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Smoke/steam BMC 1.5 engine


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Hi there,

 

I’ve noticed that white smoke is filling the engine room and bay 1 hour after starting the engine. Not sure what this may be. Might you have an ideal? Potentially unburnt diesel, a leak somewhere. There is a smell of diesel with the steam too. Happened twice now. Scared to turn engine now but need to charge the batteries. What would you do in this instance?

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Sounds like it might be the engine overheating and the white stuff is steam, the diesel smell is a "hot engine" smell.

 

Check water level, then run engine with deck up and watch where the steam is coming from.

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55 minutes ago, wandering said:

Rookie error. I’ll check. What am I looking for? Is it the same as a car?

 

Only sort of. If it is an old GRP cruiser or really old narrow boat it may pump canal water through the engine and out of the exhaust. You won't find a coolant (water) filler on those. More likely it is skin tank cooled where there is a car type radiator cap in along rectangular "tank" (exhaust manifold) on the left (port) side of the engine. As said, never open this when the engine is hot.

 

An older boat might have the "tank" with the filler cap transversely across the front of the engine. If it has, then it is likely to have a second water pump that pumps canal water around. A boat with the "tank" alongside the engine might also have a second pump.

 

If there are a pair of (say) 1.5" plus diameter hoses running between the engine and the "side" of the boat or possibly into the "bottom" then it is tank cooled with one pump.

 

Fill the "tank" to the brim and replace the cap. Run up to temperature and allow to cool. take the cap off and note level. This will be the top-up level, do not overfill, or it will always expel some coolant as it is heated.

 

1.5filler.jpg.714f77025ce16bfcb0709333730635c5.jpg

 

 

Steam is the most likely explanation, but it is worth noting that the 1.5 vents crankcase fumes into the air cleaner, but on worn engines that hose is often removed, so there is always the possibility it is crankcase fumes, but that suggest a very worn engine or an overfilled sump, possibly caused by diesel fuel leaking into the sump.

Edited by Tony Brooks
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2 hours ago, Tony Brooks said:

Only sort of. If it is an old GRP cruiser or really old narrow boat it may pump canal water through the engine and out of the exhaust. You won't find a coolant (water) filler on those. More likely it is skin tank cooled where there is a car type radiator cap in along rectangular "tank" (exhaust manifold) on the left (port) side of the engine. As said, never open this when the engine is hot.

 

An older boat might have the "tank" with the filler cap transversely across the front of the engine. If it has, then it is likely to have a second water pump that pumps canal water around. A boat with the "tank" alongside the engine might also have a second pump.

 

If there are a pair of (say) 1.5" plus diameter hoses running between the engine and the "side" of the boat or possibly into the "bottom" then it is tank cooled with one pump.

Some general photos of your engine and engine bay will help to confirm which of these possible configurations you have.

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3 hours ago, wandering said:

What would you do in this instance?

 

I'd decamp to my other boat.  Hope that helps...

 

But I doubt it does.

 

Mention where you are and some member or other might come out and have a look.

 

 

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A temp gauge would be useful, they are not very expensive and not difficult to wire up. Definitely check the coolant level first though. My feelings are that this is likely to be steam and it is taking an hour to overheat and show itself. If it is steam the likely causes are water pump belts on the front of the engine, if you have a separate pump as well then the rubber impeller might be at fault, leaking or blown off hose, if you have had to put a lot of coolant in it recently then it may be airlocked, finally head gasket but I would find the cause before running it for more than a few minutes.

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Some context for the situation.

 

I had the engine serviced about three weeks ago at a marina before leaving.  There they mentioned a leak but could not proceed with the service until this problem had been resolved. It was no longer a regular engine service at this point. 

 

The Marina tried to refurbish the injectors but they were eventually replaced all four of them. 

 

During the service the some of black liquid was vacuumed out from the bottom of the engine bay. It has since replenished indicating a leak somewhere. 

 

About two days ago I noticed lots of fumes from the engine bay after running the engine to top up the batteries daily without issue. I turned the engine off at this point and went to bed. I should mention I hadn’t added or done anything to the engine at this point. 

 

The next day I ran the engine for about an hour and noticed the smoke. I phoned the marina and I was told it was possible unburnt diesel and I should try to find the leak. Today I ran the engine and tried to identify where this leak may be coming from. Didn’t really get anywhere and about an hour in I noticed the smoke again and the engine bay was very hot. There is black liquid accumulating in the engine bay and I do not know where it could be from. 

 

I’ll attach a picture of the engine and from where I saw the smoke emanating. In the picture the area between the two rectangle bits with screw top. Where that black wire is going, that is where the smoke was coming from. Or steam. Today it felt more like paraffin steam more 

than smoke. 

