Thanks Gordon! (and more ?s)

[Ernie Tetrault]

Gordon- You are a bonified vacation saver!! I tried your suggestion of checking the fuel line before the feed pump, and sure enough! There was a loose connection on the newly installed Racor. After correcting the problem, she ran fine for five hours at a time instead of five minutes.( Not much wind available this week.)I do have a couple of other questions:1. Since the 2QM15 is raw water cooled, it isn't set up to work with the heat exchanger in the ship's water heater. Is the stock water pump "gutsy" enough to handle the additional run to and through a heat exchanger? Is it possible (and workable) to add on an alternative water pump?2. I installed a Teleflex water temprature gauge and sending unit. I have been round and round with Teleflex (they even gave me a new sender unit) but I can't seem to get it to read any temprature. I have thouroghly checked and rechecked all connections, but still nothing. My only near-rational explanation is that the raw water going through the system doesn't get warm enough to register. Can you think of anything else to check or do?3. Finally, I have noticed that almost all instructions I've seen for bleeding the engine's fuel system refer to shutting off the water intake. Why is this?Thank you for all of your fantastic help!!!Ernie

 

[Steve Dion]

Ernie, I can help you with one thing.

Ernie:When you are bleeding the fuel system and cranking the engine you are pumping water into the muffler. If the engine is not running there is nothing to push the water out. There is a potential to flood the engine with exhaust water through the exhaust valves. If this happens, you are potentially taking about a rebuild or replacement of the engine. This is one of the reasons that they actually recommend that you turn off the raw water intake when you leave the boat. When you restart your engine you should leave the raw water intake turned off until the engine starts. Now I gotta tell you that I do not do this either. One royal pain in the ass. But it is something that you should consider if your engine does not start right away.

 

[Jim Logan]

Hot water from 2qm15

My 33 with a raw water 2QM15 is connected to the hot water heater, and it appears to work, although since the 2QM runs at such a low temperature, you won't get much hot water unless the engine is running under load for a long time - I don't know if this is stock, or it was added by a past owner, although it looks professional in installation. Seems as if you would have to have a special heater that would hold up to salt water if you did it this way.

 

[Gordon Torresen]

Q cooling

When it comes to heating domestic water with a sea water cooled engine, you have a problem. If you send all the engine cooling water through the water heater coils, you will probably get hot water from the tap. However, you stand a good chance of not cooling the engine properly when you want to run long and hard. The best bet is the installation of a fresh water conversion kit. For $910.00 and a little labor you can have it all. The kit uses an electric pump to circulate the water to the water heater from a heat exchanger. The water within the engine will then be able to contain the coolant solutions that are so good for cooling jackets and water heaters. The temperature sensing gauge that you have installed has to have temperature to sense, as you suggest. It also has to have a good ground at the sender and the sender must be installed where the hottest water is being circulated. This would probably be in the hose that runs between the head and the manifold.  Steve Dion has the right word on shutting off the sea cock when cranking the engine.