Help please! Our engine bay is full of smoke and our engine has stalled.

[Parahandy]

56 minutes ago, Slim said:

Because the alternator belt also drives the water pump . No belt = no water pump, no water pump = overheating, overheating = seized engine. Worst scenario .

I get the feeling Slim that his maintenance schedule has gone a bit awry , in fact the poster freely admits this . I am interested in what the poster found when he checked the Header Tank , not a lot of water is my guess

[WotEver]

5 minutes ago, Parahandy said:

I get the feeling Slim that his maintenance schedule has gone a bit awry , in fact the poster freely admits this

I thought that when he mentioned that the dipstick has no markings on it.  How then has he accomplished his regular oil changes?

[mrsmelly]

9 minutes ago, WotEver said:

Yeah, and the bellows ones, being thin, used to fail much faster.

Yep how things have changed. we used to check everything under the bonnet weekly and always somett to do lol. My old Japanese cars I only lift the bonnet every couple of months or so to put water int washer bottle and nowt else needs doing for many thousands of miles lol.

[WotEver]

Just now, mrsmelly said:

Yep how things have changed. we used to check everything under the bonnet weekly and always somett to do lol. My old Japanese cars I only lift the bonnet every couple of months or so to put water int washer bottle and nowt else needs doing for many thousands of miles lol.

Yup. I looked under the bonnet searching for the battery on SWMBO's car and eventually had to read the user manual to find it behind a panel behind the rear seats. That was about the third time I've ever had to lift the bonnet.

[Tony Brooks]

49 minutes ago, MartynG said:

Must be a blanking plug ?

I assume its blanked but what that pipe looking thing in the upper end is  have no idea. It looks like an open pipe stub.

[Ex Brummie]

Aren't there also core plugs on the BMC's? I seem to recall a boat on our moorings that had a 1.5 with core plug failure. Also we 'helped' a boater whose boat stopped in similar circumstances, and his oil that was checked 3 hours previous had totally disappeared. There was no oil in the bilge. We came to the conclusion that what he had checked was a mixture of oil and diesel, and when it got hot enough, the diesel burnt off.

[Bod]

4 hours ago, Tasemu said:

Alternator belt looks in-tact. smoke has cleared. Still a bit too hot to touch, but i'm going to check the coolant level in a minute after it cools a bit more. Should the coolant header tank on the engine have a decent amount of water in it? Say, half full?

4th photo, shows brown staining on side of crank case, below head gasket level, fairly fresh by the colour.

                  Thermostat housing, and alternator show fresh oil splatter, timing cover oil seal damage?

Engine in dire need of expert help.  DO NOT start till it has been assessed by someone who knows these engines.

 

Bod

[Tony Brooks]

Paint on the front of the head and rocker cover looks its been over hot as well.

 

Oil drain pump looks as if its just hanging on a skin tank pipe so if its on a hose the hose may have degraded and be leaking.

[Parahandy]

Incredibly still no update from the OP , he has probably started an argument with the Mrs over who last topped up the water and came of second best . Many of us have made that mistake  ?

[WotEver]

3 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

Oil drain pump looks as if its just hanging on a skin tank pipe so if its on a hose the hose may have degraded and be leaking.

Good spot

[Slim]

I'n now viewing on tablet which gives clearer pictures than laptop. Can now see the oil in the starboard engine bilge. No obvious reason for oil in that bilge, water yes (cruiser stern) but not oil. How did it get there?

[Parahandy]

1 minute ago, Slim said:

I'n now viewing on tablet which gives clearer pictures than laptop. Can now see the oil in the starboard engine bilge. No obvious reason for oil in that bilge, water yes (cruiser stern) but not oil. How did it get there?

My guess is an amateur oil change , maybe even several amateur oil changes ?

[Tony Brooks]

4 minutes ago, Slim said:

I'n now viewing on tablet which gives clearer pictures than laptop. Can now see the oil in the starboard engine bilge. No obvious reason for oil in that bilge, water yes (cruiser stern) but not oil. How did it get there?

I can't see the rear plate of the engine drip tray and suspect there is not one so the drip tray runs the full length of the bilge. That puts stern gland drips into the drip tray and the amount of cleanish grease leaking out suggest it may leak. based on what I can see it would not surprise me if the drip tray has not over topped the engine beds on more than one occasion.

[zenataomm]

I'd like to know .......

When the engine originally stopped, did it just come to a rest as if someone had throttled it back and then it turned it off?

Or, did it suddenly slow with a metallic screeching sound before suddenly jamming?

