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White smoke coming out of starboard exhaust.

Ron2013

New member
I need some advice on my twin 350 Chevy MAG MPI Bluewater inboard motors on my 1999 Silverton 322. Specifically, the starboard motor. Recently took a 701 mile trip from Chattanooga, TN to Hendersonville, TN. The previous owner had the boat for the past 7 years but only took her out on the weekends, and only about 10-20 miles a month. It had been sitting for several months as I understand it. The trip took me 8 days, and the boat performed well until the last day. The last 200 miles of the trip was upstream on the Cumberland and it had a heavy current flowing against me. I checked the fluids in Clarksville and notice that both engines had used a little oil. The previous owner had been using 30 Rotella diesel oil in the gasoline engines for years. I attempted to get 30, but the store had only 15 and I put that into both engines. After a while the PSI on both engines would drop from 40 to 20 then back up, but then settled down, and appeared to be ok. However, the starboard engine started loosing compression and I had to back her down to make it to Hendersonville. I did run low on gas in the starboard engine with 6 miles to go, and had to pull her into a closed marina to fill up.

OK, now the problem. Since the fill up, I had to limp the 6 miles to its new home as I did not have the starboard engine wanting to work. It seemed to be sputtering, and did stop when I had the RPM below 1000. I had checked the oil, and at first I thought I had over filled the oil, but I recently did an oil change on it and it appears to had gas in the oil. I changed out the spark pulls and the engine cranked right up, and everything seems to be running good except for some small white smoke coming from the exhaust. I was told to put some fuel injection cleaner in the starboard tank, and since then the engine runs good but it is putting out a lot of smoke, but PSI and temp seems fine. Could anybody tell me what is going on here? I did check the raw water intake valve and both of those filters had what looked like spinach in them, they have been cleaned since, so originally the water circulation was off, but the ship handled great the whole way until the end. Is the white smoke caused by the fuel injection product and will eventually be burned off if I run her this weekend, or could it be something else? I would not doubt that something may have clogged the fuel injectors when I ran short on fuel, but it was running slower before the gas got low though. But was not smoking until I ran low on gas. Sorry for the long post...any suggestions as to what I should try next to stop the smoking?
 
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The first thing to do is a complete compression check on both motors so you can get an idea of what each is.

Write them down!! and report back!!

My initial guess is either bad gas (maybe something else in it other than just gas ( maybe some diesel) (run motor on a external gas supply from a know good small tank)

Or

You have blown a head gasket and water is getting into the combustion chamber......

OR

worst case, ring damage.

Also regardless of what the previous owner ran for oil................you should not run oil made for diesel motors in a gas motor.......I believe but could have forgotten but I believe diesel oil has very high detergents and it not good for gas motors........Lets hope you did not cause any ring wear..........or bearing damage, unlikely but possible.

Run Mercury 25-40 or equivalent.
I run Mobile one 15-50 full synthetic.

My opinion...........
 
First things first......

Is this white smoke or white steam that you are seeing?
If steam, then that will typically indicate that either E/G or Seawater is being combusted along with the fuel.

If steam, your job will be in finding out how E/G or Seawater is getting into the combustion chamber.
You will not only want to check cylinder pressures, you will also want to perform a cylinder pressure leak-down test.


If white smoke...... rather than risking using an additional portable gasoline tank (for the Stbd Engine), perhaps switch fuel lines from the Port to Stbd Engine. See if the Port side Engine now smokes.




By the way...... your 350 Chevy MAGs are Engines.
(Motors are electric, pneumatic, hydraulic, steam, etc. )


.
 
By the way.....E/G.....................only you know what that means...........

Maybe spell it out so other can understand your acronyms/abbreviations.....

They are motors............like it or not..............
 
.....................
By the way.....E/G.....................only you know what that means...........
Maybe spell it out so other can understand your acronyms/abbreviations.....
E/G = Ethylene Glycol..... (used as anti-freeze in a Closed Cooling system).


