Solving the 2 YEAR engine problem - Bums on a Boat Ep 30 

Enjoyable...nice normal kind of sailing folks you would want to be sailing with.

Uncle Muir a slow work in progress. Feels good to solve an issue. Thanks for the maintenance advice. We have both anti seize and dialectic goop on the boat. That's the next level..doing preventative maintenance instead of waiting on something to break.

SV Valiant This place is like no other place we have been. Such a strong community. Diesel Don is the man, heard nothing but great things. So many kept telling me to go to him but my stubborn self wanted to try everything possible first and if I had nothing else it was Diesel Don. Surprised you made it out of here after a year..many say you will get stuck here forever.

Thank you. Oh interesting. Wasn't aware that you didn't want any weight on the topping lift. I'll let them know and also make sure ours is good.

Definitely learning this is true through experience. What was hard to overcome was having the confidence to just jump in and go for it. Afraid to mess things up or make it even worse lol. We all learn differently but hands on is the most impactful way for me. Enjoy the mountains!!!ahh I'm so missing snowboarding. Hope to run across you too mate.

benc65753 you got that right, can be challenging and tough but extremely rewarding. Down hill....wonder what that's like.

Lol yup! Our signature is user error. Everything is fine except the Indian using the arrow.

David Smith oh they are such a huge resource! Plus the mechanical explosion charts and RU-vid..your set. Hahaha that's great. Wild card

Congrats on finding the Volvo issues, saving hundreds of dollars on a mechanic!!!!

David Carper Thanks we are happy!

Garrett Parson as are we! It means the journey goes on baby:)

bigearedmouse17 wow that's impressive! Also humbling that you spent that much time. Thanks mate

Sail Before Sunset Nice to hear.

Richard Westabrook thank you. The internet sure is a game changer. So many resources!

Wow cheers Andre. So glad to be of help. Hope you are running nice and smooth. It is so great when the cooling system works properly! No more salt water baths for the engine:)

Thanks you can never have enough old school tricks in the bag. We will keep an eye on that gap then..wouldn't want to have to replace that head gasket.

HiPpY BoAtErS Hey Spanks:) love to hear from y'all!

BigTranquil Thanks! So you have saltwater mixing? It would be awesome if another was able to resolve their issue through watching this vid.

Thank you. This fix didn't completely do the trick but after getting all of the bolts out of the manifold and soaking it again in Muriatic Acid, the cooling system has been great!

Gorjus Boating that's great info!!! Must get any gunk out of there and who knows what else. Thanks for sharing! Yet another tool in the Bums bag:)

Use vingar it doesn't have the sugar in it which could gunk up your thermostat and is probably cheaper.

crzy11000 Nice to know... Is acetic acid just as good as phosphoric? Would it eat into the metal? Also, being stronger, should I limit to a 12 hour soak?

Gorjus Boating great question. I googled it but didn't come up with a direct answer. Many of our viewers seem far more experienced and knowledgeable. Hopefully one of them chimes in.

I was taught in high school mechanics class this is how to flush your cooling system. You are also supposed to flush your instantaneous hot water heater with this method of vinegar. Many RU-vid videos about this.

LycandersAim Okay thats good to hear. Always the main focus is to trim and cut to get these down to a reasonable time. Appreciate your positive feedback.

Roslyn Anderson Patty thanks friend!!! Miss you and Seany Pockets

john b yep at least there is that. Puts the mind at ease a little bit.

warp21drive Yes it certainly was. Okay thanks for the feedback. Yea extra boots sounds like a great idea. And since we got the boat we have been cautious to take it over 2000 when the manual says max is 3200-3400 rpms. It is sweet to see it run the way it's meant to.

Bruce Malo that wasn't a hairball that was the daemon that lived inside that kitty

Bruce Malo Maybe not soon but at this rate it will happen at some point. Those to kitties went through an epic 5 day sail after that...and it got hairy. Happy New Years Bruce!!!

Thanks

Tim Erickson okay thanks

John Ahern lol yea I'm sure that will gross out many. Night and day compared to the first time we took a peak at the engine. Still a rookie but willing to give it a go.

John Feemster Thanks

Exactly! And always learn valuable information when trying to problem solve. Oh man, okay thanks for the heads up. Guessing that was not a fun discover to make.

ajax1137 uy

Well I actually repeated that process one more time so a total of 3 hours. I took my friend and experts advice to the t as far as ratio and time but it sounds like you have experience with this. Stan wasn't sure if soaking it to long might cause damage to the part.

Muratic acid has now affect on cast iron. You could leave it in there for a week, the worst that might happen is the paint would come off. Most important, I am glad to see that you have figured out the root cause of the salt and fresh water mixing ! I hope you rinsed out the the fresh water side by running it for a few hours with clean water and then dumping it before adding coolant. A cooling system cleaner like Prestone Radiator Flush + Cleaner (available at Walmart) would have bee good, but if you have coolant in it now it is not worth the cost of dumping it to do a flush.

I see. Good to know. Yes it is such a relief. Yea good idea on rinsing out the fresh water. The fluid was drained at least 5 times during this process lol.

Thank you. That does happen sometimes.

Greg Cripps that was one of the things I thought it might be. From what I understand there should have been water mixing with the oil if that was the case. The oil should have been milky but it was good.

Not always, I have a truck right now that gets air from the cylinders in the radiator and blows the water out of the radiator but no water in the oil. It's rare but it happens. Glad that wasnt your problem though.

