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Having sailed 4 different DownEaster 38s, I was familiar with the Farymann and so, when buying Eclipse, 1st on the agenda was… replace the engine.
The best I could afford at the time was a Volvo MD40 [40hp diesel] …no problems there ~ until today.
The engine was not putting out as much exhaust H20 as it did / should.
Went for a swim and checked that nothing [e.g. a plastic bag] had been sucked into the engine cooling raw water intake …all clear.
Checked the hoses ~ all clear / tight / no leaks.
Removed 1" silt / sand from the bottom of the water strainer.
Replaced the water pump impeller.
Now,it's worse than before ~ not a drop coming out of the tail pipe!
Any suggestions much appreciated.
Thanks …
Martin – DE38 Cutter s/v Eclipse
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I haven't worked on an MD40,but a buddy of mine has a MD20 that has a problem with carbon building up in the mixing elbow. When we discovered this the first time,almost the entire diameter of the elbow was full of carbon and had reduced water flow to a trickle. Now he takes the elbow off and cleans out the carbon once a year as routine maintenance.
Jason
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Thanks for the suggestion ~ will check the mixing elbow for carbon buildup blocking the outflow.
Will also check the exhaust riser [an after-market addition by me as, the Volvo was installed by Volvo without a riser, only anti-siphon hoses]. Bob Salnick, of DE45 Eolian, has an article about rebuilding his exhaust elbow in the winter of 2004/2005.
Today, I removed the water heater from the equation and hooked the in/out hoses together + ran a hose direct from the [open] seacock to the engine + primed pump and all hoses with H2O.
A little better than before but not for long ... ever-so-slight grey/white smoke and some bubbly water as I used washing up liquid to lubricate the new impeller when installing ... coming out the tail pipe!
Engine starts up 1st time every time and runs smoothly in and out of gear ~ I shut it down the instant I ascertain the situation. As some [not many] of the hoses are the originals from when the engine was installed in 1996, replacing them all is long overdue and next on the list.
I read about your pin rails and yes, they do indeed look 'salty' but, no matter what height they were on whichever DE I sailed, the head sail sheets would continually snag on them and usually flip a pin overboard!
Another DE owner was looking for a stays'l boom ... that was the 2nd thing to go 'overboard' [after the Farymann]. It served no purpose, as confirmed by Hal Roth [R.I.P.], other than a lethal weapon!
If nothing else, boating is an education ~ in more ways than one ... I have learned, since no longer a liveaboard, I spend more time [and money] on maintenance ~ than on the water [on my own boat]!
Martin – DE38 Cutter s/v Eclipse
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Of course now that I think about it, where the exhaust elbow was carboning up was on the dry side. It's a problem with the volvos but probably not your problem.
BTW, I've never had a sheet catch on one of my pin rails. The upper shrouds keep the sheets off nicely.
Jason
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