Blown Engine / Exhaust ? Please Help

[oldjeep]

Hulk, no offence meant but you really need to understand how your motor works before you start suggesting design changes. You flip between I don't know anything about engines to I'm an engineer to I've been working in the Marine industry forever about every 5 posts.

[saxton15]

Maybe go spend some time with your dealer's service area and get to know your engine. Have them point out the alarms, key hoses and fittings that should be checked prior to putting the boat in. They are doing you right by fixing it all, I'm sure it won't kill them to show you what to look out for.

Edited May 30, 2015 by saxton15

[The Hulk]

Ha yea I will surely get to know it much more.. the marine business I'm in is about as far from engines as possible.. an engineer but far from an engine mechanic but of course I'll be familiarizing myself much more with this beast!

[85 Barefoot]

With dogs kids tubers surfers music it's very easy to overlook any one gauge... when's the last time anyone paid attention to their cars temp gauge when the red light wasn't on? Pry nobody... but again as dealer said no water no temp readings and no warning...

My engine temp gauge gets looked at at least every 3 minutes. Seriously. We're not talking cars here. Even WITH all your hoses hooked up you should still be watching your temp gauge because lake debris can obstruct it as can pieces of impeller, which is a wear item. If you have closed cooling to be honest I'm not sure whether you have a traditional impeller for the heat exchanger, tranny, and exhaust but either way, obstructions WILL occur. Not might, WILL. May I be so blunt as to suggest you really need to change your mindset that a boat is simply a turnkey thing at all times. It's not. Way more to be mindful of both at the beginning of the year and throughout than you are apparently thinking.

Water temp gauge has absolutely nothing to do with the engine temp. Nothing. You and your dealer are having a miscommunication problem.

[85 Barefoot]

Ok this has to be serious engineering negligence not to have an engine block alarm for any boat... there is stuff for 20-200 bucks.. we all have 20-150k boats..seems older boats had such things how do boats costing as much as a house dont? ... seems engine providers or boat companies would be smart to require it for warranty reasons... any recommendations in any such devices on the marker? Engine temp bolt alarm "aqualarm" 20 bucks.. exhaust temp alarm 220 bucks???

I'm not trying to be harsh here Hulk but you have a temp alarm and you admittedly weren't even watching the correct gauge. You also didn't inspect your hoses for the very first run of the year. I understand you thought the dealer did that but you're going to need to be more responsible than that in the future. There is no need for any other alarms on these boats so long as the user is demonstrating basic prudence. Please take that as advice not a criticism...you can still have fun on your boat if you spend 5 minutes looking it over.

[The Hulk]

85 I think people are confusing my statement about the lake water and air temp gauge instead of engine temp gauge ...I was just saying that water/air gauge was way off and questioning if that might have also been damaged in the aftermath or potentially why the engine warning/temps didn't go off or show high... ... nothing to do withnot viewing engine temp gauge. That's totally separate gauge I'm fully aware.

I should also make clear that I may have used the terms loosely. The engine temp gauge is NOT reading actual engine temps but rather it measures the water temps of the water cooling the engine....hope this is clear now and why this measurement will always LAG actual results compared to an exhaust temp which would be near instant..

Yes apart from checking the hose but again if hose comes off or isn't connected after serviced...and then with the inner cooled engine u can do serious damage with out any warnings of high temps (because if no water no readings or alarms) and if no water going through intake then the temp will just show normal while she cooks herself without any warnings or high temp readings or anything. with a normal engine maybe you're OK but with the supercharger I think it is worth the $200 exhaust temp investment as it would leave absolutely no questions to temps going out of the norm instantly versus relying on the water that is being exchanged quickly and thus in a rare case cause damage before going into the red on the standard engine temp gauge which ONLY measures the water being exchanged.. it will at least be a 200 buck piece of mind double redundant system for me in the future which I'll probably never need again but so be it....

While I don't disagree on checking gauges and hoses... due diligence ...shouldn't any mfg's goal be to have a turn key product with numerous warnings such like cars 1/10th the price do..

if u look at your gauge at least every 3 mins just realize the engine could be toast in less than that or damage done with a SC engine at least.. and not to mention as owners of these boats in order to actually get to use them we have to rely on someone else at the helm who is probably sometimes oblivious at times to much other than throttle and steering.. isn't that one of the greatest things about speed control? It's idiot proof so anyone can drive you..shouldn't warnings be the same?

