Diesel engine compartment soot

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John Sheppard

I've noticed what appears to be "soot" in the engine compartment, especially on the insulation padding attached to the hatch door. Is this common..or a potential problem? Engine starts and runs well..
 
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john w.

Not really soot

John , What you are describing as soot is probably rubber dust from the belts . Had the same residue on my 29.5 .
 
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John Sheppard

Drive Belt Dust?

Guess I'll have to take a closer look. I recently bought this boat and I know the previous owner had just replaced the belts...
 
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mark schaefer

i agree

i'm sure its belt dust...clean it all off ...if its not back right away you know it is belt dust
 

Rick

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Oct 5, 2004
1,098
Hunter 420 Passage San Diego
Me Too!

I had the same thing! Sounds like belt dust to me, too!
 
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Tom Lukas

"soot" in the engine compartment

I had and have the same black dust. I replaced all belts, checked tension, but the dust slowley appeared again. I just wipe it off engine and foil insulation every couple of weeks with a damp cloth and forget about it. I thought at first it might be some kind of exhaust from the engine but I couldn't find any leaks.
 
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SteveC

Check Alignment of Pulleys...

that drive all belts. Perhaps the original owner replaced/upgraded something that introduced abnormal play into the system. Years ago, I installed a high output alternator & the installation caused an out-of allignment condition when the belt engaged the new pulley on the alternator. The belts MUST engage the pulley squarely, otherwise they will chafe and produce the 'soot' you are probably seeing.
 
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Paul Akers

Metric measures

Yanmar belts are metric measures. If you bought belts from an auto supply shop that are not metric, they will not seat properly. They will work, but they may also produce dust. On that note, if the dust is in the engine compartment, then it's also in the air filter. Keep an eye on that, as well. If it clogs, you'll get poor performance from your engine.
 
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Carl Senos

Belt dust, yeah.

One more thing to check. Be sure the belts have proper tension and that the water pump is turning freely. I noticed the same problem and soon found (overheating) that the pump needed rebuilding.
 
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