engine underwater

[boatgoball]

any ideas?

[Sir Nibble]

What engine? how high up did the water get?

[Guest]

Obviously pump out, and try and stop the leak: cling film works as a temporary fix I am led to believe. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO START ENGINE until you are certain that there is no water in the cylinders, or you could bend the rods. Likely as not you will need to change the oil and filters, and dry electrics out includng starter and alternator with copious amonuts of WD40. I am sure others will have further suggestions.

[John Orentas]

Come on Boatgo.

 

Time is money tell us more, all that Catty asked and more.

 

No time to loose.

[denboy]

does it need re packing ??

[denkirk]

does it need re packing ??

As the previous members say be careful before you restart the engine in case there's water in the cylinders, dry everything out thoroughly that's been underwater. If the stern gland leaks you can try to fill the grease gland and then tighten the gland itself by loosening the locking nut and tightening the gland pressure plate by a half turn, it's only to stop further water ingress and may or may not work with the stern tube in rotation. Don't overtighten or you'll get overheating at the gland. It's difficult to explain all this but easy to do once you've seen it done, repacking the stern gland will mean taking the boat out of the water or dry docking. When you work on the stern gland check the cutlass bearing for wear as well, once done you'll be maintenance free for a few years providing you keep the grease in the gland topped up or you fit one of the greaseless ('Volvo' I think they are) stern glands. All this may sound dire and dreadful but really it's not that much of a job providing you don't bend a con' rod or warp the cylinder head by trying to start it with water in the engine.

 

Denis.

[Keeping Up]

repacking the stern gland will mean taking the boat out of the water or dry docking

 

Not necessarily (see Tony Brooks' notes)

[denboy]

drydocking to repack is not necessary if the stern tube is u/s you can change that in the water as well as long as its possible to pull the propshaft inboard

[David Schweizer]

....repacking the stern gland will mean taking the boat out of the water or dry docking. ....

It may depend on the type of sterngland you have, but Jonathon Hewitt at U.C.C. in Braunston removed all the old packing and repacked the stern gland on my boat whilst it was still in the water, it took him less than an hour.

[Teadaemon]

It may depend on the type of sterngland you have, but Jonathon Hewitt at U.C.C. in Braunston removed all the old packing and repacked the stern gland on my boat whilst it was still in the water, it took him less than an hour.

 

I'm guessing he's done a fair few of them in his time and knows what to expect.

 

Re-packing a stern gland isn't difficult, but if it's the first time you've ever done it it can be a bit fiddly, and I'm guessing that most people attempting it for the first time would prefer it not to be a race to get the job done properly before the boat sinks.

[jollyroger]

I'm guessing he's done a fair few of them in his time and knows what to expect.

 

Re-packing a stern gland isn't difficult, but if it's the first time you've ever done it it can be a bit fiddly, and I'm guessing that most people attempting it for the first time would prefer it not to be a race to get the job done properly before the boat sinks.

If you make sure your bilge pump is working you will be able to get rid of the water before you sink

[John Orentas]

If Boatgo's boat is sinking as result of a badly worn stern tube and the consequent leakage through the gland, it is the result of at least a week's leakage, if things are in reasonable condition the process would take several weeks before the boat was in jeopardy.

 

Of course you can re-pack your stern gland with the boat in the water you will never get more than a fast trickle even without any packing at all.

 

It is most important to maintain your stern tube properly and very reckless to rely in any way on a bilge pump working reliably over the longer term.

 

The vast majority of boat sinking's are caused by foolish people not re-fitting the weed hatch correctly or failing to keep the seals and/or gaskets in good order.

 

I am very surprised that Boatgo seems to have disappeared, his original post gave the impression that his engine was in danger of swamping, had that been the case he should be acting very urgently to save his engine.

Edited October 19, 2007 by John Orentas

[Guest]

If Boatgo's boat is sinking as result of a badly worn stern tube and the consequent leakage through the gland, it is the result of at least a week's leakage, if things are in reasonable condition the process would take several weeks before the boat was in jeopardy.

 

Of course you can re-pack your stern gland with the boat in the water you will never get more than a fast trickle even without any packing at all.

 

It is most important to maintain your stern tube properly and very reckless to rely in any way on a bilge pump working reliably over the longer term.

 

The vast majority of boat sinking's are caused by foolish people not re-fitting the weed hatch correctly or failing to keep the seals and/or gaskets in good order.

 

I am very surprised that Boatgo seems to have disappeared, his original post gave the impression that his engine was in danger of swamping, had that been the case he should be acting very urgently to save his engine.

