Diesel Engine Over Heating

[Barrie McDonald]

A good sailing buddy of mine has a 30 foot Catalina into which he installed a new "Universal " diesel engine. I think its a "westerbic" 2 cylinder, sorry about the mis-spell. He has installed a new thermostat, replaced the impeller and bled all air out of the fuel lines.Sometimes he goes out and it will run for a couple of hours, then "OverHeat". Other times he barely motors for 5 or 10 minutes, again, "OverHeats."He has to constantly replace the "Fresh Water Coolant" which leaks out and today he said that his on board fresh water which gets "Heated " by this engines Heat Exchanger really dosen't heat up very much at all, mostly Its Luke Warm, not Hot. Help! Any suggestions are most appreciated.Thanks,Barrie

 

[david lewis]

overheating universal

many things could cause these problems. if the coolant is leakinng out of the engine then the leak needs to be located and fixed. In a car they pressurize the coolant system with a special radiator cap and check for leaks, try that.I find my universal won't heat hot water just at idle, the engine needs to be under a load and high enough rpms to pump enough hot water thru the hot water heat exchanger to work. When I motor into port I always have very hot water but if I try to run the engine at a mooring for instance to heat it I might as well not bother.Make sure the seacock is open for raw water and that the intake is not closed. I have found scuba diving invaluable to keep my intake clean from slime and growth. If you are in fresh water you could have a zebra mussel problem, pull the intake line and check the system for those.

 

[Bob]

Check out the heat exchanger

Check out the heat exchanger. A friend of mine had the exact same problem. I removed the heat exchanger from his engine, took it apart and found it was approximately 80% blocked. Cleaned them out. Additionally, a couple of exchanger tubes were leaking and had to be soldered closed. Never had the problem again.Cheers,Bob

 

[pete]

overheating

Find out where the fresh water coolant (antifreze)is leaking and fix it,you will have solved your overheating problem! If you fix the fresh water leaking you will cure the luke warm hot water heater problem because without the closed side (fresh water side) working properly the water heater won't work properly either. Make sure all the air is bleed out of the cooling system also! The engine water temp will have to be at operating temp(165 to 180 degrees) to get good hot water as mentioned in the other post!