melted strainer - chemical reaction in strainer, how can this be? ?

[kevink]

So we got a 93 nautique, we had taken it for a test run, all fine (admitting not to know what temp it should run at), the owner had all maintenance records and all so we felt comfortable.

we put it in at our lake, and after a while I thought, hmm, that temp seems high (towards the 190 200F) so I tolled the wife, lets skip the day and let me first find out and check what we got.

so looking online and engine booklet, it tells me that it should run at around 160, maybe 170.

- I checked the bottom intake, and was all clean
- removed the belt and hoses of the pump, it did seem all very clean, although turning the pump went a bid hard with one hand, with 2 hands on the wheel, it turned making a squeegeeing sound.
- I removed the strainer, and it was clean, however the inside plastic appeared to have been reacting with a chemical ore so, pleas look at the pictures, all warped, expanded from the inside.

this would probably have been my cause of high temp, because there was hardly space for water to pass between the mesh and the housing.

As the plastic reacted with something and warped/expanded inwards towards the mesh -- and on the bottom, the melted/reacted plastic went through the mesh, and I cant remove it any more.

I ordered a new strainer right away, before any further use.

my big question is, how can this happen with a strainer, it was not sitting against the block, and on the outside no visible warping/melting, all happened inwards?


regarding the pump:

I think this sound is normal, because it was dry ? the turning by hand going a bit tough, is that normal ?

[t.franscioni]

That's weird.... About your strainer... Maybe you idled through some mutant slug.

On your water pump... It can be slightly difficult to turn if the impeller is new and dry or if it isn't centered on the shaft and is pressing up against impeller housing. What I would do is take the impeller out and then try to spin it. If it's still difficult then something is definitely wrong as it should spin freely with no effort what so ever. If it's the slightest bit difficult to turn without the impeller installed then the two bearings are probably shot.... I'm assuming you have a Sherwood pump that looks like this below? I don't know what the 93 had in it as far as water pump goes.

[t.franscioni]

You know I'd ask the previous owner if he ran any kind of acid or something through the engine in an attempt to clean the water jackets in the engine and cooling components.... Iv read of people doing things like this....

[Kiwiwake]

My guess is they have washed it in a solvent based cleaner or petrol etc. As siad above check the impeller as well it may have been affected too , if it has im afraid to say youll need to check ALL rubber hoses etc and i would replace the thermostat as well.

[shag]

I'm assuming your o-ring is already taken out? That top pic looks as if the O-ring is mashed in their and in bad shape... As far as the chemical reaction, I have seen one strainer housing do something like that (but not as bad) in the past, but have no idea what caused it...

[Paxdad]

If i had to guess I would say someone at some point drained the FCC cannister into it during while winterizing and the residual gasoline from the FCC ate it up like that.

[kevink]

Thanks for all the replies, i have to check my settings, as I just see them now, and did not got a e-mail alert that there was someone cementing on it.

Any how, I had removed the pump as mentioned, and will move on now to remove the impeller and see if the bearings are shot (as per #2)

on the old strainer: how the white expansion appears is like what happens when you put a solvent like glue on acrylic, or super glue, it eats a bit into the surface (the outside is all fine, and the housing of the strainer, that it made out of a PP, or PE had no such thing, only the acrylic pot.

I will check in with the person I both it from (I should have broth someone with me from the local ski club before buying, yet thy all tel you to be willing to help, yet you never see them)

I got a new strainer, put it on and broth it to the lake, to see it run up to 200F in 5 minutes, so off and back home.

the pump did prime itself, as there was water in the strainer now.

so now, I'm back at my temp issue:


it is not the intake, nor strainer, and the pump seems to work (any idea how many gpm it should pump ?, I can check that with a bucket !!

beside that, could it be the thermostat ? can I measure this, or check if it is working or not ?

I have been referred by PCM to this manual:

http://www.planetnautique.com/Correc...1993/93PCM.pdf

yet, it douse not tell what the operating range should be for the oil (while it referrers to it in case of temp problems, any suggestion ?
it also douse not have a trouble shoot, where to look for issues for cooling problems. It talks about a 2 pump system, yet only gives details about the pump with the EPDM impeller, any input on pump #2, so i can check if that one has issues ?



thanks guys for the input

Kevin

[96SNEFI]

it is not the intake, nor strainer, and the pump seems to work (any idea how many gpm it should pump ?, I can check that with a bucket !!

beside that, could it be the thermostat ? can I measure this, or check if it is working or not ?