Perhaps he is furiously bailing out as we speak. The best bilge pump: A frightened man with a bucket.

[blackrose]

Does a flooded engine bay mean a boat will always sink? I'm pretty sure that mine would be able to flood up to the height of the counter without the boat sinking because there is a watertight bulkhead between the engine and the rest of the boat and all penetrations are above that height. I'm pretty confident that even with the extra weight of the flood water the boat would stay afloat. Also everyone seems to be assuming that boatgo's sterngland is packed in the conventional way and grease lubricated. Mine has a water lubricated sterngland which has no packing.

 

He needs to provide a bit more info.

Edited October 19, 2007 by blackrose

[Guest]

Does a flooded engine bay mean a boat will always sink? I'm pretty sure that mine would be able to flood up to the height of the counter without the boat sinking because there is a watertight bulkhead between the engine and the rest of the boat and all penetrations are above that height. I'm pretty confident that even with the extra weight of the flood water the boat would stay afloat. Also everyone seems to be assuming that boatgo's sterngland is packed in the conventional way and grease lubricated. Mine has a water lubricated sterngland without packing.

 

He needs to provide a bit more info.

Is that a Vetus one like ours?

I think it depends on the particular boat as to whether it woudl stay afloat. I remember one on our mooring, possibly a Springer, where the engine bay became flooded, and whilst the stern of the boat was low in the water, the cabin remained dry. A pure guess based upon nothing, but I think a longer boat may be less likely to sink, given that there was a watertight bulkhead. I would happily stand corrected on this.

[granddad]

My stuffing box stern gland has 3 turns of ptfe rope in it. It was changed last year. It started to leak and give one bucket per hour whilst steaming. I tightened it up each 17 mm nut to 8 foot pounds (that jam jar tight) each nut. I mustn't stop the drips as the makers say its required to water lubricate the gland. I pump grease in say one turn per 2 hours (when I remember).

How often do you tighten up your stern gland and how hard? any rule of thumb?

ken

[RLWP]

My stuffing box stern gland has 3 turns of ptfe rope in it. It was changed last year. It started to leak and give one bucket per hour whilst steaming. I tightened it up each 17 mm nut to 8 foot pounds (that jam jar tight) each nut. I mustn't stop the drips as the makers say its required to water lubricate the gland. I pump grease in say one turn per 2 hours (when I remember).

How often do you tighten up your stern gland and how hard? any rule of thumb?

ken

 

This won't help.

 

We have never tightened the gland nuts, or replaced the packing on Tawny Owl in seven years. I assume it has graphited packing rather than PTFE, and I usually grease the stern gland once a day - at the end of cruising to put some grease around the shaft and stop water running in while the boat is standing

 

Richard

[sociable_hermit]

I normally do quite long days on the move - 10 hours or more isn't unusual. My boat is a modern trad with a boxed-in but reasonably well ventilated engine at the stern, so it does get quite hot, which makes the grease in the gland thinner. In addition it's a 3 cylinder lump and I think even with a flexible coupling that still transfers some vibration to the stern gland.

 

At normal canal revs (1100 - 1800 rpm) I have to give the greaser a twist every 3 or 4 hours when on the move, and I check the stern gland nuts half way through each week. They probably need pinching up two or three times a year but then i don't really do that much boating. In actual fact I think I'm simply restoring them to where they were before, normally with about 1/4 turn, as even with Nyloc locking nuts they seem to gradually undo.

 

On River sections where I might be doing 2200 rpm I always check the stern gland nuts and give the greaser a twist before going onto the River, and again in the lock where we leave. I also turn on the bilge pump every half an hour or so, just for a quick 30 second burst. On one trip up the Soar and onto the Trent where I failed to do this we arrived at Derwent Mouth lock with the stern gland bilge (6" deep) completely full and with water sloshing into the engine bilge. Normally the most I end up with is an inch or two of water, which I'm happy with.

[NB Willawaw]

Why don't you fit a float or solid state switch in your bilge - it would switch your pump on automatically then if the water level rose and you forgot to manually switch on the bilge pump ??

 

I also turn on the bilge pump every half an hour or so, just for a quick 30 second burst. On one trip up the Soar and onto the Trent where I failed to do this we arrived at Derwent Mouth lock with the stern gland bilge (6" deep) completely full and with water sloshing into the engine bilge. Normally the most I end up with is an inch or two of water, which I'm happy with.

Edited June 13, 2011 by NB Willawaw