Beta Marine 20hp - Coolant tap not working

[Oldgeezer]

I have a new Beta Marine 20hp with 27hrs use on the clock - although its been laid up for the last 18 months. An impeller blade has dissapeared so I need to drain the coolant and look for it in the heat exchanger.

I opened the coolant drain tap with the flller cap removed - but not a drop came out! (there's plenty in there - I can see it).

Anyone else had this or have I missed something? Any other way to get the coolant out?

Many thanks for any help.

Keith

 

[Pye_End]

The vane is probably in the heat exchanger, which you can dismantle without draining the system.

As for the drain problem - it seems fairly common. See http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=261054 for example.

 

[PetiteFleur]

The vane is probably in the heat exchanger, which you can dismantle without draining the system.

As for the drain problem - it seems fairly common. See http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=261054 for example.

Agree - on my 25HP Beta the vane + debris was in the end of the heat exchanger(aft end). I also could not drain via the tap.

 

[Pye_End]

Agree - on my 25HP Beta the vane + debris was in the end of the heat exchanger(aft end). I also could not drain via the tap.

So did you manage to drain it in the end, or do you still have the original water?

 

[Oldgeezer]

Thanks for feedback

Looks like I'm going to have to stick a wire in it...etc. - dismantling the heat exchanger without draining the coolant is going to be a messy alternative I think.

At least I'm not alone ! Thanks for replies

Keith

 

[Gumpy]

Looks like I'm going to have to stick a wire in it...etc. - dismantling the heat exchanger without draining the coolant is going to be a messy alternative I think.

At least I'm not alone ! Thanks for replies

Keith

I did mine without just removed the end cap and removed the bits
The core stayed in place and no leaks some bits were still in the pipework and that caught me out later.

 

[Pye_End]

Looks like I'm going to have to stick a wire in it...etc. - dismantling the heat exchanger without draining the coolant is going to be a messy alternative I think.

At least I'm not alone ! Thanks for replies

Keith

Getting the coolant to below the level of the stack is fairly easy, and does not not require very much liquid to be removed. Just stick a plastic pipe in from the filler and suck, or use an oil extraction pump. I have removed the stack 2 or 3 times (Beta recommend you do it every year), but I have never managed to drain the whole system.

 

[30boat]

The same happened on my Beta.I removed the tap,poked a wire into the pipe and refitted.The whole thing is a bit marginal.

 

[rob2]

You could look on draining the system as an opportunity to wash out the bilges... Suggest you do your oil change first so as to kill two birds with the one stone.

In my wilder moments (get a life!) I wonder if I could adapt a sink plunger to dislodge the sludge?

Rob.

 

[TrueBlue]

My 2 1/4l Beta has the same problem, so probably a design challenge. A poke with bit of wire improves things for me.

How's this for a suggestion:-

Mine has a tap assembly screwed into the block. It occurs to me, that if you remove the tap (mine has a hex on it), the resultant hole should give you more scope to insert a larger lump of wire and wiggle it around?

Logically, the hole should be at the lowest point of the cooling jacket and if so 'twould make an ideal place for crud to accumulate - including loose bits from the manufacturing process, as there would be little circulation at that point.

 

[LittleSister]

Getting the coolant to below the level of the stack is fairly easy, and does not not require very much liquid to be removed. Just stick a plastic pipe in from the filler and suck, or use an oil extraction pump.

I didn't attempt to drain the system, but just syphoned out as Pye End has suggested when I cleaned out the heat exchanger stack. I drained it as low as I could get the tubing vertically down from the filler cap into a plastic bottle (about 3/4 of a pint came out, I'd guess?). When I removed the stack I did have a little bit of coolant dribble out of the back, as the engine is tilted back at an angle. Next time I'll try to get the tubing to the bottom of the back of the chamber under the filler.

I fit a new impellor every year in a (so far successful) attempt to avoid it ever disintegrating (partly to avoid the hassle of fishing the bits out, but mainly as it might go at a very inconvenient time).

 

[Scomber]

beta coolant drain

same problem on our new beta 25- after 1 season i wanted to clean tube stack (now intend to do annually quite a bit of crud inside)
had to poke about with a bit of wire to get drain tap to work so now intend to keep it free-it's easier to remove stack if coolant dropped to below stack height-good idea to replace impellor every yr me thinks ---are these impellors prone to lose bits more easily nowadays ?

 

[Wakatere]

My BZ482 (14HP) was a pig to drain as well. After lots of poking with wire, blowing with the dinghy pump etc I went home leaving the plug out (mine doesn't have a tap). A week later there was moisture around the drain but still no real progress.

Replaced drain plug, sloshed in some Halfords radiator flush gunk, ran it for a few minutes, took the plug out and was surprised by a gush of warm coolant. Bilge was a funny colour, but the engine was drained.

This may just be luck, of course.

 

[Pye_End]

My BZ482 (14HP) was a pig to drain as well.

How did you solve the problem of the airlock, or whatever it was, in the end?

 

[Wakatere]

Ran it on idle with the pressure cap off.

My conclusion was that with the cap on, the trapped air couldn't change volume, but unpressurised it was free to expand and once it had started bubbling out it cleared itself.

Runs under load with no problem now.

 

[roger]

Vane might be in pipe

I managed to break off a vane on my 20HP Beta. The vane never made it to the heat exchanger. I did find it a season later in the pump housing to my surprise. I think it had been hiding in the bent copper pipe between pump and heat exchanger. Because of its shape it is very difficult to examine properly.

 

[Oldgeezer]

Update - job done

Just to close the thread with end result.

I removed the wasting anode to let the residual raw water run out of the heat exchanger. (I have an anti-syphon valve between pump and heat exchanger). Undid the bolt on the aft end of the heat exchanger - did not bother to drain the coolant. The impeller bit fell out along with gunge.

No coolant leaked out so very easy.

Thanks to all who replied.

Keith