Possible cause of white smoke/steam from exhaust!

vyv_cox said:
I would think that opening the holes up a bit might well be a good idea. I cannot see that there is a negative aspect to this, as when the thermostat opens it simultaneously closes the bypass.
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Well, I managed to get the "poker" out today - and without removing the flywheel; hooray!

However, it had three quite large (~5mm) holes in it already, and had no salts clogging it at all. So now I 'm running out of ideas why the Bukh is steaming so much. I have checked the thermostat, and it operates at 60C, like it should.

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sgr143 said:
Well, I managed to get the "poker" out today - and without removing the flywheel; hooray!

However, it had three quite large (~5mm) holes in it already, and had no salts clogging it at all. So now I 'm running out of ideas why the Bukh is steaming so much. I have checked the thermostat, and it operates at 60C, like it should.

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Could the exit ports from the exhaust manifold to the elbow be restricted by rust/gunge? Anything that slows down water gives it more chance to get near boiling- long after it's been past the thermostat? I don't imagine the block getting hot enough - but the exhaust manifold might?
 
pagoda said:
Could the exit ports from the exhaust manifold to the elbow be restricted by rust/gunge? Anything that slows down water gives it more chance to get near boiling- long after it's been past the thermostat? I don't imagine the block getting hot enough - but the exhaust manifold might?
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I'll have a look. The outlet from the T'stat housing goes straight to the exhaust elbow through an external hose, and the water comes pretty vigorously spurting out of the exhaust, so it's not a strongly possible fault - but worth checking. Thanks!
 
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sgr143 said:
I'll have a look. The outlet from the T'stat housing goes straight to the exhaust elbow through an external hose, and the water comes pretty vigorously spurting out of the exhaust, so it's not a strongly possible fault - but worth checking. Thanks!
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I have also been getting steam/white smoke in the exhaust and like you I tried all kinds of investigation.

The only think I found is a small leak in the water cooled exhaust manifold before the water injection point, from the water jacket into the exhaust gas chamber and as the exhaust gas temperature will much above 100C this would cause the water to flash into steam.

Does the team think this could be a cause steam/white smoke to come out of the engine exhaust/cooling water outlet.
 
vyv_cox said:
Or the manifold itself. Like this?
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Finally got around to taking the manifold off for a look - it was completely clear of any blockages. I'd put Rydlyme through in early 2016, which may be why the bits I've looked at so far are all so clear; and I'd guess that the rest of the water channels in the engine are also free of deposits. Still doesn't explain the steaming though! Ho hum. I think I've now checked all that's easy to get at, and I'm happy that water's going round the engine OK, so I'll just live with it.

Incidentally - that "poker". Getting it out was OK-ish - but getting it back in.... ! I managed it eventually without taking the flywheel off, by a mixtue of dexterity, persistence and sheer luck, but it is one of the most awkward bolts I've put back on anything (and I fix up my own old motorcycles - Triumph in the 1960s were masters of what a friend called the "designer's bolt" - the one they draw into the blueprint which a muttered "that'll fix 'em".)

Steve
 
sgr143 said:
Finally got around to taking the manifold off for a look - it was completely clear of any blockages. I'd put Rydlyme through in early 2016, which may be why the bits I've looked at so far are all so clear; and I'd guess that the rest of the water channels in the engine are also free of deposits. Still doesn't explain the steaming though! Ho hum. I think I've now checked all that's easy to get at, and I'm happy that water's going round the engine OK, so I'll just live with it.



Steve
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You should check carefully the thermostat, in my Bukh 20 I found a car type which appears to work but due to the outer size difference fails to close off the bypass which reduces the cooling flow
 
I have a Perkins M90. For two years I had white smoke, or was it steam coming out of the exhaust, worse when the engine was hot or under load. The engine temperature was normal at 80 deg C.

I removed the head (twice!), fixed a small leak in the oil cooler , replaced the injectors on the advice of an "expert".

NONE of this solved the problem. But I noticed that the exhaust water was "splish splish splish" and not a full bodied "splosh splosh splosh"!!!!

I noticed a small box on the side of the gearbox through which the coolant water flowed.

I removed said gearbox cooler and opened it up. The pipes in and the one out were 60% BLOCKED by salt deposits!

Ayeeee, I have a reason for the STEAM! Whilst the raw water was sufficient to keep the engine at 80 degC it was not sufficient to cool the exhaust hence the steam.

Problem solved now... Very very frustrating but a good result in the end.

cheers,
 
Volvo Penta M2030 are based on Perkins: same sh**t gearbox cooler. Probably same stupid arrangement of pump halfway round the circuit not at the inlet. Overheated once too often and as pushing for safety into a head sea in bad weather reluctantly notified to coastguard in case it all went bad. Bought a yanmar and scrapped the perkins/volto piece of archaic (ie crap) engineering with glee.

However sounds like the OP has generally reasonable flow in block so it is just possible that steam is from exhaust cooling only, in which case provided the rubber and wire flexi exhaust pipe is not deteriorating due to heat, it may not matter
 
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