Help! I am getting steam from outboard exhaust from my 82 Catalina 30, Universal, two cylinder diesel. My heat gauge is reading only 190F. It seems to be getting worse. Any suggestions on what my problem is and how to fix it?
steam from exhaust
- Thread starter Joe D Pye
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Steam is formed when cooling sea water gets heated by the 3000 deg F exhaust gases. It is normal to see some steam especially before the engine has come up to temp completely (1/2 hour-ish) and during cool damp weather. Just like your car on a cold morning. As long as you hear liquid water gushing out the exhaust and the engine temp is in range you should be fine.
While a little steam might be normal on warm up if it persists it might be a sign of a blown head gasket.... keep an eye on the cooling water level if the boat is fresh water cooled, hard starting is also a symptom.
Joe:
Keep an eye on your oil and coolant. If you oil starts looking milky or your coolant becomes dark/discolored, you could be looking at a head gasket issue.
Keep an eye on your oil and coolant. If you oil starts looking milky or your coolant becomes dark/discolored, you could be looking at a head gasket issue.
I have an 1980 C 30 with the same 5411 2 cyl. Universal diesel & they all make a lil "steam" or whitish smoke at start up. This is just symptomatic of a 30 year old engine. If U have enough compression for the engine to start, the it is working. The true way to rell if U have a cracked head gasket it to examine the oil - if its milky the the head is leaking raw sea water into the oil - bad news. If it is normal then you're fine. Just make sure as noted above that you're flowing raw water over the stern exaust. This engine has some quirky exhaust plumbing. It flows through a seperately plumbed exhaust line to a thermostatically controlled line, which prevents raw water discharge until the engine warms up, & the opens the valve to allow raw water discharge flow. This can look like a failed water pump impeller, when it is not. It also creates the whitish smoke, as the exhaust is not initilally being cooled by raw water fllowing through it. I closed the loop on mine & the water flows directly to the water muffler, as in the Yanmar diesels. The engine will run a lil cooler, but that's not a bad thing on a 30 year old engine. Universal put the thermo in to allow it to warm the engine faster & make the operating temp. more efficient, but it is more important the it runs cool for longevity. As long as you've got water flowing through & out the exhaust youre fine. This engine is strictly raw water cooled & has no heat exchanger, unless modified later.
You should also check the raw water strainer / iwater intake lines to see if they are plugged as this will restrict water flow causing steam. It happened to me a few weeks ago, the whole intake up to the strainer was plugged with eel grass !
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