Closed Cooling System on Port Engine Running Hot(ter)

[achris]

...Day 2 at the Grand Canyon going for a mule ride of some sort :noidea: Tomorrow is a pontoon float on the Colorado river

Not jealous...

 

[mr300z87]

Make sure you stop in Sedona on your way back to Phoenix. On my honeymoon there we went ATV riding through the desert, it was an awesome time.

 

[nola mike]

It's not that the ECU 'knows' the engine is running lean, it's that the ECU is set to 'LEAN', meaning the ECU will inject fuel to produce a 'leaner than normal' mixture. With an open loop system (no feedback from an O2 sensor), it's done based on a engine speed, a lookup table and engine sensor inputs (TPS, CTS, MAP, ect).

Chris.....

That was what I was getting at--Ted implied that the "lean" reading on the software meant that the mixture was too lean (ie that the computer thought the mixture was too lean despite trying to correct it)

 

[tpenfield]

Mid-week update:

Did Arches National Park yesterday, then onto Park City UT for the night. Heading to Yellowstone today.

My parts have arrived at home ( according to UPS)

About that fuel mixture stuff- The Diacom software comes up with some sort of an indication of the Fuel Mixture Status. However, there is really no documentation on how that gets determined. I like Chris' explanation of it being the assessment of the program versus what would be considered normal for the engine.

Only if you get into custom tuning of the MEFI program could you in fact change what the mixture status would be.

So, it seems that the program for these engines is intended to run on the lean side.

 

[NHGuy]

Love Yellowstone. Quick anecdote.
We were waiting for animals to clear the road while going through. Windows down, idling, travel trailer on the back. My normally vociferous dog asleep in the back of the SUV.
Two bison saunter by. I spent the entire time reminding my then grade school age kids to "shhh!"
The dog never stirred, whew!

 

[nola mike]

Hope you're going to glacier...

 

[tpenfield]

Last couple of days on the western states trip coming up. Did the Yellowstone geysers today. Supposed to ride a horse tomorrow

No glacier park on this trip. Another time perhaps.

 

[tpenfield]

Sitting at Salt Lake City airport - western vacation is coming to a close. Catching the red-eye to Boston in a few hours.

In total the Admiral , myself, and crew did 8 days of touring and hiking.

Grand Canyon
Arches
Drinking with some college buddies in Park City (that was the event that I planned)
Yellowstone park
Grand Teton park
Stops at In 'n Out burger both at the beginning and ending of the trip

Looking forward to being back home working on the boat. But the trip was fun.

 

[achris]

When I was at Park City it was covered in white lumpy rain. (1991)

 

[tpenfield]

When I was at Park City it was covered in white lumpy rain. (1991)

I was out there in 2011 for some skiing . . . actually not much snow then. Saw some snow at the peaks of the Grand Teton mountains yesterday. Among the 4 of us, we have about 4500 digital pics of our 8 day vacation.

The regulator parts are here, so next weekend I will install the new regulator on the Port engine. The 805227A1 comes as a 'kit' from Merc., including the screen. So that is a good thing. I also bought the o-rings for the insert that goes is the low pressure end of the regulator.



I got the parts for both engines, since they are hard to come by, but I'll leave the port engine alone for now. I am wondering if I should give these a quick test with air pressure, before I install one into the port engine :noidea:

 

[tpenfield]

Correction:

" but I'll leave the port engine alone for now. " I meant to say "starboard engine" is the one I'll leave alone for now.

 

[achris]

We knew what you meant Ted.

 

[nola mike]

now I'm thinking about in 'n out...

 

[tpenfield]

now I'm thinking about in 'n out...

Here you go . . . .

 

[achris]

Here you go . . . .

A heart attack in every bag.

 

[nola mike]

achris jealous that we're in the land of plenty and he's stuck eating nothing but vegemite

 

[achris]

achris jealous that we're in the land of plenty and he's stuck eating nothing but vegemite

Something like that. :rofl:

 

[tpenfield]

I'm back at the summer house (Cape Cod) for the weekend. The weather looks too good to be working on the boat. So, I'll delay the regulator swap for the time being and we will go boating instead. The bay is supposed to be flat today & tomorrow. :thumb:

I did want to give the OEM regulator a bench test though, before I go to the trouble of taking the engine apart (again ). Not sure of the exact/best procedure, but I wanted to post what I did for comment . . .

The parts are OEM for sure, based on the markings :thumb: The other ones that I got off eBay did not have any markings on the housing



I have an air compressor (1 HP 80 psi Max) that I carefully set the line regulator to 34 psi as per my fuel pressure gauge.


Then I held the trigger nozzle of the regulator air line up tight to the opening of the fuel pressure regulator that would mate with the fuel rail and pulled the trigger (so that it seals and holds air) The regulator would see the same psi that I just checked with the fuel pressure gauge . . . then I listen for any air escaping through the return vent of the regulator. (or elsewhere for that matter)



>>> At 34 psi of line pressure, the regulator held air . . . no venting of air out the 'return' side of the regulator.

>>> I increased the line pressure to 36 psi and did the same test. the regulator held air . . . no venting

>>> Then I increased the line pressure to 38 psi did a third test. . . the regulator started venting some air.

So, by my basic bench test, I would say that the regulator passes the test of 34-38 psi regulation (36 psi +/- 2 psi). by comparison the non-OEM regulators that I had were dumping air at 28 psi of line pressure.

Does this sound like an appropriate test of the regulator ? :noidea:

 

[alldodge]

Sure looks like a good test to me

 

[tpenfield]

I swapped out the fuel regulator this morning and took the boat out for a cruise. No difference in the temperature. The port engine runs 10-15 degrees hotter as it did before. But at least the fuel pressure is back to spec. If I go into the 3200-3400 rpm range (cruising at about 38 mph) the port temp climbs into the 175 - 180 range.

Next steps would be checking the intake fitting at the transom ( I think it is referred to as Bravoitis :noidea: ). Where corrosion restricts the diameter of the intake fitting at the transom assembly . . .

I did snake the intake tube as far as I could, but the fitting could still be restricted.

Other than that, it would be the recirculating pump as an additional thing to check.