Universal M-18 warm up \ Domestic hot wtr

[Skipper]

Before I change the thermostat, troubleshoot wiring\guages\senders, I'd like to run this by this forum.

Universal M-18 takes forever to warm up. After a hour of power-boating, still reads 120 degrees. 2 hours gets it to 180.

It seems that a thermostat would stick closed, not stick open, and with FWC there should be less gunk in there anyway. I haven't opened it yet, no replacement gasket on hand.

Would the sender\guage\wiring resistance be a common culprit?

The Raritan hot water heater has the plumbing arranged to enable bypassing the heater, by simply turning a gate valve. Has anyone used this technique to warm the engine faster, or does it matter? Seems that the heater is also a huge 6 gallon heat exchanger.

If the heater is bypassed for quicker warm up, what would happen if the loop was opened again during running. Would the rush of cold coolant cause any harm.

Anyone with this or similar setup and experience please comment.

Thank you

 

[RAD]

I have a Westerbeke 30 and have the exact situation and I have installed a mechanical temp gauge and even when running at the dock it never gets above 160 and the only time I ever see 180 is after a long running.....I have thought about a bypass valve then decided against it cause then its gets too complicated when there is an over heating issue or trying to purge the air from the system.

I would think the sender or gauge is the culprit, my original system showed 200 degrees before changing it and to check every thing out I bought an infrared scanner for about 50 dollars

 

[Stu Jackson]

If it was my boat, I'd find a Kubota dealer and buy a new thermostat and gasket (which I've done on our M25 - $17 for a new thermostat vs. $2 from a Universal dealer!!!), and then clean the contacts on the temperature gauge connector and be done with it. Bypasses on the hw heater are pretty much unnecessary, and I'd leave it closed so the FWC runs through it all the time when motoring. Actually, buy two thermostats while you're at it...then the one you install will last forever, which it wouldn't if you'd only bought one.

The thermostat can "stop working" either way: stuck open or stuck closed. If it sticks open, the engine has to work hard to get up to temperature.

You can find a Kubota tractor dealer near you on the Kubota website or use tractorsmart.com

Why put off a quickie repair by trying to figure something else out?

I had the very same low temperature output and little hot water a few years ago. Turned out to be two things: thermostat and leaky hose from engine to hw heater.

Here's my experience: http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,3133.0.html

 

[Donnybrook]

Try bypassing the water heater for faster warm ups. Opening it back up should not hurt anything, but to be on the safe side, open slowly. My M18 is very slow to warm up in the winter, especially with a light load.

 

[Ralph Johnstone]

................... start at the simplest end first. Check to see what the actual temperature is by using some form of temperature sensor on the stat housing. An infrared scanner would be nice, and a cheap (and reasonably accurate one) one can be had for about $20.00. Good for looking at all sorts of other things around the boat as well.

Barring that, tape a meat thermometer to the stat housing and then tape a clean, dry rag around it for insulation. This should give a good approximation after five minutes..

This will give you a better idea of what's happening and where to head next.

 

[Stu Jackson]

I meant $42 from Universal, not $2. Sorry. Hope things are improving for you.

 

[Skipper]

Thank you.
I like the meat thermo idea.
I also like the concept of buying 2 thermostats (or anything) to ensure the 1st one never breaks. Sort of like using my bad luck in my favor.

 

[Skipper]

Thermostat

I can't find a part number anywhere. An hour looking. Which Kubota thermostat do I want? Part number? Vendor?
Kubota doesn't list any. Tractorsmart neither.

Any ideas? I'd prefer a 180 deg thermostat anyway for the M-18, which Universal doesn't have.

Thanks again

 

[Stu Jackson]

Please help this Universal M-18 skipper

I can't find a part number anywhere. An hour looking. Which Kubota thermostat do I want? Part number? Vendor?
Kubota doesn't list any. Tractorsmart neither.

