Coolant Hose in Port Locker

[Roc]

Is there enough room above the recovery tank to be able to pour in more coolant if needed?  Seems like you will bump into the bottom of the sink.

[DarthOccam]

Is there enough room above the recovery tank to be able to pour in more coolant if needed?  Seems like you will bump into the bottom of the sink.

Well, I'm not going to be able to pour directly from the gallon container into the tank, but there is plenty of room to use a cup.  That's how I refilled the tank after moving it.

Regards,

Michael

[SD Diver]

Michael,
Nice photo.  The main problem I see is you don't have enough "stuff" in that space yet.  On my 87 I have a racor fuel filter and the lift pump and all the hose for those two items.

Happy New Year,

Ralph

[scotty]

So, here's a kind of dumb question (or as my daughtor-in-law says, "There's no such thing a dumb questions, only dumb people"):  If the hose from the coolant overflow goes into the bottom of the bottle, and the bottle is above the level of the coolant cap, when you fill the bottle, do you have to worry about messing up the pressure in the cooling system?

[Ron Hill]

Scotty : The answer to your question is NO. 

What is happening is that as the engine runs the coolant is heated up and expands.  The cap is set for 13lbs psi so when that psi is reached the seal in the cap moves up (opens slightly) and the expanded coolant runs into the overflow tube and into the coolant recovery bottle.  As the engine cools the coolant contracts forming a partial vacuum and the coolant from the bottle is sucked back into the engine reservoir. 
No air ever enters the system unless you open the cap on the reservoir.  No need to open the cap because you can look at the level in the bottle and be certain that your fluid level is OK. 
Just like in your auto/s

The M25 and M25XP engines did not come with a coolant recovery system  -- that's why I made my own and wrote it up in the Mainsheet tech notes 24 years ago. 

A few thoughts.

[Les Luzar]

Ron,
Thanks for the additional information I was actually wondering the same thing. At least I now know that my boat never came with the coolant recovery system in 87. But I have now added this item to my to-do list! I love this site, but the more I read, the longer my to-do list is becoming. It's endless. Ah, but I love it. I am going to have to retire so that I have more time to work on my boat! 

[scotty]

Thanks Ron.  Does the recovery bottle become pressurized  (so that the coolant can flow back into the system through the cap)?

So here's a little story for you:  Last week I went out under power when the engine overheated!  My first warning was smoke coming up out of the cabin.  I turned off the engine immediately and anchored.  It turned out that I had something blocking the intake for the raw water.  I took a tow in (hey, I already paid for Vessel Assist) and at the dock undid the intake and pushed a screwdriver through the fitting.  Got the water flowing again.  The engine coolant level was now low so I refilled it with 50/50 water and antifreeze.  The engine is running fine, so I figure I dodged a big one.  I have to check the impeller (I'll just put in a new one) and like Les, my to-do list just got a bit longer.  A coolant recovery system is in my future. 

I had assumed that I had a heat alarm because I had an alarm when the engine switch is on (and the engine not started).  I assumed I had both oil pressure and heat on that alarm.  Guess that assumption is wrong.  It seems my to-do list just got longer again.

[Stu Jackson]

Sometimes you can't hear the alarm when the engine is running.

Scotty, not sure of your connection between the raw water side with the blocked intake and your freshwater coolant level.

For those of you without Vessel Assist (I'm one of 'em):

From my May 2008 Secretary Report in Mainsheet:

