Since this is such a new boat to us, on every trip I have been keenly aware of how the motor runs at different RPMs, and the sounds she makes while underway.
I try to check the engine every hour or so and try to sweep the oil pressure and temperature gauge with my eyes often to verify correct temps and pressure. Add to that, the daily engine oil and water checks and basically you are set to go. But in preparing for the Loop where we will be motoring for long periods of time, I had to get better at all of the above.
We will be in fresh water and salt water, small and large rivers, and plenty of places where a lot of debris and plant life will be floating around. The most likely problem we will have will be sucking debris into the cooling water intake causing the motor to overheat. When this happens, the the engine temp alarm will sound and hopefully we can shut the engine down in time to prevent damaging anything.
The problem is that the engine alarm is not very quick at telling you that the intake is plugged, and by the time the alarm sounds you may have shredded the impellor and damaged other engine parts. Guaranteed to give me nightmares.
The intake water cools the motor but also the very hot exhaust. The “wet exhaust” hose at running RPM is cooled to 100 to 120 degrees by the water and is then just warm to the touch. If the wet exhaust stops getting water i.e. plugged by debris, the first thing to happen would be the exhaust temp will immediately shoot through the roof. In fact this will happen before the engine temperature reaches its own alarm point.
This weeks project: I installed an exhaust temperature alarm. It’s a very simple device that attaches to the outside rubber exhaust hose and sends an alarm at a fairly low temp of 165 degrees. The alarm kit was made by Borel Mfg. It comes with great instructions and a well made alarm/buzzer. I purchased an extra buzzer for the flybridge. For ease of installation I mounted the buzzer under the dash in both locations. There is an override connection to test the alarms and they are very loud. These alarms are standard equipment on many newer engines and are ABYC recommended for all boats. None of the sail or power boats I have ever sailed on had this alarm. In researching, it seems that most folks would never leave the dock without one.
I still need to get a better routine for doing engine room checks but I feel good that there are now separate alarms for various types of