>> My understanding was that if the water flows from the hose at a greater rate 
>> than it can be pushed by the exhaust gas from the muffler to the thru hull 
>> then water will accumulate between the muffler and the mixing elbow.  
>> Eventually it will overflow on the wrong side of the mixing elbow into the 
>> cylinder...  leading to catastrophic consequences. <<

>> Now this is all theoretical knowledge I got from books and forums. <<

The concern is valid.  I was delivery skipper moving a boat from Hawaii to 
Seattle.  The boat had been mostly located in Tonga with trips to New Zealand.  
The maintenance had been poor for some time.

Several days out of Honolulu sea water backed up the exhaust hose (mounting 
clamps had failed allowing the hose to fall below the water line) flooding the 
water lift, elbow, exhaust manifold, then the cylinders.  As the sea water 
blocked the exhaust the engine sputtered and died.  As we attempted to re-start 
(we thought it was water in the fuel as this was common) the sound of failure 
was a solid thunk. (Water locked cylinders)

In short, we dried the engine, jury rigged broken valve springs with bungee 
cord donuts (provided enough pressure to mostly close the valve) and was able 
to re-start the engine enough to charge batteries, pull down the freezer, and 
motor slowly.

Moral of the story: Prevent cooling or exhaust water from backing up into the 
engine.  Shut the raw water inlet if the engine will be cranked over without 
starting. Inspect the exhaust hose routing and fasteners prior to leaving 
Hawaii.

Martin
Calypso
1970 C&C 43
Seattle
________________________________
From: CnC-List [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Sébastien 
Lemieux
Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2012 5:35 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: Stus-List Winterizing Advice sought for C&C34

My understanding was that if the water flows from the hose at a greater rate 
than it can be pushed by the exhaust gas from the muffler to the thruhull then 
water will accumulate between the muffler and the mixing elbow.  Eventually it 
will overflow on the wrong side of the mixing elbow into the cylinder...  
leading to catastrophic consequences.  If my understanding is correct, the 
situation would be the same for a fresh or raw water cooled engine.

I think it is just much easier to rely on the raw water pump to determine the 
water flow using the bucket trick.  I need the bucket setup in any case for 
feeding antifreeze, so I simply put the hose in the bucket for running the 
engine.

Now this is all theoretical knowledge I got from books and forums.  When I 
changed my impeller this fall, I noticed that the little chambers formed by the 
vanes never overlap both the input and output openings at the same time.  This 
implies that the fresh water pump will limit the flow of water pushed into the 
engine, no matter the flow of water that the hose is set to deliver...  Unless 
the hose pressure is high enough to bypass the vanes.  Or if the y-valve is 
installed after the raw water pump (which would be a very bad idea since the 
pump would run dry).

Sébastien Lemieux
Merlot X - C&C 30 mk2 1987
Mooney Bay - Lake Champlain
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