So Whats Happening

[AlanM6]

Took my boat out yesterday for the first time this year just for a couple of hours to make sure that everything was running ok after its winter lay up Did all of the usual checks befor setting off i.e oil, water ect after 30mins

of cruising the engine cut out and wouldn,t restart, managed to moore up lifted the deckboards to take a look. to my horror the engine bay was full of what I thought was white smoke, it turned out to be steam the engine had overheated and spewed out most of its water. My first thoughts were cylinder head gone. I let the engine cool down and refilled it with warm water it took about 2 kettle fulls + about 3-4 pints of coolant to bring it up to level

I then restarted the engine and it kicked in first time. I had about a hours run back to my Marina I took my time and left the deck boards up so that I could keep my eye on it. she ran fine and I rechecked the water levels on my return and everything was fine.

The engine overheating light never came on (must check the bulb) what could have caused this? the same thing happened last year and all I did was replace the rad cap and it was fine for the season.

Engine beta marine 3 cylinder 28hp.

Any thoughts on this Thanks.

[Chris Pink]

..

Edited April 1, 2013 by Chris Pink

[canals are us?]

Not a clue. Are the belts tensioned correctly? Could the water pump of been sticking or a thermostat? I would be very tempted to change the thermostat as it has happened before.

 

On my beta that overheated 2 days after buying it due to no coolant and a dripping compression fitting to the calorifier. Repaired, Refilled and bled everything, including the skin tank. All has been well since.

 

James

Edited April 1, 2013 by canals are us?

[AlanM6]

Thank James

[RobinJ]

Took my boat out yesterday for the first time this year just for a couple of hours to make sure that everything was running ok after its winter lay up Did all of the usual checks befor setting off i.e oil, water ect after 30mins

of cruising the engine cut out and wouldn,t restart, managed to moore up lifted the deckboards to take a look. to my horror the engine bay was full of what I thought was white smoke, it turned out to be steam the engine had overheated and spewed out most of its water. My first thoughts were cylinder head gone. I let the engine cool down and refilled it with warm water it took about 2 kettle fulls + about 3-4 pints of coolant to bring it up to level

I then restarted the engine and it kicked in first time. I had about a hours run back to my Marina I took my time and left the deck boards up so that I could keep my eye on it. she ran fine and I rechecked the water levels on my return and everything was fine.

Even checking the water level can be misleading if the engine has stood for a while, when the engine last cooled down, the vacuum could have sucked air in through a small leak, creating an air lock in the cooling system. This is even more of a problem with large changes in temperature, or if there is any chance the coolant could have frozen and put strain on hoses etc.

 

Run the engine with the cap off, to see whether it is circulating or the level goes down after starting!

Check the hoses, thermostat housing, anything quite high up on the engine (calorifier connections) which could result in air getting in!