Need help fast!!!

jrhhtk1 · Post by **jrhhtk1** » Mon Oct 25, 2010 4:56 pm

Bringing my 33' SF from Panama City to Galveston. Just outside of Houma and port engine temp went to 240 degrees and alarm went off. Shut it down and limped over to a dock. Checked it out and fan belt was laying in the bilge in one piece. Too hot and too many mosquitos tonight to check it out. Anybody ever had this happen?? I guess it threw a belt and then overheated but why. Too loose. Tomorrow I will try and put back on. By the way, how do you tighten the 2 belts on a 3208 Cat??

Post by **dougl33** » Mon Oct 25, 2010 5:50 pm

Jeff, Hopefully one of the cat guys will check in, but in the meantime, I'd head over to boatdiesel.com.

Sean B · Post by **Sean B** » Tue Oct 26, 2010 11:28 am

Sounds like you've got the why figured out - belt was too loose? You might want to see if the belt can be put back by hand before loosening anything, to see if it was it too loose to begin with. They may have been on right initially, but then stretched as they aged. The belts tighten in the usual manner on a 3208... the components are mounted on slotted rails... you loosen the bolt on the slotted rail and also the lock/pivot bolt, then pry until the belt is set how you like it (or maybe a hair tighter), and then tighten all the bolts while holding pressure the pry bar. Start and run a few minutes and recheck belt tension. Hopefully the overheat didn't cause any other damage, this is how (overheat) most marine diesels meet their end

CB35 · Post by **CB35** » Wed Oct 27, 2010 4:48 am

One thing about loosing a belt is the cooling water (anti-freeze) boils out. This process keeps the engine cool. As long as you did not boil most of the water out you should be ok. Keep track how much water she takes to refill. You may have to add water, start and add water as air comes out of the system. Don't know your exact belt set-up, but it is simple to figure out. You also did not indicate if the belt as raw water pump or engine circulation pump. If raw water you should check the exhaust system for melted exhaust hose.

Sean B · Post by **Sean B** » Wed Oct 27, 2010 5:29 am

quote:Originally posted by CB35 If raw water you should check the exhaust system for melted exhaust hose. Excellent point / advice

photo finish · Post by **photo finish** » Wed Oct 27, 2010 6:48 am

Jeff, Any news to report?

IRGuy · Post by **IRGuy** » Wed Oct 27, 2010 7:23 am

Jeffrey... I have debated as to whether I should make this post or just leave you alone with your belt/engine overheat issue, and not cause you any additional worries, but after some thought, and considering that one of the advantages of this very special forum is that we all can benefit from each other's experiences I think I owe it to you to at least make you aware of my experiences with a similar situation on my Cummins 6Bs. Condensing things down to a minimum, when I bought "Phoenix" the previous owner (doofus) admitted to having had a coolant pump belt failure and subsequent overheat on the stbd engine, but he assured me he had "caught it immediately" and the engine was "fine"! During the pre-purchase time period I had a qualified Cummins tech thoroughly survey the engines and they passed with no major problems found. As I first began to run the boat I noticed that the stbd engine coolant would occasionally need to be topped off by two or three quarts, while the port engine was always fine. I was losing coolant somewhere, but where? I checked the oil.. it was at it's proper level with no signs of water/antifreeze being emulsified it in. I looked all over the outside of the engine for leaks, and found none. I had the Cummins tech do a pressure test on the coolant system.. the pressure held, indicating there were no leaks. But.. the coolant was going somewhere.. we suspected out the exhaust, but how was it getting there? I finally took the boat to the Cummins dealer's shop, and had them remove the exhaust mainfold. They found a small amount of coolant inside the low end, obviously there was a leak of coolant into the exhaust system, but none was visible. It wasn't until they checked the internal surfaces of the manifold with a magnifying glass did they find a very small hairline crack. It apparently only opened enough to cause a leak when the engines were run at operating temp for a while under load, but when idling at the slip (where the tech did the pressure test) it stayed closed. Yes.. it was an unexpected and certainly unbudgeted expense, it cost about $850 for a new manifold plus the manhours to remove and install, but the cost to rebuild the engine if enough coolant had gotten into a cylinder to hydro-lock it would have been in the thousands. Hopefully you won't have this experience, but it is a good idea for all of us to keep a close look at all our engine's temps, fluid levels, sounds, fuel consumption, exhaust color and density, etc, etc, etc. My stepfather was Chief Engineer on large tug boats for many years.. he went from steam to multi thousand horsepower diesel, and while we didn't have a good relationship he taught me a few things.. one is that there is usually a "normal" way for mechanical things to run.. and there is a normal range of temps, pressures, sounds, vibrations, etc for them. When there are changes something is wrong.. or at least going wrong. A word to the wise........

jrhhtk1 · Post by **jrhhtk1** » Thu Oct 28, 2010 6:56 pm

Well I took the pump off and the bearing was shot! It came out in pieces. I limped into Houma, LA and found a guy that could rebuild it. We found all the parts in Houma and the previous owner had another impeller and seals so we had it done by 5pm and on back on the boat by 6:30pm. I checked for water in the oil and found none. It did take a lot of antifreeze/water to fill up the tank so I'm guessing most boiled out. I ran the engine for 6 hours today and made it to Lake Charles with no issues. I'll check my coolant again to make sure I'm not losing any. Thanks to all for the help.

jrhhtk1 · Post by **jrhhtk1** » Thu Oct 28, 2010 7:01 pm

By the way, this was the raw water pump with 1-1/4" outlets. It looks like the bearing went out, it locked up and threw the belt, and the overheated. I will check the exhaust system like you all said, Thanks again

CB35 · Post by **CB35** » Fri Oct 29, 2010 6:53 am

The only real way to check the exhaust hose is to pull it off at the end of the stainless riser/shower cap assembly. What happens is the hose delaminates from the inside out. How much water? 2 gallons? 3 gallons? 5 gallons? Anything more then 5 gallon is a problem. You had some real hot spots. The good news is 3208's got lots of cast iron so they make a great heat sink. Plus the engine water pump was circulating water until you shut her down. The after boil must have been something to behold. Keep a close eye on your head gaskets and manifold gaskets. Another thing to watch are the water sleeves that connect the block to the exchanger. The o-rings can fail. I would change the oil if you went down anything more then 3 gallons.