Atomic 4 water capacity

[kent]

How much water does an Atomic 4 hold? I ask because after the engine is run I have a build up of water in the bilge. If the volumne of water in the bilge is greater than the water capacity of the engine I may have more than one problem. I've checked the through hulls and fond no leaks.

[Don Moyer]

Depending on how much crud has collected in the cooling jackets, an Atomic 4 seldom holds more than a couple quarts of water. However, if a leak has developed anywhere within your cooling system, the whole ocean could come into your boat anytime the through-hull is open. It seems to me that if water is leaking from your engine, you should be able to see it.

Don

[Bob N]

Have you checked your stuffing box?

Worn packing in the stuffing box could allow a fair amount of water to leak in while the engine is running but slow to a drip when the engine is stopped.

[kent]

Follow-up

Hi,
Thanks for the information. This still seems a mystery. The amount of water in the blige, after the engine is shut down, the through-hull is closed and the bilge pumped dry, is in the range of two to five gallons after a day or two.
I'll check the stuffing box, but because the water appears over time after the engine is shut down, etc. it does not seem to be the cause.
Kent

[Administrator]

Leak in the water lift muffler or any of the hoses?

Leak around the rudder post?

Do you have a pressurized fresh water system?

Any association with weather, or with washdowns? (Sabres are notorious for cracked deck drains, for example)

This is a major league amount of water. Does the "two to five" become "four to ten" after a week, or does that seem like the amount which drains out of something before it runs dry?

Bill

[HerbertFriedman]

Keel bolts??

[kent]

Still a Puzzle

Hi,
I've checked out some of the ideas suggested here regarding my water build up in the bilge.
Here's what I've learned so far:
The bilge remains dry when the engine is not run.
It remains dry in the summer when their is no rain.
Flooding the decks with hose water produces only a small amount of water within the boat. (paper towel wipe up amounts not close to bilge filling)
The bilge fills after the engine has been run, even through on engine shut down the bilge has been pumped dry and the through hull valve is shut.
Water can be seen dripping from the back of the water pump while the engine runs and continues dripping after shut down.
The boat is a 1965 Pearson Ariel.
It does not have a water lift muffler.
It does not have a pressurized fresh water system.
The two to five gallon estimate of water in the bilge has not been exceeded.

The boat is about an hour away so I don't get there every week. I'm going down this afternoon however and will see the effect of last weeks hour plus long motoring.

I will pump the bilge dry, then open the through hull and start the engine, running it only briefly to ensure through put of water. Then I'll shut it down, close the through hull, pump the bilge dry and try to trace any drips.
I'm clearly getting more than the couple the quarts from the engine that Don mentioned.

[MikeB.330]

Water should not be dripping from the back of the water pump. I'm sure you know that but figured I'd mention it just the same. Saltwater leaking will kill your lovely A4 in short order. Think of it like an electric motor, you don't want to let the magic smoke out. Leaking Salt water will destroy the block or it's major castings. Fix it quick! Don't ask me how I know.

Mike

[kent]

Mystery Leak Follow up

A week after motoring for about an hour, I measured the amount of water in the bilge and found that almost exactly 12 gal. accumulated.

Yesterday, I got access to the aft portion of the bilge, so that I could check dripping from the stuffing box. I found that the drip rate, twenty four hours after the engine had been run, was about 90 drops per minute--with the engine running in forward also about 90 drops a minute--with the engine running in reverse about 120 drops per minute.

There is no standard size for a drop, but 20 to 40 per teaspoon is sometimes used. The 90 drops per minute then result in between 8.4 and 4.2 gal. per day potentially leaking into the bilge from the stuff box.
That combined with the leaking from the water pump area while the engine runs, and for a while after, pretty much explains what is happening.

Fortunately, when the engine has not been run the bilge stays fairly dry. But, I've now got a couple more projects.

Thanks to all for comments and suggestions.
Kent

[MikeB.330]

interesting....

Before you ran the engine was the stuffing gland dripping at 90 drips per minute? Or does it slow down after 24 hours.

Before I switched over to a dripless stuffing box The gland would weep about 40 to 60 drops per minute. I can't say that I ever remember having to pump the bilge over the winter months. Unless we have a huge rain or snow storm I don't really check on the boat. I have a fear of falling into the freezing water along and dieing. Not a big fear but it's on my mind.hehehe

I wonder how many drops would evaporate in a 24 hour period?