Help! I’ve killed it!
Decided to run up my DV20 on the hard to make sure it starts before going back in the water.
I’ve not owned the boat long but recognised the signs of an engine that’s been neglected when I bought her – bit smoky slow to rev up, no grunt on the trip to the slings etc.
I kinda figured some engine work (or replacement) was on the cards and that I’d do it over winter when she’s back in the marina. Just got to get me back around 200m back to my berth.
So I rigged up the hosepipe to the inlet and set it on a steady flow. Easy to stop with your thumb. Then I started it. Started ok, no drama. Running about a minute and I’m looking for leaks, bubbles, oil etc and see oil and foam coming out of the dipstick!
Immediately turned it off and checked the oil level. Full of water. Drained about 4 litres out.
Suggestions?
Surely the low hose pressure shouldn’t be able to force water into the engine. Could the pump seals be to blame? Head gasket? Any pointers on where to start?
I had exactly the same, the water travelled across the head, through the crankcase breather into the sump. Changed the oil a few times and it was fine
D.L.
Pull the Injectors and make sure there is no water in the cylinder bores. If all looks good then give it a couple an oil change and see if it does it again. If it doesn’t do it then give it another oil change and then run it until its hot. Then one more oil change.If it still does it then you’ll have a leak somewhere that’ll need to be found.But from the other symptoms you describe I’d be tempted to test the compressions. It would explain the sluggishness and the smoke and the no power. And it might even explain the water. Then change the water pump seals as water can get past damaged seals.
J.C.
Pull the Injectors and make sure there is no water in the cylinder bores. If all looks good then give it a couple an oil change and see if it does it again. If it doesn’t do it then give it another oil change and then run it until its hot. Then one more oil change.If it still does it then you’ll have a leak somewhere that’ll need to be found.But from the other symptoms you describe I’d be tempted to test the compressions. It would explain the sluggishness and the smoke and the no power. And it might even explain the water. Then change the water pump seals as water can get past damaged seals.
D.S.
The Original Poster added…
Engine was running fine and starts and runs both with a full sump and with it emptied. Pretty convinced there’s nothing going in the cylinders. Plus no steam coming out of the exhaust or anything like that. Could it just be pressure from the hose? I would have thought the seals would be at least rated for some small water pressure tolerance?
Remove pump impellorArrange a cooling feed to engine with valve close to engineChange oil in engineFill with new oilDrain oil and fill againCheck condition of oilRepeat if requiredRemove seawster pump and replace sealsMake sure seals are in right order and there is space between the two seals and the weep hole is clear.Refit pump and run engineCheck every time you stop engine for water ingress
J.C.II
When i had this problem … it was worn out impeller seals .. the water basically forces its way past the seal and straight into sump .. i had 5 litres of grey sludge in there … replaced seals .. drained oil .. flushed a couples of times with some fresh oil .. absolutely fine since
M.S.
Had this on our dv20 replaced the water pump with a more modern version, now that problem sorted.Talked to Bukh and they said to drain the oil and refill with 50/50 oil and diesel and run for 20 mins off load to clean the engine and rockers because they can rust after water ingress. Then refill with oil and filter change.
D.H.
No water from the tell-tale holes on mine either due to being blocked with gunk – but, yeah it was just the seals needed replacing.
L.Y.
New seals, couple of oil changes and that particular issue was resolved with my DV10.
I went on to do a rebuild last winter for other reasons
So it seems the consensus is the water pump is the likely culprit – it needs a new set of seals. There was no tell-tale drips from the indicator hole in this case but many contributors testified that their indicator holes had not leaked either, being blocked by debris. Further suggestions included swapping the original pump out for a replacement F35B-9 Pump. Owners reported that this had been a successful swap for their DV engines.