Not trying to stir any pots here just playing devils advocate in good heart =)

And MOSTLY hopping this thread brings awareness to others so they don't end up in the same situation..

[shawndoggy]

hulk that's how every engine temp gauge ever works. the temp is water temp. this is getting dumb.

[RTS]

this is getting dumb.

I agree 100%. Water, or antifreeze, or whatever is acting as a heat sink and that is what is measured.

If you are really looking for peace of mind, you could install a system similiar to what is found on small aircraft with reciprocating engines. They will give you the cylinder head and exhaust gas temperatures for each cylinder independently.

Something like this....

https://www.jpinstruments.com/shop/ed-800/

But something tells me if you are not going to monitor your single engine temp gauge, it might be a tall order to monitor a system such as this.

For crying out loud....just watch your temperature gauge when you launch the boat and go WOT if you feel you must drop the hammer after launching the boat for the first time during the season (and I guess in this case the first time you had the boat out other than the test drive, period, if I read the initial post correctly). If if goes above whatever the temperature rating is of the thermostat you have installed, shut it down and figure out why before things start melting.

It's what boat owners have been doing for who knows how many years.

Edited May 30, 2015 by RTS

[The Hulk]

I agree this is getting pointless..

Eeryone is saying watch the temp and I will surely .. and did check it once..but in my scenario the gauge is rendered absolutely useless....so how would watching the gauge of helped me??

My ONLY point is the temp gauge is worthless without intake water...super cool gauge temps without water!!!!

[RTS]

My ONLY point is the temp gauge is worthless without intake water...super cool gauge temps without water!!!!

But I think what you may be failing to recognize is that in a closed loop system....your temp gauge never touches intake water. Unless it was boiling, your temp gauge probe was immersed in the coolant in the system.

The temp gauge on your car never touches (and therefore never measures) the medium that actually cools the coolant running through the engine...air. And the gauge on your car is far from worthless.

[Sixball]

Gages, idiot lights, in vehicles are so often never seen by many! I know more the one person who never knew they needed to change or check engine oil or level.

And that's all I will say.

[ibelonginprison]

I run a lot of extra gauges on my boosted cars. Too much can go wrong too quickly, to risk it.

Granted, that's why these motors are built tougher and don't run on the raw edge of tuning. So there's a lot more leeway when something does go wrong.

[Lance B. Johnson]

I agree this is getting pointless..

Eeryone is saying watch the temp and I will surely .. and did check it once..but in my scenario the gauge is rendered absolutely useless....so how would watching the gauge of helped me??

My ONLY point is the temp gauge is worthless without intake water...super cool gauge temps without water!!!!

Ok. Can't hold my tongue any longer. If you don't want the sort of response I am about to type then go figure out your boat with the service guy and quit posting here .

Your gauge was working FINE. It is closed cooling the sensor is submersed all the time, and you IGNORED the gauge. You failed to inspect your boat and watch your gauge. Therefor this is YOUR fault. What I have said ALL along.

Please don't put any family members on your boat until you figure this out. You are putting anyone who gets on the boat with you at risk because you dont know what the hell is going on.

Edit: and on a final note.....do you REALLY think you have any business modding your engine for more horsepower? Really? Lingenfelter pully upgrade lol. Thats all you need is to decrease the reliability even more. I feel sorry for your dealer.

Edited May 31, 2015 by Lance B. Johnson

[Lance B. Johnson]

And on a final note:

If your gauge wasn't working (it was), what on earth made you think it was ok to go do some WOT hot laps.

[justgary]

Ouch. That's gonna leave a mark.

Anyway, I ran a car out of coolant once, and thought it was ok since the gauge didn't show that the engine was getting hot.

We live, and hopefully we learn.

[haresource2]

Don't know if this is the case or not, but couldn't engine have shut down because of some exhaust sensor? Temp, pressure. If that's the case and engine is closed cooling, the engine probably never overheated.

[DocPhil]

Ok. Can't hold my tongue any longer. If you don't want the sort of response I am about to type then go figure out your boat with the service guy and quit posting here .

Your gauge was working FINE. It is closed cooling the sensor is submersed all the time, and you IGNORED the gauge. You failed to inspect your boat and watch your gauge. Therefor this is YOUR fault. What I have said ALL along.

