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Old 06-08-2020, 07:22 AM
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Seized and broken valves from hot exhaust issue.

The Long Story

I'm writing this up as it might help someone some day. There were a few things that I didn’t know about this boat when this all started…a real good history of work done prior is so important.

Last Summer: I was brought a carburetor and rebuilt it in my garage. Obviously it had gotten water in it and the cause at the time was deemed to be from fuel contamination. Rebuilt the carb for the guy and gave it back to him. Few days later he calls me to ask if I can help with a fuel delivery issue. We check, fuel is good, so I double check the carb…can’t find anything wrong. Compression check shows no compression on no 1 on an reverse installed engine (so no1 is toward the stern of the boat). The head comes off and another guy sorts out the stuck valve. I come back from a weekend sail and put the head back on. Initially won’t start only to find that the fuel shut off valve was off instead of on as stated…sorted that out and it runs. Boat runs fine for a month or so and stalls as the owner drives it to the crane dock to be hoisted out for the winter. Engine is freshwater cooled, and so has it’s own enclosed antifreeze loop. The engine won’t start and he drew antifreeze through the raw water side by turning it over. I wasn’t aware any of this happened and he figured he’d sort through it at some point.

This spring I asked to clean up the carb again….I can’t do much with it as it was full of salt water all winter. One look and I tell him it’s full of salt water and ruined. So I make him a carb out of parts of rebuild kits we have and 3 old carbs. He brings it to the boat and tells me it won’t start. I go down and look and the plugs are dry and a couple of people wanting to help are thinking fuel issue, so am I initially. I take the carb home and made up another one besides…still nothing. We know the fuel is good and the pump is working. Compression test…NOTHING. So in this particular case there was fuel to the carb and turning over the engine showed no sign of fuel on the plugs. That is because there was no compression to atomize and draw the fuel into the combustion chamber. It is a common thing for people to stay focused on a fuel delivery issue when what you have is a compression issue.

No Compression on any cylinders. Off comes the head, no fooling around. One intake valve on No 4 is working…the rest are seized. I mix up 40% transmission fluid and 60% acetone and spray everything. I also find no1 exhaust valve broken. I contact Dave Neptune for advice and he calls 15 min later….I have a plan as Dave explains in 5 minutes what I need to do. I also spray everything with RustCheck and keep turning it over to lubricate all the valves well. Sprayed cylinders and noted rust coming off rings as well….but it got done .

Owner started taking off the exhaust manifold and side plate….I spray in there as well around the side plate. One look at the now visible hot exhaust I note there isn’t much of a rise on it. I look through the length of the compartment with a flashlight and think I have found the problem…exhaust design issue and there is no water lift muffler in there either.

I ask the owner when the hot exhaust was last done because it looks fairly new….early last summer was the answer. He had been on a European Vacation most of the summer so I put 2 and 2 together. Owner insists he made one the same as the one that came out of the boat…to which I answered “well , something is wrong here”. States it hasn’t had a water lift in the years he’s owned the boat. I tell him to make a new exhaust and show him what will be required to stop water from running back into that engine….he starts and does it.

We wait for new head gaskets and a valve that didn’t arrive that quickly so I pulled the head off a spare engine I have and got a valve. I had to have a very experience mechanic friend to remove the broken valve and install the one I took off an old engine. He worked with his arm stretched in along the side of the engine and with his finger tips worked blind to do the work…about an hour after subsequent tries…got it done.

We put the engine back together and tried her on the starter. I turned over about 30 times then vroom, fired up.. Blew a little bit of blue smoke, ran it about 10 seconds and shut it down. At this point we got a hose and bucket and set it up to draw water from the bucket. Changed the oil and started it and ran it for 10 minutes. Then shut it down and changed the oil again. Fired it up and ran it for about an hour as the new exhaust off gassed the oils etc on them (they were new). Put it all away.

The owner now has to clean up the inside and mess we made around there working the past week or so. She’s running and I think she’ll be OK.
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"Odyssey"
1976 C&C 30 MKI

The pessimist complains about the wind.
The optimist expects it to change.
The realist adjusts the sails.
...Sir William Arthur Ward.
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  #2   IP: 134.41.84.112
Old 06-08-2020, 04:28 PM
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Smile Launched, and started up.

Launched today. There were quite a few boats that didn't start today and had to be towed to their slips....Rick's boat wasn't one of them. She fired up and he drove her to her slip...
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"Odyssey"
1976 C&C 30 MKI

The pessimist complains about the wind.
The optimist expects it to change.
The realist adjusts the sails.
...Sir William Arthur Ward.
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