[C38] Overheat False Alarm

Sun Jun 5 15:33:33 EDT 2011

Our engines are bad about trapping air causing bubbles that can stop or hinder water circulation.

One way to purge the air out of our engines is to add two accessories to the engine, a remote reservoir and a power flush adapter in a water hose.

I installed a Prestone flush kit on my hot water hose going from the engine to the hot water heater.  I drained the old  coolant and discarded it in a legal place.  The toilets on the dock don't count as a legal dump site.

Continue to flush the system with city water until only clean, clear water is coming out of the engine pressure cap tube and drain cock.  At this point you should have burped all of the air in the engine.  

Open the drain cock with a hose attached and try to capture the water from the drain cock as you slowly top fill the pressure cap tube with new antifreeze.  Releasing water from the drain cock will make room for the new refrigerant and water.  A gallon of non diluted antifreeze should be sufficient for most small engines.  As you pour in the antifreeze, don't let the water level get much below  the top of the filler neck or you could introduce air into the system again. 

The expansion tank should help the engine self burp in the future.  I mounted my expansion tank on the starboard side of the engine near the fuel tank for easy service.

If you make the expansion tank upgrade and add the flush kit, you will have cleaned out the rust and weak additives in the old coolant with the fresh coolant.  Unless you have already done a good  clean out, you may be surprised at the mud that will come out of your engine in the old coolant.  Fresh coolant will also help lubricate the recirculation water pump which you really don't want to replace.  Those pumps must be made of gold, even the Kabota brand replacements are expen$ive.  The old rusty mud floating around in the coolant was abrasive and not good for the pump.

Tom Troncalli

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Richard West 
To: Larrypi at roadrunner.com;Catalina 38 Listserve
Sent: 6/5/2011 11:47:18 AM 
Subject: Re: [C38] Overheat False Alarm

Mine used to get air in the hoses to of from the water heater.  For some reason I don't really understand, this stopped the coolant from circulating in the engine.  It happened any time I had to disconnect those heater hoses for any reason.  The only solution I found was detaching one of the heater hoses and use a turkey baster to force coolant through the heater circuit.

RIch, Legacy, #360

On Sun, Jun 5, 2011 at 7:45 AM, Larry Malmberg <Larrypi at roadrunner.com> wrote:

I believe there is a small plug near the water pump that you can remove, add
coolant until it comes out, replace the plug, run the engine for a couple of
moments, remove the plug again and air will come out, keep doing until you
have no more air.  This is just from memory.

Best regards,

Larry Malmberg

7231 Boulder Avenue Suite 507
Highland, CA 92346 PI 15211
Telephone  909-208-1847
FAX           909-991-7568

E Mail  Larrypi at roadrunner.com

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-----Original Message-----
From: listserve-bounces at catalina38.org
[mailto:listserve-bounces at catalina38.org] On Behalf Of david at dlrfilms.com
Sent: Sunday, June 05, 2011 7:17 AM
To: listserve at catalina38.org
Subject: [C38] Overheat False Alarm

My engine is back to doing that thing where the temp gauge climbs, the alarm
goes off, but the engine itself is not even too hot to touch, and I can
stick my finger in the coolant without getting scalded.

This problem plagued our 2008 and 2009 Summer sailing, but wasn't too big a
concern because we never ran the engine for more than about 5-10 minutes.

Thought I had it licked before our passage to the Caribbean in Nov 2009, and
indeed, ran the motor for hours on end with no such problem.

But now it's back, and with the wind out of the SE, that means getting back
into the harbor is a long enough run to get the overheat false alarm.

IIRC, cracking the thermostat housing open would (usually) solve the
problem.

The other thing I notice is that coolent is not following through the
overflow tube to the reserve tank. It's not blocked; it seems like there's a
air bubble that's keeping the coolant from flowing.

I remember something about running the engine, and then adding more coolant
after it burps or some such. I have my manual and will re-read.

Meanwhile, any helpful hints are much appreciated.

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