LS3 overheating

[JEFFR]

I just took delivery of a 2010 Wakesetter with the LS3. I was told by the dealer not to sit and idle for a long time or the engine will overheat. On the first day out out while driving 5 miles an hour in a no wake zone the engine overheating warning went off. I put it into neutral and rev'd the engine and the temp went down. Has anybody had this problem? the boat is back with the dealer to check it out. the boat was taking on water as well. I am wondering if the two are related.

Jeff

[Bobby Light]

I just took delivery of a 2010 Wakesetter with the LS3. I was told by the dealer not to sit and idle for a long time or the engine will overheat. On the first day out out while driving 5 miles an hour in a no wake zone the engine overheating warning went off. I put it into neutral and rev'd the engine and the temp went down. Has anybody had this problem? the boat is back with the dealer to check it out. the boat was taking on water as well. I am wondering if the two are related.

Jeff

That is a bunch of BS, your dealer needs to take the boat back and work with Indmar to get it fixed ASAP. Don't let them tell you it's normal.

[jkendallmsce]

That is a bunch of BS, your dealer needs to take the boat back and work with Indmar to get it fixed ASAP. Don't let them tell you it's normal.

Welcome to the club.

Larry at Idmar will tell how the cooling system on the LS3 flows differently than the monsoon, and that the alarm sounding is be expected. Next they'll ask if you have a heater...for some reason the makes the problem worse...so I have been told.

We have about a 1 mile long no wake zone (takes about 10 minutes to get to the end) and every time we have started the engine (cold start) it has run up to 197-205 degrees, with the alarm sounding. We have about 30 hours on the boat, and it has begun to do the same (running up to to 200 degrees) after sitting for 1/2 to 1 hour.

WHat does seem to help, is to put the transmission in neutral and rev the engine to 1500-2000 rpm a couple of times, and the water temp will drop back to the normal operating temp of 160.

Peter is aware of the problem, and he was the first to tell me about revving the engine up a few times...kinda like burping it to purge the air pockets inside th engine.

Malibu has told me that the 2011's will have 200 degree thermostats, so not to worry.

Ours is going back in, and I am telling Malibu to put valves at the manifold the feeds the heater, so both intake and supply lines can be shut off. DOn't really need it when its 95-100 degrees!!

Edited August 2, 2010 by jkendallmsce

[Bobby Light]

Welcome to the club.

Larry at Idmar will tell how the cooling system on the LS3 flows differently than the monsoon, and that the alarm sounding is be expected. Next they'll ask if you have a heater...for some reason the makes the problem worse...so I have been told.

We have about a 1 mile long no wake zone (takes about 10 minutes to get to the end) and every time we have started the engine (cold start) it has run up to 197-205 degrees, with the alarm sounding. We have about 30 hours on the boat, and it has begun to do the same (running up to to 200 degrees) after sitting for 1/2 to 1 hour.

WHat does seem to help, is to put the transmission in neutral and rev the engine to 1500-2000 rpm a couple of times, and the water temp will drop back to the normal operating temp of 160.

Peter is aware of the problem, and he was the first to tell me about revving the engine up a few times...kinda like burping it to purge the air pockets inside th engine.

Malibu has told me that the 2011's will have 200 degree thermostats, so not to worry.

Ours is going back in, and I am telling Malibu to put valves at the manifold the feeds the heater, so both intake and supply lines can be shut off. DOn't really need it when its 95-100 degrees!!

Maybe that's why they don't offer the LS3 anymore, sounds it's more problem prone than the HH was. At least they narrowed down the HH problems to a bad batch of motors, this LS3 problem sounds like an engineering issue to me. Good luck with that crap, that sucks you aren't supposed to idle your boat.

[BIG JAY]

part of the problem is the dripless shaft packing. it burps the air out of the system. have them check the line going to the shaft. but the heater is part of the problem. no real fix yet.

[jkendallmsce]

Maybe that's why they don't offer the LS3 anymore, sounds it's more problem prone than the HH was. At least they narrowed down the HH problems to a bad batch of motors, this LS3 problem sounds like an engineering issue to me. Good luck with that crap, that sucks you aren't supposed to idle your boat.

