[finman]

Mechanic called and said when he was winterizing the boat by pumping antifreeze in it the starboard motor started smoking badly. He said it was probably do to the antifreeze being burned in the cylinder by maybe a leaking head gasket. Motor is a 1996 502 crusader.
I never noticed any milky looking oil on the dipstick. Engine never ran hot.
Boat has been sitting for about a month.

Any suggestion on where to start to look for problem?

Thanks,

FINMAN

[AMG]

Your first question to the guy must be if the smoke was white or black or..?

[finman]

Sorry,

He said it was alot of white smoke.
The engine was ran fine and didnt smoke last time we used it a couple months ago.

Finman

[AMG]

Normally you have antifreeze all year round in the closed cooling system. If he put in even more concentrated antifreeze it´s density can cause a leak, but not so it will create heavy smoke. If he put in cold liquid into a hot engine he could have caused a crack in the cylinderhead, this is no good....

If you don´t trust the guy, call your insurance company and let them recommend a surveyor before you start spending money on repairs.

[finman]

I dont think he was adding water into the antifreeze reservoir closed system (which never seemed to lose fluid). He was pumping antifreeze throught the raw water hose and impeller.

Just curious when the engine has a system that has the closed cooling system that has the anitfreeze res on the back of the motor, what is it cooling and what is the impeller that is pumping raw water cooling.
My thought that the raw water is just pumping through the exhaust.
Is there a water pump moving the antifreeze?

When we first boat the 1996 54' Bluewater a couple years ago the port motor got hot and the dealer said it was the impeller. After that it was fine.
If it has a closed system why would a failed impeller cause it to overheat like a typicall i/o setup boat when the raw water is just going through the exhaust?

Finman

[AMG]

This sounds a little confusing to me? First, the raw water system is cooling the closed system through an heat exchanger. One pump/impeller for each system.
If he is to pickle the raw water system, he can only drive the engine a couple of seconds, or use the starter without ignition/spark plugs. Otherwise the antifreeze will be a waste...and causing a white smoke!

In best case nothing has happened more than he burnt some antifreeze in the exhaust system? You better ask him again, and if he is used to this?

[finman]

apprceciate the feed back AMG.
I am going out there soon and taking a closer look myself.

Finman