 

 

[Parahandy]

All we have established is that after cooling down the Engine was starting again as normal , as far as the OP states it simply expired in a cloud of smoke which I think was probably steam

[Wanderer Vagabond]

11 minutes ago, zenataomm said:

I'd like to know .......

When the engine originally stopped, did it just come to a rest as if someone had throttled it back and then it turned it off?

Or, did it suddenly slow with a metallic screeching sound before suddenly jamming?

 

 

I would guess that if it had been the latter he would have been unable to re-start it.

[PeterF]

11 minutes ago, Parahandy said:

All we have established is that after cooling down the Engine was starting again as normal , as far as the OP states it simply expired in a cloud of smoke which I think was probably steam

A theoretical question, if there was a sudden rupture of a hose or ejection of a core plug creating a cloud of steam in the engine bay, could the steam then displace enough air that the combustion of the diesel in the engine was prevented, thus the engine stopped, which in such a case may occur before any overheating damage occurs. It would then be able to be restarted easily, although running like this will end in tears.

[zenataomm]

16 minutes ago, Wanderer Vagabond said:

I would guess that if it had been the latter he would have been unable to re-start it.

I have known an engine release its grip after cooling, and continue for another few months until oil consumption and a few other symptoms dictated a lift of the head so massed hordes could point at the scoring and suck teeth while scratching chins.

Bolinder hot bulb owners get in the habit of turning a stopped engine over to tdc to avoid a gripped piston in the morning.

[Parahandy]

16 minutes ago, PeterF said:

A theoretical question, if there was a sudden rupture of a hose or ejection of a core plug creating a cloud of steam in the engine bay, could the steam then displace enough air that the combustion of the diesel in the engine was prevented, thus the engine stopped, which in such a case may occur before any overheating damage occurs. It would then be able to be restarted easily, although running like this will end in tears.

I can only say that I had a core plug go on a Mitsubishi Thorneycroft engine and it didn't stop combustion at least not immediately , whether this is the case in all instances I honestly couldn't say . The way the OP has deserted the thread and the questions he asked beforehand leads me to think its a coolant issue that he has probably remedied by a simple top up , I totally agree with you that if there is an underlying issue then this will end in additional expenditure and possibly tears . Theres nothing worse than someone asking a question then disappearing , I genuinely hope everything has worked out for him .

[The Welsh Cruiser]

3 hours ago, Parahandy said:

I get the feeling Slim that his maintenance schedule has gone a bit awry , in fact the poster freely admits this . I am interested in what the poster found when he checked the Header Tank , not a lot of water is my guess

I'm not suggesting it's ideal but is it not the case that as long as there's some water in a header tank, it's enough?

[Parahandy]

1 minute ago, The Welsh Cruiser said:

I'm not suggesting it's ideal but is it not the case that as long as there's some water in a header tank, it's enough?

It would certainly run though for how long and how far is open to question especially if there are other issues , I was going to ask more about the skin tanks but unfortunately he disappeared 

[The Welsh Cruiser]

7 hours ago, Parahandy said:

It would certainly run though for how long and how far is open to question especially if there are other issues , I was going to ask more about the skin tanks but unfortunately he disappeared 

My thinking was that as long as there's some water/ coolant in the header tank at all times this ensures that the cooling system itself is always 100% full. The header tank is effectively a 'reserve' for the cooling system.

[Movin' on]

15 hours ago, Parahandy said:

Perhaps you want to get yourself a Book on simple mechanics because a little knowledge can save you a lot of money and hassle especially when it comes to the basics like oil and water .

Join RCR even now a good investment they will advise/come out........

[Tony Brooks]

8 hours ago, The Welsh Cruiser said:

I'm not suggesting it's ideal but is it not the case that as long as there's some water in a header tank, it's enough?

As long as the head is full of water its enough to prevent major damage - even if that water is boiling.  However just a head full of boiling water in a running engine will not last long.

[Tasemu]

14 hours ago, Slim said:

Sorry to bombard you with questions. Have you got a working oil pressure gauge and temp gauge (thinking ahead) 

 

Can you confirm that since the issue you have started the engine briefly. I AM NOT SUGGESTING THAT YOU DO SO AT THIS STAGE . apologies for caps not shouting just making a point

Yeah I have started the engine once since, and it started without complaint.

14 hours ago, Wanderer Vagabond said:

It's probably a dumb question (from me) but was the engine in gear when it stalled? Looking at your photos the stern gland looks a bit odd, but it may just be the photo.

Nope neutral