I had to replace my thermostat this season. Idling was fine but speeding up then got warmer than I like. Replaced the thermostat and no more excess warming.
A prior year I had somehow managed to thrash my impeller. I don't how I did but it did. Then I had a too-warm issue and started hunting down impeller pieces. I pulled out my thermostat housing and discovered a piece of impeller in the little passageway between the waterways of the upper housing. Those impeller pieces can get lodged in somewhere and cause havoc.
I'm no expert. Just adding some experience.

[BigBen_UK]

Could ~200F water do this ? is the pump in reverse/backwards/upside down i.e. pumping out of the engine not in

[kevink]

K. So i thougt i had the proublem, The thermostat was stuck.

i had put it in a glass and put boiling water on, nothing happened, i did this 3 times, nothing. Then i played around a bit, wiped some oxidation off, and then it did open up.

forgot to mention that also the oil presure seemed high 40 at idle and ramping up to 80psi when running at about 2400 rpm or is this normal.?

would there be a manual that has these values, as the manual i have douse talk about lo and high pressure, yet not about what is should be.

after cleaning the thermostat cleaning we broth it to the lake, and again, it went easely over 175. I tested the thermostat housing on the hot side with the laser termomenter that confirmed 170. So, out again and back home.

I asume the 80 psi is a lot, becouse the meter only goes to 95 so will get a new filter. Would this be the couse of the high temp.

regardless, i will also order e new thermostat, to take away the posebillety it still got stuck.

ohh and i checked the heat exchanger, and it was clean.

so what I need to figgure out to eliminate things:

a) test the flow when ideling, and make shore it is ok (what should it be)
b) put new thermostat in, to eliminate the possible failure of the old one.
c) put in new ouil filter to get the presure down (what would be the ideal psi range)

any other sugestions.?

[Kiwiwake]

1 : NEVER USE A THERMOSTAT that has been stuck ...throw it i the bin! Replace it they are cheap as chips. You can cut the center out of the thermostat and just run the ring with hole in the center to eliminate it ( running the outer ring with no center give s the flow restriction needed) ,
2: That oil pressure reading is OK , Is that when its cold? and does it drop down a little when hotter You need to get an Accurate oil pressure gauge and connect it directly to the engine block and test the oil pressure , either by one or get the local shop to check it , should not cost a lot . The reasons is gauge or sender could be faulty. The oil pressure is ok at
3: check the oil is not milky or really high on the dip stick ( these two things point to a blown head gasket.)
4: As i said previous CHECK your rubber hoses for swelling etc , Sometimes the outside can look ok but inside swells up , smaller hoses ( 3/8 and 5/16 size ) can swell closed. sometimes you can squeeze the hose's and they feel "squishy" but its best to remove one and check.

[kevink]

ok so the old thermostat, as i mention i will replace, however for the mean time, you mention I can use its flange, and just gut the inner part out( the Bus with spring. ?

I will have to see where i can find this thermostat at a local dealer (local would mean in Vancouver BC, where I'm on Vancouver island) --as far as i have read, a car thermostat is not good, as thy open at a different speed.

regarding oil pressure, is sits around 40 PSI at idle and ramps up as i ramp it up, however I will see if I can verify with a additional/external gauge.

the oil is like new, nice and clean and levels are within the markings when level.

regarding the hoses, it only has 1 inch and I think 3/4 inch once for the cooling, and as thy come off easy, as thy seem new, or at least fairly new, I will pull them all and look through them.

in terms of terminating a potential cause, where can I find a flow chard ore so for the water pump, so I can check what it is giving me, to what it should be.

pleas see the pic of the thermostat, do I remove the bleu only, the blue and red, or blue red and green (in order to test if it still gets to warm, if this solves the temp problem, it tells 100% it was the thermostat (regardless I'm getting a new one) but want to try this for a few runs to see, because it might take a week before I get the new one