Please don't put any family members on your boat until you figure this out. You are putting anyone who gets on the boat with you at risk because you dont know what the hell is going on.

Edit: and on a final note.....do you REALLY think you have any business modding your engine for more horsepower? Really? Lingenfelter pully upgrade lol. Thats all you need is to decrease the reliability even more. I feel sorry for your dealer.

Man, this is pretty harsh LBJ. Give the guy some slack.

I think he is trying to learn about his engine in his own way and think about ideas for it not to happen again.

This thread is about his motor blowing up and what to do.

Why not just unfollow the thread instead of piling on the guy?

[Lance B. Johnson]

Man, this is pretty harsh LBJ. Give the guy some slack.

I think he is trying to learn about his engine in his own way and think about ideas for it not to happen again.

This thread is about his motor blowing up and what to do.

Why not just unfollow the thread instead of piling on the guy?

Because he needs an education. He needs to take it seriously. He needs to stop blaming the dealer.

[Pnwrider]

Man, this is pretty harsh LBJ. Give the guy some slack.

I think he is trying to learn about his engine in his own way and think about ideas for it not to happen again.

This thread is about his motor blowing up and what to do.

Why not just unfollow the thread instead of piling on the guy?

In case you hadn't noticed, this thread has beaten the horse to death. when it comes to checking gages, etc. People need to cut the guy some slack. I'm guessing this is his first vdrive? I bought my malibu 3 years ago knowing nothing and probably would've done the same thing (except I never take my boat wot). Yet he gets blasted by people on here for doing what any newb would've done. I bought my boat winterized and it had a tag on the steering wheel saying to call the dealer before starting (why people were asking about the tag in your engine bay).

[Lance B. Johnson]

Man.....the less sure i am of myself the more cautious I proceed. Being a newb is no excuse.

Edited May 31, 2015 by Lance B. Johnson

[ibelonginprison]

I get it.

$85k for the monster of the lake. You bought a bad B, you thought it was broken in, prepped and ready to go - you should be able to come outta the parking lot sideways with smoke boiling off the rear tires, so to speak.

I'm only cautious because I've had a lot of experience blowing stuff up.

[oceanbu]

I can see both viewpoints. If you didn't know better you would drive it like it's stolen first time out. Experience tells us that is not a good idea. Experience tells us first time out is about just making sure everything works properly and rechecking everything before you're on the water, after you are on the water and once again when you are off the water. Some of us have had to learn this lesson the hard way.

Yes, if your dealer tells you the boats good to go it should be but mistakes happen. We see it on this forum every year around this time. In a sick kind of way it is my favourite time of year on TMC, reading about the plethora of blown motors or x,y,z happened first time out. After I read each one I file away a new thing to check for each year. I share my mistakes and I learn from others mistakes.

BTW if his supercharger melted wouldn't that shut the motor down?

[ibelonginprison]

BTW if his supercharger melted wouldn't that shut the motor down?

It doesn't necessarily "melt" like candle wax.

The bearings end up getting scorched, and it scores the journals and ends up out of round and sometimes broken bearings. The screws/compressor blades don't necessarily come apart. (If it did, then the motor really WOULD be toast.)

[RTS]

Experience tells us first time out is about just making sure everything works properly and rechecking everything before you're on the water, after you are on the water and once again when you are off the water. Some of us have had to learn this lesson the hard way.

That's why the first time out for the season I ALWAYS went by myself. No crew to impress by WOT hot runs. I could take my time making sure all systems were go. Drop it in the water....check the bilge for water. Idle around within site of the dock...checking to see the engine came up to temp and stayed where it was supposed to. A couple 3K RPM runs...open the engine cover to look for water and anything out of the ordinary. Check the shaft packing for proper drip rate and make sure it was cool to the touch.

Only then would I open her up to make sure it would turn full RPM (in my case 5K)...again making sure engine temp was OK. Then I would open the boat up for crew and guests for the season. Had something gone wrong (and one time it did...in a bad way...long story) there was just me in the boat with a life jacket ready to don.

[The Hulk]

I run a lot of extra gauges on my boosted cars. Too much can go wrong too quickly, to risk it.

Granted, that's why these motors are built tougher and don't run on the raw edge of tuning. So there's a lot more leeway when something does go wrong.

Exactly!!!!

also i know very few have the LSA engine so from what i read a lot "could" go wrong with the SC LSA far quicker than with the other smaller hp engines out there.