Any ideas? I'd prefer a 180 deg thermostat anyway for the M-18, which Universal doesn't have.

Thanks again

C'mon, folks, there's gotta be someone out there who knows the Kubota block number for an M-18 so the OP can go to tractorsmart or his local Kubota dealer and find a $15 thermostat.

BTW, as far as I know they make 160 or 190 thermostats (at least for my M25). If they don't make it you'll be hard pressed to find one.

 

[Ray T]

Re: Please help this Universal M-18 skipper

You might take the old thermostat either to the Kubuta dealor or an auto parts store. If they are nice they will compare and find what you want. Incidently thermostats are designed to open when they fail. You could take the thermostat out and put it in a pan of hot water to see what temp. it opens useing a candy thermometer

 

[Stu Jackson]

Thanks to the Ericson forum (M-18 info)

See reply #7, here: http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoex...M40-engine-information&highlight=kubota+block

 

[Skipper]

I get that the block is a z600. But I can't find the Kubota-equivalent thermostat.
I guess I will take it to a Kubota dealer as one suggested....or pay 3x for Universal.

Thanks for all your help and research.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Skipper, don't spend $$ unnecessarily. Call the Kubota guy and give him the tractor #. That's the whole purpose of that list. Once you have the tractor engine #, they know the sub-part #s for it.

You're already there.

Good luck.

 

[Richard19068]

Z600 in B5100DT Tractor?

I get that the block is a z600. But I can't find the Kubota-equivalent thermostat.
I guess I will take it to a Kubota dealer as one suggested....or pay 3x for Universal.

Thanks for all your help and research.

I don't know if this is accurate or not but I found this in a post somewhere:

"My Kubota guy tells me that my M18 is based on the Z600 block and that he also uses a Kubota Tractor reference of B5100DT".

Here it looks like the Z600 is used in the Kubota Tractor B4200. Check this address

http://www.tractorsmart.com/KubotaEngineSpecs/Kubotadieselengineoverhaulspecifications.htm

 

[Skipper]

Thanks again, guys. By the way, Richard, is that 4th of July Cove?
I used to sail to Catalina alot when I was in Dana Point Harbor. Now I'm in Annapolis. We miss Catalina.

 

[kloudie1]

Most marine diesel folks will recommend a 160F thermostat because as ya get toward 180 and higher, the seawater can start fouling the heatex tubes.. 180 thermostat is probably OK for a while, but tube and elbow fouling is going to be faster/worse.

 

[Richard19068]

Thanks again, guys. By the way, Richard, is that 4th of July Cove?
I used to sail to Catalina alot when I was in Dana Point Harbor. Now I'm in Annapolis. We miss Catalina.

Skipper. Yes that's Fourth of July at Thanksgiving a couple of years ago. My favorite mooring cove if we're not anchoring somewhere else.

 

[Skipper]

I found it! :dance:

Amazingly, it was in one of Stu's old posts from 2006.

Thanks again,

http://c34.org/bbs/index.php?topic=3133.15

Reference to Bernd's post on thermostat model numbers from Kubota: http://c34.org/bbs/index.php?topic=1067.0

It says:

p/n15531-73010 (180 degree)
p/n19203-73010 (160 degree)
p/n1576-73270 gasket

 

[DanM]

I removed the whole gate valve assembly on my M18 when I bought the boat, boiled out the heat exchanger and changed most of the hoses that were 25 years old and looking in pretty bad shape. Also changed the thermostat just in case. The engine ran hot when I bought the boat and the PO was convinced there was something terribly wrong with it but it was just scale on the heat exchanger. It usually comes up to 160 degrees before I'm out of my marina so I'd guess that takes about 15 minutes or so fwiw to come up to temperature.

The quote about the B5100DT above was mine, and is, (as far as I know!) still accurate! ;-) It also helps to have your serial number when you talk to the Kubota guys as some parts are specific to your block serial number.

DanM.