WATERLOCK MUFFLER QUESTION
- Thread starter twodzusfittings
- Start date
Nah, never happened. More "Life" got in the way of this happening. Maybe next week.
Fresh oil, fresh fuel direct from the jug, no difference. My coolant water pump has started to leak, so I now have to replace that. Always something, ain't that the truth!
I your problems sound like fouling to me. I know that I can easily loose 1/2 a knot with just a few barnacles on the prop.
Have you drained the muffler and looked inside or have I just missed it if you did ? It may be loaded with crud that is slowly releasing. If it is loaded, it may be exerting a large pressure on the exhaust.
I previously mentioned removing the muffler and inserting a temporary piece of hose in its place for a test run. On second thought, that may not be the best idea as the muffler is responsible for catching the water in the EX hose rather than having it flow back through the mixing elbow and through an open exhaust valve when the engine shuts down.
I previously mentioned removing the muffler and inserting a temporary piece of hose in its place for a test run. On second thought, that may not be the best idea as the muffler is responsible for catching the water in the EX hose rather than having it flow back through the mixing elbow and through an open exhaust valve when the engine shuts down.
My issue is with the engine revs under load vs in neutral. I cannot raise over 2000 when under load vs. 3500 in neutral. The black gray slush in the exhaust is slowly diminishing, which is a positive. Still working on how I can getter better rpm under load. I dont need 3500 naturally, but I used to get better than 2000. (at least 2900)
Didn’t you say on haulout you had a surprising amount of barnacle growth? Seems like that might be correlated with the problems. You might be a little over propped to begin with if you can’t reach your full RPM’s in gear, and the extra fouling exacerbating that.
Your engine is overloaded if you can't get to maximum RPM, in gear, underway.
My engine was over propped and I had the same symptoms. I thought an occasional burst to blow out the carbon would be OK. Then I had black water out the exhaust. Rough running so I shut it down.
After rebuilding the injectors and cleaning out the carbon everything seemed great. About an hour or an hour and a half of running I have a hard knock. Probably a rod bearing. Maybe a wrist pin.
If you don't correct the cause you will likely be in the same position.
My engine was over propped and I had the same symptoms. I thought an occasional burst to blow out the carbon would be OK. Then I had black water out the exhaust. Rough running so I shut it down.
After rebuilding the injectors and cleaning out the carbon everything seemed great. About an hour or an hour and a half of running I have a hard knock. Probably a rod bearing. Maybe a wrist pin.
If you don't correct the cause you will likely be in the same position.
One spring, 4-months after I had a diver clean my hull and prop and replace the zincs, I headed out to do some crabbing. It had not been used during that time, but this was not an unusual situation and had never been a problem before. As soon as I left the dock, I realized that something was wrong because I could not rev to more than 1500-rpm and had a lot of vibration. Surprizingly, I was still able to make 5.4kts which was much faster than normal for 1400-rpms. The diver I had been using was unable to get out for several weeks. Fortunatly, I have a couple of freinds who are dive instructors who had just gotten new dry suits and were looking for an excuse to NOT get wet. This is what they found.
Then the diver cleaned the prop, he had just knocked off the bodies of the barnicles but did not scrape off the white bases. The new growth then had a foothold and came back worse than ever.
Since then, I dive my own boat. It saves me $200 twice a year and when I dive, I might have a handful of barnacles.
Then the diver cleaned the prop, he had just knocked off the bodies of the barnicles but did not scrape off the white bases. The new growth then had a foothold and came back worse than ever.
Since then, I dive my own boat. It saves me $200 twice a year and when I dive, I might have a handful of barnacles.
So perhaps I've found why I have reduced RPM's under load. I had to change the fresh water pump out. To do this task, I needed to remove the OE air filter and valve cover/crank case hose. For some reason, most likely me trying to make things tidy in the engine bay, I had run the hose under the compression lever. Thinking about this, the lever would then sit maybe slightly open which would reduce compression, which it sounds like from some of the responses, the reason for low rpms. As I have winterized the engine, I won't know until the spring, if this is actually the case. So if you can wait till the spring, I'll let you all know. If not, OH WELL!
I hope that was not the case. There are explicit warnings against moving the compression release lever when the engine is running because it needs to work against the engine compression and that cannot be a good thing.
From all the symptoms you described, that could well be responsible for your problems, particularly the sludge coloured exhaust water. The fuel didn't even get a chance to burn to carbon as smoke, just a soup of partly scorched diesel fuel and water.
I've marked April 01, 2024 on my calendar as the latest we can wait for an answer. After that ! The suspense is killing me.
I've marked April 01, 2024 on my calendar as the latest we can wait for an answer. After that
! The suspense is killing me.
My experience exactly. A few giant barnacles growing on your prop will throw everything out of whack. The diesel will be overloaded, won’t get up to normal operating revs, and will smoke.One spring, 4-months after I had a diver clean my hull and prop and replace the zincs, I headed out to do some crabbing. It had not been used during that time, but this was not an unusual situation and had never been a problem before. As soon as I left the dock, I realized that something was wrong because I could not rev to more than 1500-rpm and had a lot of vibration. Surprizingly, I was still able to make 5.4kts which was much faster than normal for 1400-rpms. The diver I had been using was unable to get out for several weeks. Fortunatly, I have a couple of freinds who are dive instructors who had just gotten new dry suits and were looking for an excuse to NOT get wet. This is what they found.
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View attachment 221312
Then the diver cleaned the prop, he had just knocked off the bodies of the barnicles but did not scrape off the white bases. The new growth then had a foothold and came back worse than ever.
Since then, I dive my own boat. It saves me $200 twice a year and when I dive, I might have a handful of barnacles.
I dive my own boat too.
Well @twodzusfittings , anything new worth reporting on the problem with your low RPM ?
Partially opened unloader(s), fouled prop, voodoo curse on
your boat ? ? ?