Sooo .... how bad is it?

[trainermb]

We have a 34 CHB with the (apparently) standard-issue Lehman. We love her, but she's presently immobile, docked in a slip, while we make her seaworthy. She's a recent purchase, and we knew we were buying a project. Well, numerous projects, but that's boat ownership, right?

PO told me there was a leak in the exhaust elbow. Fine, not a big deal -- got a new elbow and commenced wrenching.

When I popped the elbow off, about a pint or so of coolant (the Prestone green stuff, not seawater) poured out the end.

This seems highly irregular to me, but I'm applying landlubber mechanic skills to a marine engine and that's probably unwise. Put it this way -- if this was a '64 Buick, I'd be at least 95% certain it had a blown head gasket or cracked block. Is that a reasonable assumption with this engine?

Thanks!

 

[Comodave]

Welcome aboard. Congrats on your new boat. Call Brian at American Diesel, he is the guru on Lehmans. 804-435-3107

 

[SteveK]

Is there coolant in the oil, does the engine turn over?
The exhaust manifold is attached to the head, the head gasket is below the exhaust outlets, so I doubt a head gasket issue put green coolant inside the exhaust port of the manifold. There is coolant in the manifold.
Top up the coolant reservoir and see if it comes out the now open end of the exhaust manifold. There should be a (brain fart) spigot thing at the top other end of manifold, open that until coolant comes out, then close. My WAG is cracked exhaust manifold.

Oh, and welcome to the club.

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. t. Welcome aboard. You're perfectly fine. The exhaust manifold is NOT sea water cooled. It is cooled by the coolant and in turn the coolant is cooled by the heat exchanger.
Install your new elboow with a new gasket and fill up the engine with new coolant (diesel compatible), open the spigot thing at the forward top end of the manifold (as suggested by Mr. (brainfart) SV to bleed the air out and your good to go IMO.


Cool!

 

[psneeld]

Coolant is normal in the manifold. If any flooded in fast enough, it could be in the last cylinder or 2.

You might /should ensure none did before cranking the engine.

When I replaced mine, some coolant was present in the #6 cylinder from me not draining enough coolant before removing the elbow.

 

[CharlieO.]

Look forward to hearing your maintenance progress and projects.

We recently became owners of Marine Trader 34DC. I replaced the fuel tanks already and we are planning on taking it up the Champlain canal, we will see what projects come too during that trip.

Where is Burnette?

Good Luck and there is a lot of knowledge available here.

 

[Giggitoni]

Greetings,
Mr. t. Welcome aboard. You're perfectly fine. The exhaust manifold is NOT sea water cooled. It is cooled by the coolant and in turn the coolant is cooled by the heat exchanger.
Install your new elboow with a new gasket and fill up the engine with new coolant (diesel compatible), open the spigot thing at the forward top end of the manifold (as suggested by Mr. (brainfart) SV to bleed the air out and your good to go IMO.


Cool!

RTF is right on!

 

[KnotYet]

Coolant is normal in the manifold. If any flooded in fast enough, it could be in the last cylinder or 2.

You might /should ensure none did before cranking the engine.

When I replaced mine, some coolant was present in the #6 cylinder from me not draining enough coolant before removing the elbow.

I.E, turn the engine over by hand (wrench) two full rotations to verify that it isn't
hydrolocking. I don't know these engines but if it has glow plugs removing them
is a good idea before turning it by hand. Then you can see what gets ejected.

 

[trainermb]

Either I or the forum software filled in my "City" as my last name ... we're actually near Everett, WA, though the boat is moored in Olympia while we await a spot in Everett.

Thanks for the good luck wishes, and I've been lurking here for quite a while -- there's an amazing amount of knowledge here.

 

[SteveK]

I.E, turn the engine over by hand (wrench) two full rotations to verify that it isn't
hydrolocking. I don't know these engines but if it has glow plugs removing them
is a good idea before turning it by hand. Then you can see what gets ejected.

I should have mentioned the hydrolocking in my post, but that spigot thing distracted my thoughts.

 

[psneeld]

I.E, turn the engine over by hand (wrench) two full rotations to verify that it isn't
hydrolocking. I don't know these engines but if it has glow plugs removing them
is a good idea before turning it by hand. Then you can see what gets ejected.

Good suggestion about hand turning when in doubt.

They don't have glow plugs and a prior suggestion to crank it without removing the injectors could cause serious damage.

A classic TF post from others with no knowledge of the particular situation/experience possibly inducing someone to cause way more damage to the engine than what is a simple issue.

