This is why you do a shakedown!

rondds

Well-Known Member
Oct 3, 2006
8,859
Jersey Shore
Boat Info
2001 380DA
Engines
Merc 8.1s (2008)...Hurth ZF 63 V-drives...WB 7.0 BCGD (2013), Garmin 8208 & 740 MFDs, GMR 24xHD dome
FINALLY got out of the slip today. after idling out to the river, i hit it to get up on plane. i have an obsessive habit (but a good one) of keeping an eye on all my gauges. after maybe 45 seconds of running at 3200 rpm, i watched the temp on the port engine FLY up the ladder. it was the pace that was alarming, rather than the temp. when it flew past 180, i throttled back to idle speed but it didnt come back down. just then i noticed the bilge pump light on. a second later my wife reported that there was an awful lot of smoke coming from the exhaust. so i quickly shut down the port engine and thought for a minute.... growth in the intake (boat hadnt run in 3 weeks)???? coolant overflow???? busted hose???? only way to find out is to pull the hatches and take a look. the river was quiet so i just drifted and told my wife to keep a lookout while my 10yo daughter (the drama queen) cried (she told me later she thought we were going to blow up - because of the smoke).

everything under the hatches was WET and there was a ton of water in the bilge compartment just beneath the engine. the water was clear (not coolant) and the overflow looked just where i left it. so i know it's seawater and i start looking around, a bit confused and disoriented. then i said to myself, start at the strainer and follow the path. when i got to the oil cooler, i noticed the hose was OFF the output side. i told the girls what had happened and reassured them everything was OK. luckily i had a hoseclamp in my toolbox - a bit smaller but it did the trick. i found the old one, broken, but hanging on the oil cooler. went back up top and started the engine without a hitch and looked over the side for flow. once i was sure there was water coming out, i ran down to check HOW MUCH flow (damaged impeller, etc). i had the wife keep her finger on the ignition for a quick shut down if i yelled for it. but all was well. i idled for a minute or two, watched the temp come back down to normal and we continued to the end of the river and back at about 3200rpm. initially i let the boat drag a bit to get the bow up and the water to run aft to the rear pump, so i was able to get most of it out. and all went well for the rest of the 20 minute ride. when i got back to the dock, i used fresh water to sponge off the engine (there were a few dried salty spots).

so, what's the moral(s) of the story?
1. do a shakedown
2. stock a supply of hose clamps as spares (and belts, filters, spark plugs, duct tape, etc, etc etc.
3. watch your gauges!!!
 
Nice work. Don't panic and find the problem and fix it. You should feel good about that.

A couple of thoughts:

All of the hose connections should be double clamped and checked periodically. Sounds like the hose was not double clamped.

and finally...

Anyone that panics (kids included) on a boat should be messed with for future stories and humor. Once you found the problem, you should have fixed it then immediatly come up screaming "THERE IS A MAN LIVING IN OUR BILGE AND HE HAS A KNIFE AND CUT OUR HOSES. JUMP OFF THE BOAT!!! NOW!!!! JUMP OFF THE BOAT!!!! and then jump off the boat yourself and see what they do. Take pictures. Post them here.
 
Dr Ron,

I really like your boat.

Nice job with a tense moment.
 
gary
i started messing with her as soon as we got back to the slip. she's a trooper, and very good on the boat, BUT she's the kind of kid that cries when she sees blood around a loose tooth. i've always found (even in my line of work) that kid will feed off their parents' reactions and because neither my wife or i appeared fearful or frazzled, she was fine for the rest of the ride. she's survived soft groundings and a viscious 65mph summer storm on the water, so this is nothing! :cool:

interestingly, when i found the hose off, there was no water entering the boat. the cooler is positioned vertically and (i guess) above the water line, i'm sure intentionally. nothing in the raw water circuit is double clamped after the output side of the strainer. i had that cooler off last spring and there were no evident problems. but alas, i did NOT check it this spring :smt018

it occurred to me that double clamps would have averted this problem, but i dont think the fitting end is long enough to hold two clamps. arent double clamps advocated only below the water line??? in any event, it bears further investigation and examination.

cooler heads did prevail, but i have to say, my first thought was "glad i have unlimited towing" and "how the hell am i going to get this tub back into my shoebox slip on one engine?"

thanks hampton! i think i may like yours better! you gotta get some more pix up in your virtual marina!
 