They are motors............like it or not..............
Incorrect!
If you are old enough to have learned the language back before it had become bastardized, you would know that these two words today have become inappropriately used as though they are interchangeable. They are NOT interchangeable!!

Engine....... No remote power source necessary!
a device that produces (rotational or recipricating) power (car/truck/boat/lawn mower engine) or produces thrust power (rocket engine) by directly converting it's fuel source into energy right at the device itself.

Gasoline Engine, Diesel Engine, Rocket Engine.


Motor....... Remote power source necessary!
a device that produces a usable (rotational or recipricating) power from a remotely located power source.
I.E., electric, hydraulic, pneumatic or steam motor that has recieved power source from a generator, hydaulic pump, air compressor or steam boiler respectively.

Starter motor, windshield wiper motor, heater fan motor, tilt/trim pump motor, hydrostatic drive unit motor, pneumatic impact wrench, etc.




 
Do a google search for oil for auto/truck/ marine..

Tell me what is written on the containers...............and in the description.....

I guess most of the oil/lubricant industry just happens to disagree with you.........
 
Anyway,

Start with the compression test. If that is good then we can move on to checking other things.


White vapor from the exhaust can be as simple as a clogged exhaust manifold, water fitting or exhaust elbow especially if the engine is performing properly.
 

First off.... don't be embarrassed if you grew up not knowing or understanding the difference between an Engine and a Motor. Many people to this day do not understand that there is a distinct difference, and with the layman still believing that the two words are interchangeable.
The engineers will disagree!
Technically, (as you will read below, and as I've explained earlier) it is a misnomer to refer to an Engine as being a Motor.

I'll first digress a bit:
Words such as ain't (short for "is not"), irregardless (double negative), and a few other incorrect English words have actually made their way into the on-line dictionaries. :(
Today's young people respond to a "thank you" by saying "not a problem!" Where did "you are welcome" go ??? And what's next????

The word "motor" suggests "motion", and I will agree. "Motor" may also suggest that we are able to "motorize" a device. We can "motorize" a device with an electric motor, hydraulic motor, steam motor, pneumatic motor..........., or with a gasoline or diesel Engine.
An Engine can be said to have "motorized" a device.
Examples..... Motor Yacht, motor car, motor boat, etc., but keep in mind that most all are powered via internal combustion Engines!

Ford Motor Company is correct. General Motors is correct. Lift the hood, and you'll find an Engine being used to propel the non-hybrid car/truck down the highway.
You'll also find motors used to start the Engine, deliver the fuel to the engine, operate the wipers, run the heater fan, operate the windows, operate the power seats, etc. These are NOT starter engines, fuel pump engines, wiper engines, heater fan engines, power window engines, nor power seat engines.... we call these "motors".




Taken from a few Internet sources:
(these are from people in the know!)


http://www.differencebetween.net/technology/industrial/difference-between-engine-and-motor/

http://www.ask.com/vehicles/difference-between-motor-engine-75f8663895bf9a55

http://www.makingthishome.com/2009/07/28/how-to-sound-smart-motors-vs-engines-edition/



from random forums

Caddyman
A motor uses an existing energy source like electricity to produce work. An engine converts raw fuel into work..Steam Engines, Diesel Engines, Gasoline Engines.. You never hear the term Electric Engine..

Asemaster
As a youngster I was taught that a motor is electric and an engine runs on fuel.

Bing
It kind of drives me nuts too, just like manhole covers that are put back on with the painted stripes going the wrong way. To me its an electric motor and a gas and steam engine. When someone calls an engine a motor, I tend to think a little less of their expertise.




Do a google search for oil for auto/truck/ marine..
Tell me what is written on the containers...............and in the description.....

Jack, that is an excellent suggestion...... thank you! ;)
(look closely at the red circled areas)


After having looked at that, I'll suggest that we continue to help the OP here! :)
 

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