Cabin fumes
 

My Atomic 4 is in a Pearson Vanguard. While motoring, the fumes in the cabin are pretty bad. They aren't fuel or exhaust. I have no known leaks. Can any who has had this same problem give a testimonial as to whether the crankcase vent upgrade by Moyer can really solve the problem?

Cabin Fumes
 

I had the same problem with my Atomic 4. The bypass upgrade solved the problem right away. I would definitely recommend it.
Brad

I'm not familiar with any crankcase vent bypass kit that Moyer offers??? Are you by chance referring to the PCV (Positive Crankcase Ventilation) kit that Tom Stevens @ Indigo Electronics offers?? (http://www.atomic4.com/crankcase.html)

If this is what you are referring to - I have one installed on my A4 and it works great!

Indigo Crankcase kit
 

I agree, the Indigo crankcase ventilator kit is a good adit. I had some obnoxious fumes in my Ericson 35 cabin after running the ol A-4 for a while and the Indigo kit cured that 98%. Good investment in my book and took about an hour or two to install (dependeing on access). All the parts are included: new carbo mounting gasket, carbo spacer, longer copper fuel line, new crank breather appaeratus, hose, and new bolts.

http://www.atomic4.com/

Quality $75.00 item that works!

John M.

cabin fumes
 

Thanks guys, sounds like a good upgrade. My wife will be happy too.

I purchased this PCV kit from Moyer Marine a few years back and it improved the smell immensley. I does take a little time

Indigo Upgrade - A Problem
 

I installed the indigo kit, and it seems to work, but has a problem...the hose supplied seems to have a very slippery core, which causes the PCV valve to pop out occasionally, making the unit nonfunctional.

I've tried gluing the valve into the hose, no go.

One of these days I'll take the thing off the boat and take it to NAPA and see if there is another type of hose that will hold the PCV valve in place a bit better.

Anyone else run into this problem?

thanks, :)

Paul Christiansen
Cal 2-27 "Wampeter"
Astoria, OR

Not just fumes
 

I found in the last few weeks that fumes/smoke are not the only problems with the breather tube as installed by Universal. I found droplets of oil in the bilge water. After my initial concern about an oil leak, I traced the source back to the air intake of the carburator. About a quarter of a teaspoon was puddled in the intake--and the breather tube was the source. Besides the mess in the bilge, I was concerned about the oil being pumped out by the automatic bilge pump when I'm not around. I plan to add the Indigo PCV kit over the winter.

Slipping PCV hose
 

Paul,

have you tried a small hose clamp? I think that's what I have on mine and almost certain it came with the kit, and if not, I added one as I like things attached not just slipped on. Small width hose clamps are out there....seek and you shall find. Cheapest stainless hose clamps in the world I've found are at:

Plumbingsupply.com

They are 1/2 to 2/3 cheaper than any place I ever seen before. Yes, they are all stainless clamps and screws (Ideal clamps). Just purchased a variety of sizes (1" to 4") which came to 48 total hose clamps for $65.00...absolute bargain!

John M.

Alternative viewpoint about the PCV Valve
 

Guys, I have been thinking about the PCV valve myself, as my own A4 offers up quite a stink in the cabin, and it occasionally makes me feel somewhat nautious. My girlfriend has also complained. However, I must recommend the website of one salty dog Robert Hess of Vancouver, Canada, whose page "Atomic Four Frequently Asked Questions" claims this:

"Many people will spend a lot of money on cheaply made accessories for their boat and marine engine, but skimp on basic maintenance and regular overhauls. We recommend purchasing a heat exchanger and suggest the Indigo Electronics PCV valve kit is a good short-term fix for an engine that needs a ring job and is smoking up the cabin, but don't recommend an accessory oil filter, an electronic ignition, or an adjustable thermostat bypass valve."

...which makes me think that the rings on my pistons probably need to be evaluated. Or is it just that these are now older engines and will inevitably have some degree of mechanical smell when running?

What I found isn't quite in accord Mr. Hess' opinion.

For starters, the rings on my engine are just fine.

However, the A-4 crankcase vents to a tube that ends just above the carburator flame arrestor. The theory is that the carb will suck in the crankcase vapors, which naturally contain enough oil vapor to make a strong "oily engine" smell when the thing is run.

Unfortunately, the theory doesn't work perfectly I had an engine smell after running the iron wind. Not excessive amounts of oil due to bad rings, just a hot oil smell due to the crankcase being warm.

The PCV valve eliminated the vapors.

