Engine running hot?

jammin · **Joined:** 30 Oct 2006 15:40 **Posts:** 63

My engine ran hot when I first got it in 2000. I was also losing impellors. I found that there were chunks of impellor blades in the elbow leading from the water pump. fixed that. Not much better. then I found that the original water injection elbow was a "home made" welded black iron unit. this was corroded shut. I bought a new Westerbeke cast aluminum water injection elbow and now my engine runs cool. I feel the factory elbow is worth the cost.

Jammin'

Down2TheC · **Posted:** 10 Jun 2008 01:19

Would it be at all useful to backflush the heat exchanger? We're getting low flow and raised temps (180 but no horn yet). The impeller is in fine shape. Before digging out major parts, I was thinking I could hook RW-IN to a buket/bilge hose and the RW-OUT to a hose. Figured that might flush out any nasty bits that might be in there. But thought I'd run it by the crew here first.

Down2TheC · **Posted:** 11 Jun 2008 07:42

Thought I'd share pics for posterity...
A DeiselTech "Where's Waldo?" : Anyone notice something odd in the first pic?

T37Chef · **Posted:** 11 Jun 2008 21:41

Somebody say...wrong way waldo Wink

I purchased a product called Barncle Buster from Trac Ecological and ran it threw the system and made a difference. I plan to do this ever other year or as needed.

http://www.trac-online.com/barnacle-buster.html

Down2TheC · **Posted:** 14 Jun 2008 07:59

Ding-Ding. Good eye. So how do you think something like that happens? Odd.

Well we're freshwater and the pump shows no sediment... so I'm not sure the Buster will be plan A. But I'll keep that in mind. We'll be giving her a longer test run today to see how she does. We only noticed the high temp/low flow after a longer run home from a daysail. So something's in a marginal condition. Fine for the average 10 min drive in and out, but a bit toasty after 20 min.

jvoelxen · **Joined:** 21 Oct 2006 15:36 **Posts:** 268

As you implied, your symptoms are probably caused by degraded conditions in your cooling system. My guess is that it takes about 10 min to heat the water in your water heater. Once that's complete, you've lost that heat loss and the temperature will start to slowly creep up because the remaining portions of the system are under performing.

I had that same problem a few years back with my W50. If that's the engine you have, I posted the many items I checked/fixed on the previous page of this subject. That posting may be helpful also even if you have a different engine.

On my W50, the removable rubber cover used for inspecting the internals of the raw water heat exchanger wasn't re-installed correctly, which allowed some sea water flow to bypass the heat exchanger. That caused these same symptoms. If you have a W50, you might want to check that inspection cover.

Jim
Odyssey #191

Lightfoot · **Joined:** 03 Nov 2006 15:15 **Posts:** 2

One more suggestion. I also have a W50 and replaced thermostat, acid cleaned heat exchanger, checked elbow etc. to no avail. What did work for me was applying a vacuum to the freshwater coolant fill port. What I think created the problem was some work I did involving disconnecting my hot water tank, I inadvertently created an air trap in my freshwater cooling lines. When I applied a vacuum to fresh water coolant fill port, (I used a coolant tester borrowed from an auto parts store) I heard air bubbling out of the coolant fill connection. After that my W50 ran at normal temp (180). The Westerbeke manual talks about the need to plumb the hot water tank carefully otherwise you can get air trapped that can block freshwater flow. I think this is what happened to me.
Alan S/V Ligthfoot

Tortuga's Lie · **Joined:** 27 Oct 2006 10:32 **Posts:** 827

Another item that can cause overheating.......an improper seal at the cap for the coolant reservoir, replace this $5 cap and the proper pressure can be achieved and the engine will run cooler.

Mike · **Joined:** 09 Jul 2008 12:51 **Posts:** 251

My W50 temp is around 180 when I run the engine up to 2400 rpm . At 2500 or higher it runs around 200 and stays there.

Is that about the same as everyone else ?

jvoelxen · **Joined:** 21 Oct 2006 15:36 **Posts:** 268

That's how mine runs. I'm also clearly at hull speed at about
2400-2500 rpm..

Tartan37.com

Engine running hot?

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