So the LS 3 is not going to be offered in 2011???

[Bobby Light]

So the LS 3 is not going to be offered in 2011???

Nope, the new offering is called an L92 I believe?

[SmoothWaterMan]

The LS-LY generation of motors run at 210 degrees in the automotive world, but for some reason these engines all run with a large temp swing. Burping the engine will definitely help when idling. We have found that by installing a water line out of the unused thermostat port to the water cooled shaft seal, and plumbing the purge-air line from the manifold into this line using a Y, so that the water flow from the thermostat helps "suck" the air out, then you only have to "burp" the engine once when idling. This is typically after running hard and you slow down to dead idle - some air accumulates and needs to get pushed out.

This is not something that Malibu or Indmar has found needed, just something I was experimenting with to try to get a more constant temperature. The alarm switch installed is less than the 210 temp that these engines run in the auto world, so it's not a problem for the engine to be there. Unless you switch to closed cooling... I don't think that we can get a constant temperature with raw water cooling.

Peter

[jkendallmsce]

The LS-LY generation of motors run at 210 degrees in the automotive world, but for some reason these engines all run with a large temp swing. Burping the engine will definitely help when idling. We have found that by installing a water line out of the unused thermostat port to the water cooled shaft seal, and plumbing the purge-air line from the manifold into this line using a Y, so that the water flow from the thermostat helps "suck" the air out, then you only have to "burp" the engine once when idling. This is typically after running hard and you slow down to dead idle - some air accumulates and needs to get pushed out.

This is not something that Malibu or Indmar has found needed, just something I was experimenting with to try to get a more constant temperature. The alarm switch installed is less than the 210 temp that these engines run in the auto world, so it's not a problem for the engine to be there. Unless you switch to closed cooling... I don't think that we can get a constant temperature with raw water cooling.

Peter

One of the primary reasons that marine engines run much cooler than non marine engines (automotive world), is that drastic and not good things happen to contaminants found in the water column as it is heated. Contaminants such as calcium, magnesium and other dissolved solids precipitate out of the water column at temps near and above boiling. Over time, that scaling can restrict passage ways used to cool the engine.

There is a reason that GM and Ford suggest using distilled water when flushing out and or replenishing your radiator.

Edited August 2, 2010 by jkendallmsce

[LuckyEnough]

(My)Jeff has already addressed the overheating problem on our 2010 Response with the LS3 but doesn't look like anyone has addressed the leaking. We have the direct drive instead of the V drive so you may have different leaks but... our bilge was running constantly and we had three real problems. First, our installed hot-cold shower switch was not cutting the water from flowing to the shower manifold so every time the engine was running we had the pressurized water running to the shower manifold and the hose connections were leaking from the back of the shower manifold. You couldn't really see the leak from inside the trunk (where our shower is) but water was streaming into the hull like a waterfall. In the interim we used pvc plugs to disconnect the shower hoses until we can get it to the dealer for repair. The second was we found another leak in the dripless system...where the propeller shaft was joined with the red gasket we had some leaking. With both leaks creating so much water and tossing it back and forth between the compartments (ski locker, engine and muffler/dripless shaft area) the effect was that the spinning propeller shaft took all this leaking water and created a whirlgig effect shooting the water like a fire hose even further. We also noted that the hull plug in the engine compartment also seemed to have a small leak although if we ratcheted it down with pliers (rather than hand tighten, we could get this controlled. In any case, it was no wonder the bilge was running constantly with all the water. If you have any questions, [email protected] can answer as I admit to not being an engineer and he is. Hope this gives you some places to start. After all, how many places and things can create that much water inside of the boat unless you have left hull plugs completely out???

[JEFFR]

picking the boat up from the dealer and heading to Lake Powell tomorrow. Dealer told me about the shower leaking, need to see what he fix was. As for the engine, no action taken. I will ask them to consider Peter's fix and see what happens.

[FME]

i would recommand to check that the vent tube between the heads and the hose going to cool the shaft all clean and not blocked