Thanks Marthur, that's good to know.
I think I will look into getting one. Is it much hassle to install?

I installed the Indigo Electronics PCV kit. Installing the PCV valve took slightly longer than advertised, but was an easy afternoon's project.

Good Luck,

Mike

Why its like that
 

Either kit will work fine and fix the problem. Direct crancase ventilation like on the A4 used to be on cars as well, but back in the 60's or 70s they did the exact same thing by plumbing that tube into the carb intake, like these kits are designed to do. The slash tube that is originally there doesn't cut it. The fumes are not the best thing for the environment in general and especially not an environment our girlfriends enjoy down below!

oil filter change
 

I usually change my oil and filter, but the problem is when I insert the tube in the dipstick holder [I] seem to get more air out than oil is there an easier way to do it can I go from my oil filter housing, and pull the oil out that way, recently I have been getting a bad exhaust leak from somewhere around the intake/exhaust manifold and I cant seem to locate it can anyone tell me where to look before I spend 350$ for a new manifold

Look for Product No. - KTAS_05_90 on this page. I have mine led out to just behind the companionway steps that come off for engine space access. Works like a champ :).

Suggestion: In the future, Rich, please start a new thread, rather than tacking your question(s) onto an existing thread about a different issue.

Jim

Rich - sounds like you might have separate issues. As far as the exhaust leak, do you mean visible blow by smoke in the cabin or actual exhaust that would cause elevated carbon monoxide readings on detectors. I had the latter problem lately and it turned out to be a failed exhaust flange gasket. These don't last forever and are easy to replace.

vented oil filler cap
 

I have noticed that most of my fumes come out the oil filler cap. In conjunction with the PCV kit should I do anything to the vented cap like maybe switch to a non vented cap? What about doing this without the PCV kit? Would this help force it out the tube running to the spark arrester?
Ken

MMO fixed the cabin fume problem
 

Fume problem gone after winter soak in MMO. During layup last December I squirted about a 1/4 cup of MMO in each spark plug hole. This spring, no more cabin fumes when running the engine. Must have had gunked up rings to the point that blow by was taking place.
Ken

PVC Kit
 

I recently purchased the indigo PVC kit. Tom there recommends relocating the scavange tube to the carb throat and it looks as though the MMI kit does the same. What is the benefit of relocating the tube? Just curious. Tom indicates it spreads any fuel evenly through the engine.

I'll probably set it up the recommended way but any comments are appreciated.

Fumes
 

Hi guys, here's my two cents. I bought my boat twentyfive years ago and the blow-by was accumilating in the cabin:eek:. I went to the autoparts store and bought a cap that was vented. I ran the vent line from the cap into the blower vent line and all was well ( although not completely fixed )for a long time. I since installed an Indigo PCV kit with "hose clamps" and haven't looked back since. I also left the vent line hooked up.. The PCV kit absolutely eliminated the fumes and also does a lot to keep the inside of the engine cleaner by extracting and reburning the stinky gasses. The cabin now smells of beer and cookies!:rolleyes:

Note~~~A good reason to keep the blower running whenever the engine is!

Dave Neptune:cool:

Beer and cookies? I guess so ... rum and cookies is OK though, wha'?

PVC Replacement Parts
 

Indigo list for acceptable PVC valve replacements are:

NAPA-Echlin CRB29229 or Mileage Plus Fuel-MPF39229

Purolator-PV789,Robertshaw-PV191,Fram-FV191
ACDelco-CV789C,Motorcraft-EV-90

Replace every 200 hours.

I, too, have a vented oil cap on my A4. It has a short hose on it, that sits on top of the flame arrestor/air intake on the carb, right next to the short hose coming from the side of the crankcase. I always assumed this was a standard setup, but have since learned that many (most?) A4 oil caps do not have this.

When I replaced my engine with a Moyer rebuilt A4 three years ago, the mechanic commented that the oil cap looked like a "neat" idea - so when he swapped out the old engine and installed the new one, he kept my original vented oil cap for me on the new one.

I've never had a fume or blowby problem in my cabin or engine compartment with either engine. I do, typically, run my bilge blower whenever the engine is running. This is probably of more benefit than the vented oil cap.

Cabin Fumes
 

I installed an expandable rubber plug in the oil tube about 20 years ago. With that and the PVC kit I have not had any concerns.
I later rebuilt the motor and continued to use the plug.

I was motivated to do this after testing for carbon monoxide near the tube. I could not get a reading since it was way above the scale used to measure air in working places.

Don