Overheard At The Marina Today

[Maine Sail]

So I am installing a cockpit table for a customer today and it was a nice and peaceful but crisp spring day.

All of a sudden from a commercial dock across the way..

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Literally the motor was cranking for at LEAST sixty seconds. At this point I am sensing the smell of burned starter cables. They take what amounts to a 5-6 second break from cranking, I hear some yelling, some four letter words and then....

Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
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At this point I am feeling bad and I yell CLOSE THE SEACOCK! Immediately I hear another 40-50 second blast, after just 5 seconds off, then.....

Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr clank..............................................

Now the swearing really starts and they start blaming the batteries for being dead. "Press the f'in button.." "I did, it's just f'ing clickin'", "f'in batteries are brand new"....


Yep hydrolocked by cranking too long with the seacock open.... Could not see what the boat was as it was behind a break wall & a fish pier but it was definitely a diesel by the sound..

It was somehow eerie to know the outcome before it happened. After the second burst I yelled CLOSE THE SEACOCK,as loud as I could, but clearly they were not listening or the wind was in my favor not theirs. I suspect they could hear me as I could clearly hear them despite the distance across the way...

Rough day for those guys but entertaining, in a sad way, like a funeral...... Poor guys were already in a bad mood...Not a good way to start your season.....

 

[CalebD]

Good for you for at least trying to warn them.

Given what you describe though these fellows do not sound like the most boat savvy types.

 

[Ralph Johnstone]

Hear that Quite Often in Our Marina ..................

.............. It's just the sound of another power boater going through spring commissioning of his boat .

If he ever does get it started, he's off and running.

 

[Bill Roosa]

I believe this qualifies as "snatching the pebbles from my hand, Grasshopper"
Welcome to the club. You might want to pick up a copy of Ian Rand's "Atlas Shrugged"
You'll understand later and thank me.

 

[JohnShannon]

Two ways humans learn, rote and trauma. Trauma is more effective. Next time he will close the seacock.

 

[Maine Sail]

I believe this qualifies as "snatching the pebbles from my hand, Grasshopper"
Welcome to the club. You might want to pick up a copy of Ian Rand's "Atlas Shrugged"
You'll understand later and thank me.

Yeah read Atlas Shrugged in 8th grade... Ayn Rand was waayyy ahead of her time... My daughters favorite doll is named Ayn.....

 

[robertsapp]

Provided they ever figure out what happened. Some people never learn, afterall.

You might want to pick up a copy of Ian Rand's "Atlas Shrugged"
You'll understand later and thank me.

BTW, it's Ayn Rand (pronounced Ein, not Ann).

 

[Ken Prichard]

You'll quickly realize I know nothing about diesel engines but I gotta ask:
What does closing the seacock have to do with starting ???

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

Do a search for hydrolock which will explain it in detail

 

[All U Get]

It wasn't me ,,, I'm innocent ,,,,,, this time. I just thought about the talk I had with the customer service pro at the yard where we're keeping our cruising boat. It was about re-commissioning the engine and generator. I asked them to do the start-up when it was put in. Feel great about the choice now. Oh yeah, my worst four letter words include rain and snow.

MS you should have just yelled out your cell number.

All U Get

 

[mitiempo]

You'll quickly realize I know nothing about diesel engines but I gotta ask:
What does closing the seacock have to do with starting ???

When starting the engine the water pump is bringing water into the system. When the engine is running the exhaust pushes the water out. If the engine doesn't start quickly - say 30 seconds - the water builds up and without exhaust pushing it out it fills the cylinders - called hydrolock.

 

[Tim R.]

When starting the engine the water pump is bringing water into the system. When the engine is running the exhaust pushes the water out. If the engine doesn't start quickly - say 30 seconds - the water builds up and without exhaust pushing it out it fills the cylinders - called hydrolock.

I will add that the water actually back-fills the cylinders. The water being pumped in gets to the mixing elbow. Because the engine is not creating much exhaust, the water builds up but does not have enough pressure to overcome the water lift muffler. When the exhaust valve opens the water takes the easiest path which is back into the cylinder through the exhaust valve. Water cannot easily be compressed so once in the cylinder, it literally locks your engine.

 

[arf145]

As long as we're on this, how do you get the water out of the cylinders once you're hydrolocked? Pull the injectors and suck it out with a pump? Then what? Dry them out and change the oil?

 

[Maine Sail]

As long as we're on this, how do you get the water out of the cylinders once you're hydrolocked? Pull the injectors and suck it out with a pump? Then what? Dry them out and change the oil?

If you have glow plugs those are often easier to pull but yes you pull the injectors then turn it over to expel the water. Some mechanics will then fill the cylinders one at a time at BDC with Marvel Mystery oil or just spray in a load of WD-40 and keep turning over slowly by hand before firing it up. Multiple oil changes are often necessary because owners continue to try and crank, not understanding what happened, forcing compressed water past the rings and into the lubrication oil.

The most dangerous hydrolocks are when someone connects a garden hose to the raw water intake to winterize or flush the engine. The engine often fires up before it hydrolocks and is spinning at 1100 RPM before the water is not compressible. This almost always results in a thrown rod or bent crank....

One of the dumbest inventions of late is made by Forespar. Called a flushing seacock. It can actually cause owners to ruin their engine because they DO NOT state anywhere in the directions NOT to connect a pressurized garden hose directly to the garden hose bib.....

Hydrolocking can also occur from having a scoop strainer that faces forward or a failure of the engines siphon break.

 

[kloudie1]

It is good that Yanmar engines have the compression release.. allows one who's made that mistake once to clear the engine very quickly..

 

[Dave602]

Another thing to watch is your impeller. Happened this year with mine. We replaced fuel lines and filters and were having trouble getting bled out. I remembered the hydrolock problem. We shut off the seacock and finally got the motor running but found no water coming out. I pulled the pump and checked the brand new impeller I put on the weekend before had lost 3 vanes. Don't know how you get around that one. Luckily I had a spare on board.