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Perkins Sabre M225TI overheating.

Mark Waterfield

New member
Hi, I'm posting this on behalf of my dad, unfortunately he's not of the technical age..

He has a Perkins Sabre M225TI, The engine is 16 years old and on 2200 hours, very well maintained and never taken above 2200 RPM.
Two years ago the engine developed a temperature issue where after long periods of steaming it would rise from 82-88 degrees C at 2200 RPM.
Firstly we cleaned the fresh water cooler and gearbox oil cooler both being clean to start with, a new thermostat was also fitted and tested in various jugs of water with water temperature sender.
This did not cure the issue, since then we have -
  • Fitted new cam, backplate, wearplate and impeller to Jabsco saltwater pump
  • Flushed engine with flushing fluid twice
  • New air filter
  • New genuine Perkins turbo and wastegate (old wastegate was apparently seized)
  • Cleaned intercooler
  • Checked seawater output from exhaust (found to be over 27 gallons per minute)
  • All pipework is of recommended sizes
  • Run with engine box open to ensure engine has sufficient air intake
  • Engine oil,gearbox oil, fuel and oil filters changed yearly with recommended Shell Rimula 15-40 and genuine parts
  • Tappet clearances have been checked
  • Hull has been cleaned and re antifouled
  • no oil in water at all, sniffer test has also been done and found no fumes in coolant

The engine has an electrically operated advance/retard unit, we're unsure if this is causing a fueling issue leading to overheating, the engine runs fine apart from temperature and is not smoking.

We've already had an engineer and a marine engineer look at this issue and this is starting to get expensive! Please help.

I'll try to reply on behalf of my Dad as often as I can.
Thanks!
 
That's not much of a rise in temp. Most diesels run better and get better mileage a little warm because of better fuel burn. I would have probably just keep an eye on it.
I have been running, overhauling and rebuilding marine diesels almost 60 years. When you flush a marine engine you need to do both fresh and salt water sides. Most likely you have a small build up on the water jackets around the cylinders and probably in the head water passages. I use Rydlyme and have had good results on the salt water side. I have fixed several several overheating problems in engines "just flushed" using Rydlyme. Any good radiator cleaner on the fresh side. Make sure you flush out any antifreeze before. If you have flushed the fresh side, redo for a longer time. It took 2200 hours to build up.
 
Thanks for the reply Lepke, My dad had contacted Perkins about the recommended operating temperature and they said 82 degrees C, we'll try another longer flush though and post the results.
Thanks again.
 
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