 

[Xlantic]

As shown below, the exhaust elbow assembly also seals-off the coolant channels in exhaust manifold. (The channels are open till the end probably for iron casting reasons during manufacture of the manifold.)

Removing the elbow could allow coolant into the manifold and engine cylinder. Unlikely and probably minimal given the engine angles down but better safe than sorry!

 

[Xlantic]

The old GB Owner's forum (I really miss that resource).

I will try to upload the full document to the manuals section in this site.

 

[SteveK]

Thanks I found it in my files in parts list B

 

[Xlantic]

That's right.

I have uploaded both A & B to the manuals section for others.

 

[Xlantic]

With 20-20 hindsight, the thing to do here is to drain the coolant before changing-out the elbow.

 

[Sangraal]

There is a 1/2” hole below the exhaust . The new manifold will plug the hole and use #2 gasket material. Once complete top off the antifreeze if needed. Not an issue. Good luck.
Paul

We have a 34 CHB with the (apparently) standard-issue Lehman. We love her, but she's presently immobile, docked in a slip, while we make her seaworthy. She's a recent purchase, and we knew we were buying a project. Well, numerous projects, but that's boat ownership, right?

PO told me there was a leak in the exhaust elbow. Fine, not a big deal -- got a new elbow and commenced wrenching.

When I popped the elbow off, about a pint or so of coolant (the Prestone green stuff, not seawater) poured out the end.

This seems highly irregular to me, but I'm applying landlubber mechanic skills to a marine engine and that's probably unwise. Put it this way -- if this was a '64 Buick, I'd be at least 95% certain it had a blown head gasket or cracked block. Is that a reasonable assumption with this engine?

Thanks!

 

[MOJO]

I should have mentioned the hydrolocking in my post, but that spigot thing distracted my thoughts.

I believe that "spigot" thing is called a petcock...

 

[Alisske]

Greetings,
Mr. t. Welcome aboard. You're perfectly fine. The exhaust manifold is NOT sea water cooled. It is cooled by the coolant and in turn the coolant is cooled by the heat exchanger.
Install your new elboow with a new gasket and fill up the engine with new coolant (diesel compatible), open the spigot thing at the forward top end of the manifold (as suggested by Mr. (brainfart) SV to bleed the air out and your good to go IMO.


Cool!

+1. Have done the elbow on my lehman at least 6 times. No biggie. That being said. Oil coolers and heat exchanger clean out should be your next projects. (E.g new coolers and have radiator shop boil out the heat exchanger and pressure test)

 

[trainermb]

It has been some time since I updated this!

The first six months of most years are insane for us, with book deadlines, audio program deadlines, then multiple conventions to prep for and attend. All that fun was punctuated with a delightful case of COVID we caught at one of the conventions. It was July before we had time to get back to the boat.

We finally finished our several-rounds-long tag team wrestling match in the bilge with the elbow/exhaust hose/muffler. (Who is the smart aleck who marked that hose as "flexible"?) As I am 6'2" and older than dirt, my petite wife did most of the heavy duty. Between us we got everything hooked up. Pushed the start button and she kicked over like she'd been running five minutes before. Hooray! We have a running engine!

To be super-safe, we got the remaining fuel polished. No one knows how long this boat has been a marina queen, but it is pretty likely some of that diesel has been in the tanks for more than a decade. This way, we could know the state of the tanks and know we at least had less of a chance of stalling 100 yards out of the marina when we take her out. The good news is the tanks and fuel were pronounced to be in great shape. (The fuel polisher shared some spine-tingling horror stories of Things He Had Seen in Other Boats.)

Next up, we're dealing with that antique blackwater tank that we have dubbed "Ol' Stink-'n'-Leak." That's going away and we're pondering putting in a composting toilet in the aft head. For the moment, the forward head will probably be at least temporarily disabled. Considering the seacock for the seawater feed to the toilet is, apparently, stuck in the closed position, I should probably say, "Will continue to be disabled for the foreseeable future."

After that, those dilapidated, screwed-down teak decks are going, which will fix a disturbing number of leaks.

Thanks to all the work left to do, we probably won't be moving from the cozy confines (?) of the luxurious West Bay Marina in Olympia, WA up to Everett, WA for another year. We're up to #3 on the wait list for a spot at Everett, but we really doubt we'll get everything done that needs done before that spot opens up, and Everett allows no (as in "NO, absolutely not, don't even think about it!") work on the boat while it is in the slip. West Bay, on the other hand .... well .... let's just say they have a different policy. So we'll probably move back to the bottom of the Everett list and make our move in a year or so.

