. out for the day with friends, engine overheats underway! To add hurt upon injury we got caught in one of the famous Chesapeake's squalls that came up as fast.
as it left!

We did actually get to sail, main and jib the (main sail is huge)
We weren't too far from Worton Creek so the wind or should I say gale, took us towards the marina anyhow.

Happy to report my 30 plus year old autopilot now works! (Stupid less than $1 roll pin for the lever).

The rudder no longer jams from the autopilot & actually handles quite nice which is good because the rudder bearings have a little bit of play in them.

The overheating seems to be intermittent when it is underway I will get to the bottom of it but not today I am tired, probably the impeller maybe there's garbage in the intake. Did check the strainer it is clean.

All in all, I would say it was a good day all around!

The guy at the marina used a little barge that has a vee cut in it's deck, perfectly suited to maneuver boats in and out in the slips!

My my friends Joe and Maria enjoyed themselves thoroughly even if they don't have a whole lot of sailing experience we finished up the evening with beer and burgers at The Bluebird in Chestertown!

 

[jssailem]

Sweet. Congrats on getting the boat out and using the wind to push her around the Chesapeake. Fun times during the Indian Summer days of October.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Fun times during the Indian Summer days of October.

The last one of those I saw was in 2017. With, of all folks, YOU! Yup, great times. Since then: 1 October = gales, 10C and rain. Like today.

 

[BigEasy]

Sounds like a shakedown cruise that had a little bit of everything! Congratulations getting back in the water.

When I had my '88 Hunter 33.5, it overheated when I purchased it (used) whenever running it over 2000 rpm.
I did an overhaul of the cooling system including, flushing the system, removing & cleaning and inspecting the heat exchanger, cleaning out the mixing elbow, replacing the raw water impeller & thermostat, and filling with new coolant. Very inexpensive repair, as I did it myself; parts expense were minimal. I really believe that the main problem was a clogged heat exchanger. The boat was approximately 10 years old when I bought it, so I didn't replace the hoses. Never had another incident of overheating from that point forward.

 

[DeniseO30]

Never expected this! But did expect some kind of restriction!

Impeller particles inside the inverted Loop, because the plastic suction break fitting goes down inside the tube and causes a restriction, add impeller parts and it's very restricted!

Moving on to the exhaust elbow it was coked up, worked it loose with a screwdriver now blowing air through it's much more free flowing! (Really need a better less restrictive vacuum breaker inverted Loop and they're not expensive)

 

[jssailem]

Yep... It is like an easter egg hunt.

 

[DeniseO30]

Yep... It is like an easter egg hunt.

That is a really a poor design for an inverted Loop that plastic fitting fills up half the tube when it's turned all the way in, I'm going to replace it with something better.

 

[DeniseO30]

Okay kids she's back in service!
Impeller was really bad,

worse than I expected I should have realized when the broker told me two months ago "fully commissioned"

 

[DeniseO30]

 

[DeniseO30]

Ear and eye candy... For the diesel lover in all of us..

 

[kloudie1]

Congrats on the sail, Denise! The Yanmar sounds great!

 

[DeniseO30]

Thank you!

 

[kloudie1]

You gave me a revelation! In al the years I've had the boat, I have never thought about the restriction caused by the little ani-siphon check valve fitting.. I have had a few unexplained overheat incidents that didn't recur until much later.. Thinking now that sea trash in that pinch point may have been a problem.. may try an oriented notch in the fitting so that when it is tightened into the loop, the notch lines up with the flow .. It may be able to be shortened a little too.. Thanks for the post !!

 

[DeniseO30]

I have a new vented loop on its way from Amazon it's full flow,
I was a bit like duh??? But really dumb things get done in the name of doing things right.

that little plastic vacuum breaker nearly blocks off the whole tube when it's completely screwed in and it will go all the way in because it's plastic and soft, also the tube is 1/2" OD and it's supposed to be 5/8"

 

[DeniseO30]

Installed the new anti-siphon last night.

Here are better pictures of how restrictive the plastic fitting is screwed into the stainless steel Loop of this type others from other manufacturers have a brazed collar. of course Forsepar is made of plastic

Hard to see the new one black on foil insulation

 

[DeniseO30]

Well wrapping this up and guess until spring (except for winterization)
I also guess I won't know if she's going to overheat until next year because I have 61° seawater coming in from the bay, cylinder head bolts near the injectors be around 150-165° , coolant temperature seems to be around 135- 145 degrees I've been running it a good half hour or more that's about as hot as it's getting, in forward gear tugging at the dock lines

 

[Artey1]

So super dumb question here - but my H34 doesn't have this same vented loop? Is there a reason mine wouldn't have it? Should I add it? I'm about to be going through the whole cooling system because of overheating issues and fixing anything necessary as well as the fuel system and motor mounts this winter. I'll add this if its necessary. What exactly is this loop between?

 

[DeniseO30]

Picture of your engine with help. I'm assuming you have the same 3GM30? From the strainer to the pump, from the pump into the heat exchanger manifold, out of the heat exchanger manifold up into the loop and down to the exhaust elbow. Where the cold water hits the hot elbow it builds up carbon, and the exhaust elbow also gets clogged with
carbon.

And it looks quite simple to remove the whole heat exchanger and work out on it off the engine and out of the boat four bolts some hoses maybe some cables...

 

[Artey1]

Don't have any recent photos, here is some from redoing my sound deadening and insulation.

 

[DeniseO30]

Don't have any recent photos, here is some from redoing my sound deadening and insulation.
View attachment 199976 View attachment 199977

Simple answer, you don't have one! I know there are some arguments pro and con about the anti-siphon loops .
It's a Pretty simple arrangement if you want to try it I've never seen a
marine Diesel without one until yours!