Among the interesting little “tidbits” of information that I’d remembered reading about on the website had to do with cleaning out the raw water intake with a dinghy foot pump.  On a nice mid-winter March sail with Ken Heyman, our treasurer who was here visiting, we had just left the South Beach Marina and were motoring over to see the “Lady Washington,” one of the tallships that regularly visits the Bay Area and has cannonball encounters of the close kind with fellow tallships.  Since it was cold out, there seemed to be a bit more white smoke from the exhaust than usual,  which I attributed to the lower air temperature.  Upon checking the temperature gauge, we noted it was pegged and stopped the engine immediately.  Ken and I went through a checklist of actions we could take.  Sailing back to the marina was not among them, since there was no wind and the end of the ebb was setting us north towards the Bay Bridge.  Thru hull strainer clear – check.  Raw water entering – check, but a trickle and less than expected.    Raw water pump impeller in one piece – check.  Raw water pump turning – check.  Spare raw water pump gasket to replace cover – check.  Temperature gauge working properly – check.  Hoses and thru hull clear – hmm…  We got the dinghy foot pump out from the lazarette, replaced the strainer and opened the seacock.  Because the arrangement of the hoses and the strainer on “Aquavite” aren’t configured to connect the pump there, we removed the hose from the raw water pump and used the dinghy pump at that end of the hose.  That turned out to be actually be easier than trying to work under the head sink.  There was significant resistance at first, but after setting the three way valve on the foot pump to a higher pressure setting, the pump started working.  Whatever had been clogging either the thru hull or the line was flushed out.  Once everything was reassembled, we started the engine and all was well.  Lesson Learned: It pays to read the material on the website because you just never know when you’ll be faced with an insurmountable problem only to find out that one of our skippers had “been there – done that” and had most importantly reported it for all of us to know.  Thanks to Ken for his analytical assistance!

I've posted this before and Ron has noted that this method won't work if your blockage is due to "hard stuff" like barnacles.

[Roland Gendreau]

Another excellent way to clear non-hard obstructions blocking raw water in the thru hull is to remove the strainer cover, and put the horn end of an air horn up to the strainer- open the thru hull if it isnt open already and then press the button to get a nice blow through it.

The horn is an almost perfect fit to the open end of the strainer!

Been there, done that, and really impressed the fleet admiral with how quickly the problem was resolved!

Roland Gendreau
Gratitude #1183

[SD Diver]

Roland,
Pardon the pun, but that sounds like a great way to do the cleanout.

Ralph

[tonywright]

No air ever enters the system unless you open the cap on the reservoir.  No need to open the cap because you can look at the level in the bottle and be certain that your fluid level is OK. 

I thought this when I first got my C34. There was plenty of fluid in the reservoir. But when we opened the pressure cap on the engine, there was a lot of fluid missing, and the level of fluid was a couple of inches below the cap. We replaced the water pump which showed signs of leaking, tightened hose clamps, refilled the coolant and bled the air out of the system. Now I still periodically check to make sure that the engine is full of coolant, regardless of level in the reservoir.  I find that I need to check all the hose clamps from time to time.

Tony

[Ron Hill]

Scotty : No the coolant recovery bottle is NOT Pressurized

The reason that your coolant was low when the engine cooled off is because you opened the cap and saw that the coolant was low.  It was low because when the coolant heated and pressurized under the cap the excess coolant went out the overflow into your engine compartment floor (port side).  Then when the coolant cooled the reservoir sucked in air.  If you had a coolant recovery bottle it would have sucked in coolant to replace the coolant that had expanded!!

What you need to do is read your operators manual and look/read the wiring diagrams to find out that on the M25 and M25XP that the alarms that you hear when you turn on the key are
- 1. NO oil pressure and if the sound persists when the engine starts
- 2. the starter engage.

Since I "caulked on" an external strainer in 1997, I haven't had a clogged raw water inlet !!

A few thoughts

[Stu Jackson]

Since I "caulked on" an external strainer in 1997, I haven't had a clogged raw water inlet !!

I don't get barnacles, guess our water, year round, is too cold.

Ron's mentioned that his strainer is caulked on, just in case he needs to poke a dowel through his thru hull.

It seems to me that if nasties can grow, they're gonna get through an external strainer.

Like these:  http://forums.catalina.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?t=124964

Your boat, your choice.

[Ron Hill]

Guys : Barnacles (nasties) grow almost anywhere, but they are "filter feeders".  

If the water is not flowing they don't want to "stick" around.  I disagree with MainSail as I've never had a problem.  
But then I also check the thru hulls from the inside when I'm pulled for the winter every year!.
    
A thought