I would think that anything associated with any raw water intake where a pump has an unlimited supply of stuff to pump in should be double clamped. I know on my boat everything on the engine, above or below the water line, is double clamped... and they do come lose. I also know my sewage system is double clamped as I replaced the duck bill valves on my macerator pump yesterday. Even the top of the holding tank is double clamped. I think the only thing that is not double clamped are the cheez-o AC pans that have a 1/2" nipple on them and the hoses keep popping off. and they rust. another story. Come to think of it, my genny does not have double clamps on the engine itself.... but I can pee harder than that impeller.
 
Nice job Ron...you handled it well and did the right thing....my only question is you said "the water in the bilge was clear".....what NJ river has clear water... :grin:

See you on the water....
 
dom
maybe "clear" was a poor choice of words. how about "non-glycolated" or "e-coli-laden." :smt043

hampton, GREAT PICS! love the lines on the newer 340DAs. i had an argument with my cousin (a non-boater) about pictures in posts. he moderates some gun owner website and he told me my sig pic is too big and that if he moderated the forum, he'd make me take it down. i tried to explain but he just dont get it. we're boaters. we love boats and want to see more of them. not to mention, it's a way to get to know the people we "talk" to every day.
 
Your problem is actually a very common one in 454 powered Sea Rays with full sized hatches like a 340,350,370,DA, 340DB, 354DB, et.c with aluminum frames/gutters the hatches sit in. The gutters will all eventually leak in the corners and drip water on the engines. As it runs down, it will corrode the stainless steel band on the oil cooler hose clamps and they eventually break and are "blown" off by the water pumps pressure.

You should check the one on the other side as it may be on its last legs as well.

The nipple on the end of the oil cooler is not long enough for 2 hose clamps and adding a second one will likely result in cutting the hose on the end of the nipple. Sea Ray and Mercruiser have come a long way since the late 80's and a lot more hose connections are double clamped on Gary's 480 than on boats made 15 or so years earlier.
 
hi frank:
good point but my engines are in the salon (straight drives) and the frames are all wood. on my list of things to do are pick up all sizes of hose clamps at west marine and a systematic examination of each and every clamp in the circuit is in my future!

two questions...
1. is 300 grade SS ok or do i look harder for 316? this website confused me, since i was under the impression that 316 is the only acceptable grade for the marine environment.
http://www.plumbingworld.com/marinegradeclamps.html

2. i noticed aftermarket oil coolers (places like doug russell, etc.) that are relatively inexpensive. are these garbage or would it be cheap insurance to spray em black and replace the ones i have (i dont know how old they are but i pulled them last spring and sighted through the rods - no "cholesterol." also, do you think aftermarket ones would have the necessary room for two clamps??

thanks in advance for your guidance :cool:
 
I'm curious, is the pump before or after the oil cooler? Therefore, is this section under pressure or suction? Sounds like it is under suction and therefore did not pump water into the bilge. Some water may continue to flow while underway from the outboard side, and water in the engine side may actually drain backwards and into the bilge - even draining the engine. Double clamping is even more important where under pressure.

Also, my boat had a failed power steering oil cooler when I bought it. (And failed steering system). It got me wondering whether these devices are designed for the pressured or suctioned side of things. I recall that the cooler was on the opposite side of the raw water pump from the Mercury design, but I don't recall which way right now. I thought that may have contributed to the failure.
 
The oil cooler is after the pump so it has pressure on it. When that hose connection fails as Ron's did, you dump all your cooling water into the bilge.

Also, Ron probably couldn't hear it from his control station on the bridge of his boat, but there is a tell tale difference in the sound of the exhaust when the cooling water escapes. It is like running a V-8 with open exhaust headers and no muffler cmpared to a nice gentle rumble.

On the metallurgy, the higher the number, the more corrosion resistance the stainless alloy has, so yes, 316 is a better choice than 300 which is the normal plumbing supply house version.

On the oil cooler question, as long as your Merc OEM cooler is clean and does not leak either water or oil, I wouldn't spend the money for an after market cooler just to try to get longer hose barbs. I think a better approach may be to invest in marine T-bolt clamps in lieu of the standard worm gear clamps you have now:

http://www.clampco.com/products/t-bolt-std.asp

I'm not recommending this company, I just did a quick search to find a photo for illustration purposes.......you should do your own research. Generally, the T-bolt clamp is a much better design since it applies equal pressure all around the clamping surface and the band is both thicker and wider. And, I almost forgot.......these clamps are very expensive, but are much less expensive than new oil coolers.
 
frank
correct, no audible difference when underway. upon start up, however, i can hear things quiet down as the flow reaches the overboard discharge
 
Four Suns said:
All of the hose connections should be double clamped and checked periodically. Sounds like the hose was not double clamped.


We just had a CG auxilliary safety inspection last week and the inspector mentioned that the hoses were single clamped and that we should double clamp them. Good advice, cheap insurance.
 

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