black residue in engine compartment

[Rick D]

I'm looking at buying a 1984 catalina 27 with a 14 universal engine. I was looking at the engine and notice there was black all over the surrounding fiberglass. theres also black on the outside stern of the boat, at the outlets. I do plan to have it checked before i buy the boat. The engine has only 550 hours.

 

[Don]

Residue

Black soot around the front of the engine is probably from the belt. That is pretty common on most engines, more so with a high output alternator. Soot on the stern is also a common problem on the 27 due to the exhaust being so low on the stern.

 

[cmhyland]

Black soot

Black soot on the stern of the boat may indicate the boat is overproped.Even at high RPM motoring for long periods of time there should only be a slight amount of residue. Lots of it indicate the engine is being overworked. Basically the deal is that the fuel pump is in full-fuel mode but the load on the engine will not allow it to come up to full RPM. Regards,Chris