Okay recently we discovered that there was an add in. The previous captain had an extra hose that hooked to copper wiring around the alternator to keep it cool and joined with the salt water. This may have been causing the problem. We replaced the alternator and blocked the hoses that joined with the cooling system and it seems to be running better.

manfred schmalbach yes I'm definitely considering that. Although I'm ready to put it to the test here in the near future. Already ran it at much higher rpms and it runs great. Not a drop in the overflow tank. But yea for the long run I'll want to go through it more thoroughly. Happy New Years!

Nice to hear the position-thing of the heat exchange really did the trick for now. What I wanted to point towards: Don't risk an otherwise great engine due to an alleged non-maintenance-at-all-protocol some former owners might have been following whatsoever. As a boatbuilder I do know that some sailors tend to see the engine as a costly insurance vs beaching You buy at the beginning and don't even talk about it for the next decades because literally any remembrance You bear it will cost You more of those painful three to four digit sums ... until the engine quits and the numbers quickly rocket to five digits. I love elderly diesels, (did I mention that already 😬 ), use for myself a 22 y Merc 212 d and a 38 year old Merc 250 Td, both running absolutely fine in their 400 thousands (km) on road, and maintain quite some Mercedes engine now and then for longterm boat customers, some of said engines well over 50 years old with tens of thousands of hours, never opened, never rebuilt but all time properly used (never rev up a cold diesel ...) and maintained in terms of regular tuning and changes of fluids. I'm no great believer in more recent Volvo Penta marine engines, but I had some of the really old ones under my hands with next to tenthousand h, unopened (besides oilpan and valve cap of course), and running satisfyingly, as well. So, keep it handily loved, and it will love You back in exactly those situations You have to rely on it most. Acoustic aftermarket warning device for temperature and watermass flushed through might help monitoring, but You should develop an ear for Your castiron anyway and recognize by sound and vibes when she starts to become unhappy. Cheers M

manfred schmalbach this is reassuring to read! Thanks for the advice about the cold weather. It's cold now! We have extra gas and fuel filters. Just changed all fluids. Excited to see it run like it is meant to be. Nice to hear that you favor these types of inboards. I'm checking out your Merc engines.

wardell Junius thank you! We plan to go from Marathon to Miami and then cross to Bimini from there.

Wow fairly easy fix considering how serious the problem was. Always helps to step away and bounce your ideas off others.

We don't at the moment. We will be shopping for that. Thanks

Oh yea!! Let's goooo. Yea still in Marathon but will be leaving any day.

You are not alone in thinking that. Many have told me there must be a leak in the heat exchanger. This exchanger is the same size on both ends. It doesn't matter the orientation as long as the tiny pin hole is at the top and it protrudes evenly on the front and back.

Oh ok, I thought you had pointed out the size difference. I guess I need to check that.

My sailing technology playlist shows a lot of people dealing with marine cooling systems, but not this one engine, its a first. That's why I put it into the list. One point others have made and I agree with, its not a good place for a rubber boot. I don't' like the way they put that together. Imagine having to take it apart every time an impeller falls apart, looking for the little pieces ! . Would make a definite impeller change out schedule VERY important for that engine .

Tim Erickson okay looked and didn't see any.

O Trader oh I never had a corp job..''twas a humble golf pro. Believe in the Penta!!! Going to give her a chance to prove herself.

Sailing Free At Last Happy New Year!

Luckily dodged that bullet. Will remember that moving forward.

LOL good point there.

i'm a chemist and you have that backwards. When you mix acid with water, it's extremely important to add the acid to the water rather than the other way around. This is because acid and water react in a vigorous exothermic reaction, releasing heat, sometimes boiling the liquid.

Okay that sounds like a good rule of thumb. Thanks you. It took me a while to realize those manuals are the only way to go.

SV Solace oh great lol. We may be in the ICW for a bit. Transom must be the best place. Thanks for the heads up.

We have a gooseneck run well above the waterline which leads to a waterlock muffler to prevent that.

Wow okay we will look into this! The make clearly says Volvo md2030 but never knew perkins made engines for volvo.

@@Bumsonaboat i have a perkins m30 engine.....ordered end caps, but just found out the cooler is actually a polar engines cooler......need ot order different caps.

The environment was and we checked with the Marina to see what the preferred since they didn’t have a disposal method for it.

Jc Regal a gross reality of sailing with cats.

lol yea that doesn't sound great.

Bums on a Boat It's ok, just be sure you have someone watching the water while you sail.

So just don't try it alone eh?

We've done it as I love nite sailing, inland waters, gotta watch. Off shore, still got to watch, but it's not as critical. Coast Guard will seize your boat, and there is flotsam to be sure. What waters are you mainly sailing in?

Sounds a bit risky. Don't like the idea of a seized boat. As of late we have been in the Florida Keys area.

I have recently discovered that the previous owner installed an extra salt water intake hose that led to copper tubing wrapped around the alternator to cool it. This salt water combined with the engine cooling system. It wasn't designed to flush that much out and since removing it the engine has run great!

Volvo produce the BEST diesel engines in the world hands down! And have done so for over 50 years!

@@michelebeck4311 This one is made by Perkins and sold by Volvo .

@@willrupley2253 nothing wrong with perkins either! Cheers from kiwi land

richard mouton welcome to Volvo Diesel.

richard mouton don't have any other inboard to compare it to.

Rooney Elkish but...we are BOAB Baby