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1957 mwm kdw415d water in exhaust. manifold and air intake on cylinder 1


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Hi

 

I have a 1957 mwm engine

Raw water cooled dry vertical exhaust

Just changed head gasket after getting sooty water coming from the exhaust

The problem is still there

Removed exhaust manifold and found water in one of the two exhaust ports

Suspect it might be time for a new cylinder head

 

Anyone have experience on these engines?

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I've not touched one of those for years! There are generally two issues that cause water to exit the exhaust on these engines besides head gasket trouble, the usual one being the head cracking across the exhaust valve seat. If you can't find a crack there check the liner very carefully as they can crack vertically and its hard to spot.

 

I expect that you already know that there are a couple of "old timer" forums in Germany that cater for these engines and I have spotted parts on Ebay.de before now.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks for your reply

you were exactly right we had several cracks across the valve seats

 

had the head gas flow welded and she ran better than ever for a couple of hours then we lost oil pressure and she overheated

(bit inconvenient as we were in a shipping lane near Gravesend at the time)

 

Symptoms were loss of power,smoke from oil filler cap (coolant water was flowing and at its normal temp of about 40 degrees)

engine was extremely hot

 

we let her cool down and tried to restart and she fired first time but we now have an unhealthy whirring/grinding noise coming from around the crankshaft pulley

 

we shut her down immediately and haven't tried to start her since

 

on removing the crankcase cover there is a strong smell of burnt oil

 

was wondering if maybe the oil pump had failed or if the pick up tube was blocked

 

any suggestions as to what the problem might be...

 

having a job finding an engineer that knows these engines.....we are now on the River Lea at Hackney Wick after getting a tug to London

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Oh dear that all sounds very sinister. Difficult to diagnose without being there but it sounds like an oil pressure related failure. Maybe a picked up main bearing or similar. A major engine overhaul is on the cards I fear. Sorry to be so pessimistic, not what you want to hear I'm sure.sad.png

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Thanks for getting back to me

 

I was worried it was serious...main bearing was what I was thinking...would the crankshaft have to come out to replace that?

I know that pistons can be replaced through the side of the engine ...would the whole engine have to be removed to get to a main bearing or could it be accessed through the front

luckily there is good access all around the engine..I'm able to get spares that this engine shares in common with the single and double cylinder models

so pistons liners rings etc but anything exclusive to the 3 cylinder model is very hard to track down

 

thanks

 

 

Ian

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Hi Ian,

 

Yes the engine needs to come out to get the crank out assuming your engine room isn't cavernous. Not a cheap job to do i'm afraid. I would seriously try and track down a replacement for the cracked cylinder head as I would not be at all surprised if leaking water was the cause of your bearing failure. It only needs a little bit to damage the bearing surfaces.

 

That aside they are solid old engines. I first came across them in tarmac layers back in the 70s .A different vintage engine for sure. Worth restoring i'm sure.

 

Regards

 

Geoff

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Thanks for the reply Geoff

 

We were wondering if it might be a bearing on the camshaft...the noise seems to be coming from that area

 

there is a large panel in front the engine room that exits into what used to be the cargo hold...we are assuming that this is the way the engine went in in 1957 rather than from above...presumably we could get a hoist inside to lift the engine up and forwards to give access all round.

the chap that repaired the cylinder head has said that if it proves to be the problem he will repair it free..I have a spare head gasket so if we need to remove the head again thats not a problem

Am going to drain the oil and hunt for the causes of out loss of oil pressure...any suggestions for troubleshooting oil pressure problems

 

 

She is such a lovely engine (was a pleasure to cruise through europe and she handled the channel really well)

would be a shame if we couldnt repair her

 

thanks again

 

Ian

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Hi Ian,

 

No reason why she can't be repaired although it won't be cheap or quick I suspect. To be frank you need to take the engine entirely to pieces to check every oil way and bearing face. If you have had a bearing start to pick up the swarf will have been pumped everywhere. The risk of a piece of it causing further damage if left in the engine is huge. What ever the cause of the original problem, be it water from the head, a failed oil pump, relief valve or plain knackered bearing the truth is that your motor needs a total rebuild to guarantee a long and trouble free life. Do it right, do it once. Or take a chance and prepare to weep.

 

Best regards

 

Geoff

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