[C38] Water Heater Plumbing

[david at dlrfilms.com]

My engine appears to be a bit of a frankenstein's monster, and I'm not
sure if I have the butterfly valve, but I will be looking for it this
afternoon when I go though the below procedure! Also, for clarity, I wan't
talking about the raw water impeller, but the impeller on the
recirculating pump. But having tried to open that up (it's glued shut with
all manner of sealant) and much more inclined to try the below procedure
first! I bet you've diagnosed the problem.

Thanks so much!

OTOH, we've come to regard our engine as completely unreliable which has
made us very handy under sail. You should have seen us in and out of Block
Island last week!




>  David,
>
> It does sound like your not getting all of the air out of the system.
> What you see by looking in after taking the cap off is the coolant which
> should be a 50/50 mix of antifreeze and water and is totally separate
> from the impeller.  Fill up the system with 50/50 and start it up let it
> run and keep an eye on the level as the antifreeze begins to circulate
> the level will drop sometimes making a burp or slurping sound.   Keep an
> eye on your temp. it will climb don't let it stay to long above 210,
> shut down the engine let it cool for a bit and start all over.   It can
> take several times doing this until the coolant is  full.  This doesn't
> mean that a bubble is not still in the system.  Put the cap on and start
> up the engine, you should have a butterfly bleed valve forward and
> starboard of the radiator cap crack this open after the engine has been
> running and it should vent lots of steam if there is a bubble inside.
> Close and wait then open this way you will get to a point that when you
> open it only antifreeze comes out, when this happens you have bled the
> engine of the air.  With the water heater in a takes a lot longer
> especially if you have removed the hoses and drained it.   The last time
> I did  this it took about 30-45 minutes.  This was after having removed
> the water heater for another project.
>
> Steve
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: listserve-bounces at catalina38.org
> [mailto:listserve-bounces at catalina38.org] On Behalf Of
> david at dlrfilms.com
> Sent: Thursday, August 20, 2009 7:13 AM
> To: Catalina 38 Listserve
> Subject: Re: [C38] Water Heater Plumbing
>
>
>> After years of chronic engine heating problems, I asked this C-38
>> forum for suggestions.
>
> I guess it's my turn.
>
> We had now heating problems when we bought the boat, but last Summer
> started to get overheat alarms.
>
> Simply cracking open the system to check this and that seemed to clear
> it, so I have (hopefully) deduced that it is an "air-lock" problem.
>
> But the overheats have gotten more frequent and are less reliably
> cleared by cracking open the system.
>
> Our most recent fix it to take the hot water heater out of the loop,
> which works, but I can still see the air-lock forming, but without the
> hot water heater in the system there seems to be enough circulation
> pressure to push past it.
>
> Because if the deteriorating nature of the problem I am wondering if the
> freshwater impellor might be damaged, but when I start the engine with
> the cap off the coolant tank, I can see (what appears to be) vigorous
> flow.
>
> It also seems like maybe the cap, which is spring-loaded and leads off
> to the overflow tank might not be working right. When the air-lock forms
> it pushes the coolant back down the tube, but my intuition is that this
> should function more like an air-release valve. But I'm not an engine
> guy in any way, so not knowing what it's supposed to do, I don't know
> whether or not it's working right.
>
> I'm half hoping the whole thing will overheat and seize so I can put in
> an electric drive.
>
> Help?
>
>
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