Name that smoke.

[adey]

Hopefully the video is clear enough. The starboard side engine started smoking a few months ago. Haven't used it much since but it needs sorting. Doesn't seem to be using water or oil. Port side is fine.
Last year there was a fuel leak on that stb side engine, took me ages to find. Turned out to be an injector pipe that needed nipping up. Not sure if that's relevant.
Air filters are clean.
So, what to do first?
Engines are Vovlo TAMD61A (1990)

 

[Seastoke]

Hopefully the video is clear enough. The starboard side engine started smoking a few months ago. Haven't used it much since but it needs sorting. Doesn't seem to be using water or oil. Port side is fine.
Last year there was a fuel leak on that stb side engine, took me ages to find. Turned out to be an injector pipe that needed nipping up. Not sure if that's relevant.
Air filters are clean.
So, what to do first?
Engines are Vovlo TAMD61A (1990)

cant see any smoke well not very well

 

[andy59]

looks like steam to me , if you can dangle a frozen bottle of water in to it and it quickly gets condensation on it then that should confirm it . My previous boat ( F36 ) did it and my P42 does it in colder temps . If you mix a spray of cold water into hot exhaust gas what are you going to get :encouragement: . Could be worth checking exhaust elbow for restriction/corrosion if it gets worse .

 

[volvopaul]

That’s steam , and I’d guess you have a partially blocked exhaust elbow .

 

[jamie langstone]

Mine started being slighley smokey did not think much of it but slowly got worse. No loss of power no water loss or oil . My injectors and now in for repair as No.3 completly smashed in side injector and No. 5 had a crack in the injector tip. Worth getting them checked

 

[NormanB]

Looked as though it had a brownish tinge so could be unburned fuel.

 

[rafiki_]

Yep +1 for steam. I would follow VP’s advice. He knows these things!

 

[adey]

Thanks for replies. I guess I'll take the exhaust elbow off and see what's going on inside it.
They're not original elbows. They've been custom made in stainless, I'd guess about a decade ago.

 

[Mr Googler]

I get steam from the same engines in the winter...not in the summer.

Planning on rydelyme.....ing the whole system in the next few weeks so will see if it makes any odds.

Engine temps are fine but I have no egt temp monitoring so can’t be sure. Good house keeping anyway.

 

[volvopaul]

I get steam from the same engines in the winter...not in the summer.

Planning on rydelyme.....ing the whole system in the next few weeks so will see if it makes any odds.

Engine temps are fine but I have no egt temp monitoring so can’t be sure. Good house keeping anyway.

Doing the rydelime flush will help but it won’t destroy the weed build up that blocks the tubes , for a proper job you need to open up the coolers .

 

[longjohnsilver]

Agree with it being steam. I had a similar issue on mine, cleaned everything, also rydlymed it but still persisted. Discovered what it was when the tail of the stabiliser oil cooler fell off, it was almost completely blocked. So I suspect you've got something clogged up somewhere, just a matter of finding it!

 

[adey]

Ok, exhaust elbow off. All clear.

Intercoolers next. Silly question...I don't need to drain the coolant before taking the intercooler tops off, do I?

 

[jrudge]

I will watch with interest.

I had steam.

Acid clean and it got better but is still there.

It does not really bother me but i might have a little investigate!

I assumed the spray head to the exhaust was slightly blocked leading to less cooling water and more steam

 

[adey]

Intercooler looks clean.

Not looking so good is the impeller.

I don't have a new spare here so it'll have to wait until next time. I can't see anything else wrong to be honest.

 

[longjohnsilver]

Is that the inlet or outlet side of the intercooler? The inlet is the side that's most likely to get blocked. The impeller, whilst not great, is still intact so I don't see that as the main problem.

Another issue I had many years ago was a ball of weed stuck in the pipe between the seacock and filter. Backflushing with a dinghy pump solved that one!

 

[Portofino]

I would be looking @ the injector tips .
Runing hard with dirty sterngear leads to excess EGT ,s the tips burn a bit and start to loose the so called ideal spray pattern - some unburnt fuel gets through and mimics the white smoke , only just .

 

[adey]

Finally think I've found the cause

Under that lot somewhere is the water pickup for the engine. Won't know for sure until it's antifouled and back in but it seems the most likely explanation.

 

[Mike k]

I had similar and it was the sea water strainer- looking through the clear lid showed nothing amiss but on removal the basket ( at point of water exit) had a fine and therefore restrictive amount of brownish 'stuff' on the mesh. I now clean it every few trips out