(For those who don't know the area, Olympia is at the far south end of Puget Sound. Everett is about 75 nautical miles north of Olympia. We live about 20 minutes from the Everett marina, but about 2.5 miserable driving hours from Olympia.)

Thanks, everybody, for your help on this. And if anybody near Olympia, WA wants to do a bilge dive and help pull out an old, leaky, steel blackwater tank, just let us know. Hello? Hello???? *taps microphone* Is this thing on????

 

[Comodave]

If I were upgrading my head system, I would goo with a Raritan Marine Elegance head, SaniFlex hose and a Ronko (sp?) holding tank. They are all first rate equipment.

 

[GoneFarrell]

Comodave recc on equipment is good.

Just don't throw wipes down the head, can be really hard to clean out of the head macerator. Don't ask me how I know.

 

[Comodave]

Comodave recc on equipment is good.

Just don't throw wipes down the head, can be really hard to clean out of the head macerator. Don't ask me how I know.

Absolutely no wipes in the head for flushing….

 

[Peter B]

Absolutely no wipes in the head for flushing….

Aha, that accounts for the Freudian slip where you said goo, instead of go...with...etc...

 

[Comodave]

Aha, that accounts for the Freudian slip where you said goo, instead of go...with...etc...

Late night typing…

 

[Bmarler]

It has been some time since I updated this!

The first six months of most years are insane for us, with book deadlines, audio program deadlines, then multiple conventions to prep for and attend. All that fun was punctuated with a delightful case of COVID we caught at one of the conventions. It was July before we had time to get back to the boat.

We finally finished our several-rounds-long tag team wrestling match in the bilge with the elbow/exhaust hose/muffler. (Who is the smart aleck who marked that hose as "flexible"?) As I am 6'2" and older than dirt, my petite wife did most of the heavy duty. Between us we got everything hooked up. Pushed the start button and she kicked over like she'd been running five minutes before. Hooray! We have a running engine!

To be super-safe, we got the remaining fuel polished. No one knows how long this boat has been a marina queen, but it is pretty likely some of that diesel has been in the tanks for more than a decade. This way, we could know the state of the tanks and know we at least had less of a chance of stalling 100 yards out of the marina when we take her out. The good news is the tanks and fuel were pronounced to be in great shape. (The fuel polisher shared some spine-tingling horror stories of Things He Had Seen in Other Boats.)

Next up, we're dealing with that antique blackwater tank that we have dubbed "Ol' Stink-'n'-Leak." That's going away and we're pondering putting in a composting toilet in the aft head. For the moment, the forward head will probably be at least temporarily disabled. Considering the seacock for the seawater feed to the toilet is, apparently, stuck in the closed position, I should probably say, "Will continue to be disabled for the foreseeable future."

After that, those dilapidated, screwed-down teak decks are going, which will fix a disturbing number of leaks.

Thanks to all the work left to do, we probably won't be moving from the cozy confines (?) of the luxurious West Bay Marina in Olympia, WA up to Everett, WA for another year. We're up to #3 on the wait list for a spot at Everett, but we really doubt we'll get everything done that needs done before that spot opens up, and Everett allows no (as in "NO, absolutely not, don't even think about it!") work on the boat while it is in the slip. West Bay, on the other hand .... well .... let's just say they have a different policy. So we'll probably move back to the bottom of the Everett list and make our move in a year or so.

(For those who don't know the area, Olympia is at the far south end of Puget Sound. Everett is about 75 nautical miles north of Olympia. We live about 20 minutes from the Everett marina, but about 2.5 miserable driving hours from Olympia.)

Thanks, everybody, for your help on this. And if anybody near Olympia, WA wants to do a bilge dive and help pull out an old, leaky, steel blackwater tank, just let us know. Hello? Hello???? *taps microphone* Is this thing on????

There are things to be said about west bay. but, being able to work on the boat is worth any downside you might think of. I’ve had a work dock tied to my off side for months now. They’re really great and accommodating when you have things to do. It’s certainly not the type of facility you seek out when you’re out cruising, but it’s perfect for my style. I don’t know what I’d do if I couldn’t work on the boat “in slip”. Of course you take precautions so as to not contaminate the water, or dirty up the neighbors boat.
For me, the sound of spring is a chorus of sanders from all over the marina.

 

[Nick F]

I had a a CHB34 with similar sanitary system issues and I replaced the aft head with a head with its own built in tank. Not the solution for everyone, but one option and it worked for me.

Here is the thread describing it:

https://www.trawlerforum.com/forums...land-m28-711-marine-gravity-toilet-61635.html

Regards,
Nick