D8399CA2-1A11-443A-A35E-C3E063575189.jpeg

Edited by wandering
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15 minutes ago, David Mack said:

Looks to me as if the water pump drive belt is missing, so the engine will be overheating.

Perhaps I'm being dense, but I'm not seeing a missing belt.

 

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Steam is invisible so it can't be that. It might be hot water vapour or hot oil fumes. There looks like an oil leak towards the rear of the valve rocker cover that's dribbled onto the cylinder head which will cause hot oily fumes vapour, probably needs new gasket, a fairly common trait with these engines especially if it has the old cork gasket

Edited by bizzard
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11 minutes ago, alan_fincher said:

Perhaps I'm being dense, but I'm not seeing a missing belt.

 

I thought the alternator belt passed beneath the water pump pulley, but looking at an enlarged view of the photo there may be a single belt for both.

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No, I can see the belt, but the "nose" on the water pump pulley has been rubbed so it looks like a belt may be missing.  I think the photo suggests that the belt might be loose and also that the water pump and alternator pulley might not be in line, if so that would wear and loosen the belt.

 

For Wandering.

 

That looks like a dry exhaust tank cooled engine, so you check or top up the coolant level by removing the old car style radiator cap. Note my filling advice above.

 

I don't think it has been overheating because there are no rusty water stains around the filler.

 

I also can not see any signs of a diesel leak.

 

 

35 minutes ago, wandering said:

During the service the some of black liquid was vacuumed out from the bottom of the engine bay. It has since replenished indicating a leak somewhere.

 

I don't like the sound of that because the only "black liquid" would be an engine oil leak so check the oil level and make sure it is between the two marks on the dipstick. It could be water or coolant with old oil floating on the surface, I hope it is. If it is a diesel leak it would dilute any old oil in the drip tray so it feels far thinner and runnier that the oil in the engine. Try smelling and rubbing between your fingers some engine oil and then the black liquid. That may indicate what it is.

 

 

I think that you need to ensure the coolant and oil levels are correct and then run for an hour or so with the engine exposed while you look for the source of this "smoke" or steam, then when you have found it come back to us.

 

If the rocker cover was taken off then there is every possibility that it's gasket has not been fitted correctly on the side nearest the coolant filler. If this is the case oil will leak and could easily drop onto the very hot exhaust "stubs" on the manifold. If so that would really smoke once everything is hot.

 

We need to know where this "smoke" is coming from.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10 minutes ago, David Mack said:

I thought the alternator belt passed beneath the water pump pulley, but looking at an enlarged view of the photo there may be a single belt for both.

 

Just a single belt for the alternator and water pump. On heat exchanger or direct raw water cooled engines there is another belt but way lower down and extending to the opposite side of the engine.

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1 minute ago, bizzard said:

Looks like the busted off top of a colant temp gauge sender just above the front of the alternator.

 

Yes, but no signs of a leak, so we can assume that the OP does not have a working temperature gauge. He will need an infrared thermometer on the thermostat housing etc. to get the temperature.

 

I agree about the potential oil leak but not that the cylinder head itself would make much smoke (unlike the exhaust stubs) but it does suggest the gasket has been incorrectly fitted. If the OP feels he is capable I think it is new gasket time, but this time stick it to the rocker cover with silicon, so it stays in place while being fitted.

 

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2 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

 

Yes, but no signs of a leak, so we can assume that the OP does not have a working temperature gauge. He will need an infrared thermometer on the thermostat housing etc. to get the temperature.

 

I agree about the potential oil leak but not that the cylinder head itself would make much smoke (unlike the exhaust stubs) but it does suggest the gasket has been incorrectly fitted. If the OP feels he is capable I think it is new gasket time, but this time stick it to the rocker cover with silicon, so it stays in place while being fitted.

 

As the engine is probably canted a little downwards at it's stern end I bet oil has dribbled down the back of the engine too. Looks messy under that fuel filter mount.

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Just now, Alan de Enfield said:

 

'Coolant' is water circulating around the engine & which will normally have 30%-50% antifreeze added.

 

Antifreeze is Antifreeze.

Ok thanks. So I should add water and antifreeze. One third to half. How do you know what percentage? Is it weather dependent?) 

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12 minutes ago, wandering said:

Does coolant also go by antifreeze?

 

A6247BCF-96A5-4227-B06C-202E43F04079.jpeg

Coolant is the mixture of antifreeze and water. That can is concentrate so needs diluting with water. Read instructions on it. 60%water 40% antifreeze would be about right.

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Not related to your current problems I think,but I notice Morris RingFree VS Plus 10W-40 oil in your post above.

 

If this is being used in the engine I would say it is a particularly poor choice.

 

That oil is designed for high performance turbocharged engines, and certainly not for vintage "clunkers" like the BMC.

 

What is actually needed is something like Morris Classic  Marine oil specifically blended for the low technology of something like a BMC B series engine.

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