Urgent advice required

dj43

dj43

Well-Known Member
Joined
20 May 2009
Messages
734
Location
cambridge/Isle of Wight
Visit site
Just done engine checks , starboard engine oil grey, and level has increased approx 40mm, fresh water system ok no change in colour anti freeze looks the same and no lose of water, suspect sea water is getting in ,
Any advice on where and what to check and weather to drain oil , now or leave until further checks done.
Engines. Volvo Penta TAMB 122P-B
Engines have been running fine no increase or decrease in water temp or oil pressure, could this be an oil cooler leaking seawater into the oil , if so anyway of to check them apart from taking them out and pressure testing them
 
Last edited:
Someone will know much more than me,but my first guess would be the oil cooler/heat exchanger if that engine has one
 
change the oil, and before starting the engine again, take the impeller out of the water pump, then run the engine for a minute or so to push fresh clean oil through everything. Then try and find out whats happened. Fingers crossed something straightforward. The oil cooler on your engine seems to be sea water cooled - it has anodes in it.
(marinepartseurope diagrams) so hopefully just a strip down and new seals. Fingers crossed
 
Last edited:
Hmmm , not sure on this one.
Oilcooler is salt water cooled with max 3 psi on water flow side.
Oil pressure is gauge pressure so I'd expect a loss of oil level .
Sadly I'd gear yourself up for liner seals at that age, caused by liner corrosion.
Of course I m happy to be corrected but I'd be doing a cooling system test when engine is hot .
 
Read somewhere when considering a Cummins K something series from the 90,s ( the new York dust cart engine 15 L ) marinised ----they had cylinder liner seal issues .Not if but when !
A must test before buying was to test the other side ,some sort of kit to test the coolant for products of oil and combustion - products -+ seawater I think ?-this s waaaay before any gross symptoms like grey sludge in the oil .
Can,t remember the name of the kit but it DIY able and was £30 or so ??

May help differentiate oil cooler from linner seals ??
 
Last edited:
dj43 said:
Just done engine checks , starboard engine oil grey, and level has increased approx 40mm, fresh water system ok no change in colour anti freeze looks the same and no lose of water, suspect sea water is getting in ,
Any advice on where and what to check and weather to drain oil , now or leave until further checks done.
Engines. Volvo Penta TAMB 122P-D
Engines have been running fine no increase or decrease in water temp or oil pressure, could this be an oil cooler leaking seawater into the oil , if so anyway of to check them apart from taking them out and pressure testing them
Click to expand...
Drain soonest as the salt water will cause corrosion very quickly.
 
Thanks for all replys and advice, just finished draining seawater from engine, started to drain oil, pump broke , as we are in the channel Isles on holiday , not the best thing to happen ,least we are in a sheltered berth .
 
What an awful discovery to make whilst on your holiday cruise.

If you can cruise back on one engine then I would do so. Unless you can resolve precisely where it has come in it will re-enter. Have you tasted the water to confirm if it is fresh or seawater ?

I would for short term drain the engine then for temporary preservation overfill the engine with the cheapest oil you can find, or even use neat diesel, and disconnect the starter motor. Remove the injectors and pour oil into each cylinder then bar over slowly by hand.

I definitely would not attempt to restart the engine until the cause is established and resolved.

For a ~100 mile cruise back you want the engine either usable or treat your boat as a single engine slow cruiser.. Any seawater getting in there could wreck the engine is short order. If the weather is fair a cruise back at say 8 knots is not that unreasonable, and see if any raggies are going the same way so you know there is help available if you need it.

I have some further information I will PM to you.
 
superheat6k said:
What an awful discovery to make whilst on your holiday cruise.

If you can cruise back on one engine then I would do so. Unless you can resolve precisely where it has come in it will re-enter. Have you tasted the water to confirm if it is fresh or seawater ?

I would for short term drain the engine then for temporary preservation overfill the engine with the cheapest oil you can find, or even use neat diesel, and disconnect the starter motor. Remove the injectors and pour oil into each cylinder then bar over slowly by hand.

I definitely would not attempt to restart the engine until the cause is established and resolved.

For a ~100 mile cruise back you want the engine either usable or treat your boat as a single engine slow cruiser.. Any seawater getting in there could wreck the engine is short order. If the weather is fair a cruise back at say 8 knots is not that unreasonable, and see if any raggies are going the same way so you know there is help available if you need it.

I have some further information I will PM to you.
Click to expand...

Thanks Trevor for the advice, and PM .
Going to carry out a full drain of oil and top up tomorrow if can find any ware that's open, must places shut Sunday here,
 
It's sorted Richard, fortunately it was not a serious fault, relatively easily resolved and no implications for the engine long term.. the best of outcomes in a potentially serious situation.. phew
 
Apologies for slow response still on holiday ,
as oGaryo has mentioned all turned out ok ,cause was a water pump seal , after engine shut down, oil pressure dropped and water trickled into the sump, big thanks to Bandit of this parish and his company, Marine and General engineers , who came out Sunday with new oil and suction pump so was able to change oil straight away, engineer on boat first thing Monday water pump removed tested new seals fitted , just to be on safe side had other pump checked and new seals fitted as well , engine flushed several more times with new oil and filters ,we have now completed 20hrs since pump rebuild and all working as it should,

No connection with above company, other than a very happy custermer and have no hesitation recommending them ,

And thanks again for all the advice and offers of help we received from the members of this forum ,
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top