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Marine CAT 3116 coolant gone

J

jk higgins

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"I have 3116 TC's (fre

"I have 3116 TC's (fresh water cooled)in my Tollycraft. I noticed unusual steam coming out the back of the boat while at cruise power. The temp indicator indicated 220 so we shut it down to investigate. The coolant was gone. There was no coolant water in the bilge. The oil does not show any signs of water. The heat exchanger has been removed and pressure tests ok. The sea water pump checks OK. The coolant level was checked before operation the day of the event and was full. The engine was operated for less than 30 minutes before the incident occured. Where else can the fresh water coolant be injected into the exhaust system to cause the steam and to lose the coolant? By the way I have two over-temp warning systems, one on the fresh water coolant system and one on the exhaust water discharge system, neither one went off. Seems like a weak link in the warning system. If there is no coolant, then what does the probe measure? The one on the exhaust side is measuring the coolant flow (temperature)of the sea water discharge. Since the sea water pump was ok it did not go off."
 
"check your turbo. if you find

"check your turbo. if you find holes in the water jacket, you probably have a leaky exhaust riser. sea water leaks, lays in turbo, and eats hole. usually big hole. can probably test by blowing in one hose blocking other. coolant goes out with exhaust. DONT NEGLECT RISER CHECK. coolant won't eat your turbo."
 
"Check your head gaskets. If y

"Check your head gaskets. If your head gasket is blown your coolant can exit through the exhaust valves, that would explain the steam."
 
3116's are NOTORIOUS for c

3116's are NOTORIOUS for cylinder head problems. You probably have a blown head gasket and or cracked cylinder head. Good luck

Darel
 
Re: "I have 3116 TC's (fre

Had the same problem in a 1994 Tiara 3100 w/ 3116's with about 2000 hours. Previous Owner did not maintain the engines or boat. Port engine had cracked Exhaust Manifold causing the coolant loss. Not pretty. Tear down showed scoring on #1 & #6 cylinder walls. Got a re-manufactured block, not a rebuilt one, from Cat for $5600. New Valve job at Hamofa Industries, Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Turbo rebuilt. Marine environment in particularly hard on Turbos. All Coolers pressure tested OK. One end cap on Heat Exchanger was cracked but tested OK. Replaced it anyway. Replaced Motor Mounts because alignment nuts frozen from Go2Marine. Complete Assembly / Install by Matt Ingals Marine. Guess what? The Starboard engine Heat Exchanger end cap is cracked and leaking. Pulled it today and looking into rebuilding it before I sea trial boat with replaced Port engine.
 
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