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Old 06-16-2019, 01:40 PM
ernst ernst is offline
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I spent the day at the boat yesterday for data gathering. I think I
pretty much accomplished all that I had planned for.

First, I checked the coolant level. Both heat-exchanger and overflow
tank were completely full. This was expected since I only ran the
motor for maybe 10 minutes last week (see my very first posting in this
thread).

Next was the pressure test of the exhaust manifold. It was not 100%
conclusive because of 'technical difficulties.' I will spare you the
details, I had forgotten my bicycle pump at home and ended up buying
two new ones on the way, both with problems. Also, I have the
suspicion, the guy at Home Depot sold me a cap for the hose barb that
had slightly wrong threads. I ended up using A LOT of teflon tape but
I suspect there was STILL a small leak at the hose barb. So, my
contraption did not hold pressure for a long time, it went from 4psi
to 3 psi over ~15 minutes but I am 99% sure that this was due to a slow
leak either at the hose barb or in the pump itself (which I could not
disconnect since doing that caused immediate loss of pressure).

Then I did the spark test with the cold motor, using a fifth spark
plug as advised. It went well but I have absolutely no idea whether
the spark is blue and snappy or not. I tried attaching two videos, one
taken after I just turned the motor on, completely cold. The second
one was taken after two hours of running under load. Unfortunately, I
am not allowed to attach mp4 files, and the files are also too large
to upload to the site anyway. To me the sparks look pretty much
identical but I would not even know what to look for. I would love to
get experts to look at the videos but I don't know how to get this on
the forum.

Then came the main part, running the motor under load, at about
1300 RPM for a good 2 hours and measuring the temperature. After the
first 15 minutes or so, I closed the engine room door, so conditions
should be quite realistic.

Results are shown in the attached graphics. I measured at 6 locations:

1) on the hose going into the coolant pump (dark blue line in the figure)
2) on the hose from the motor block to the exhaust manifold (red)
3) on the hose from exhaust manifold to heat exchanger (yellow)
4) on the metal of the coolant filter* (green)
5) on the brass 'tee' with the gauge sensor (brown)
6) on the top of the motor block (light blue)

*The coolant filter is the one Indigo recommends to run temporarily
when installing their system. I decided to leave it in 'just in
case'. My understanding is that most commercial installations
(e.g. truck engines) have coolant filters permanently installed. BTW,
I checked the filter and it was clean as a whistle.

Observations:

a) It seems that all temps reach a stable state very quickly, within
about 10 minutes. There are some 'spikes' but I think these are
measurement errors, with one exception which is the very last data
point (more on that later).

b) Some results are surprising. The temperature at the sensor (brown
line) is pretty constantly between 130 and 140, but the gauge showed
170. I have no reason to assume the gauge is wrong. I suppose that the
outside of the brass 'tee' with the sensor is simply 30-40 degrees
cooler than the coolant inside.

c) I expected that the temperature on the coolant filter (green line)
was the same as in the drain from the exhaust manifold (yellow) since
it is the same coolant that flows in both. Instead, the filter is
about 10-20 degrees warmer. I suspect this has to do with the better
heat conductivity of the metal filter housing compared to the rubber
hoses.

d) Temp at 'Exit exhaust manifold' (yellow) is nearly consistently
lower than at 'Exit motor block' (red). This makes not sense, the
exhaust must increase the temperature. Again, my only explanation is
that there must be a difference in the hoses. Both are rubber hoses
but maybe one is thicker, or otherwise less heat conducting than the
other??

Despite these inconsistencies, overall, I think this is pretty healthy
behavior.

There was, however, some excitement at the very end of the test: A
keen eye will notice that at the very last data point (unfortunately
cut off in the graphics), all temps go up. This is because the V-belt
broke!! I knew it was suspect and it was slated for replacement but I
thought this was a good opportunity to test it 'to destruction' since
I was keeping a close eye on the motor. I actually noticed it
shredding itself during my temperature measurements until finally it
gave up the ghost. Haven't replaced it yet since doing that will be
more pleasant when the motor is cool.

I may still have a leak, though. I have the habit of putting a
disposable diaper under the motor to catch any drips of oil or
water. When I was packing up shop yesterday, I noticed that the diaper
was completely full, I would guess there must have have at least a
quart of liquid in there. I did not connect the dots up until when I
was driving home: I had replaced the diaper last week and I don't
think it rained this much (some rain water always find it way into the
bilge). So I will have to hunt for a leak. This would explain one of
the mysteries (where did the coolant go).

So where is the leak? I wonder if these very thin paper gaskets on the pumps really are enough (they are commercially made and bought at MMI). Should I coat them with anything?

Also, if there is a leak, I have no explanation why I did not notice it last
week.

And, finally, why the motor stopped, is still unclear. To me the spark
looked as good after 2 hours as at the beginning (perhaps due to my
ignorance) and the motor ran perfectly fine and round. Perhaps I
should drain the carburator and see if anything lurks in there?
Haven't done this in a year.
Attached Images
File Type: pdf TemperateMesasurements.pdf (19.5 KB, 776 views)
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