OK, it’s raining very hard here and visibility has dropped to less than ¼ mile. Man, are we glad we’re tied up at the dock as opposed to navigating around tows. The heat exchanger is getting an acid bath at Dixie’s (calcium from mud-heavy water and rust from not changing coolant frequently enough in past–I know, I know). I checked our water pump impeller this morning, and all is well there. I still ordered two more from American Diesel this morning since I wanted to pick Brian Smith’s brain anyway. Here’s what I learned.

 

Brian felt that the heat exchanger is likely NOT the problem with water coming out of the overboard “piss valve” (his words), however it’s a good thing to flush the heat exchanger anyway before it DOES become a bigger problem. This issue, per Brian, has to be something AFTER the vented loop that is causing either a partial obstruction or back pressure. I asked if my exhaust now being mostly underwater under full cruising load and at higher RPMs could be causing this, and he said, “absolutely, although it’s not really a huge issue unless you’re always running at those speeds”. He gave me a test to try. If after a day’s run, when the engine is hot, tied off to the dock where the exhaust is not “hunkered down” as it is when higher underway RPMs. If nothing comes out of the “piss valve”, then that’s the issue and the fix is to raise the exhaust port at next opportunity. If water still comes out of that valve, then there is some other obstruction and disassembly of the components after the vented loop (exhaust elbow, water lift muffler, anti-siphon loop, etc.) will be necessary to determine the exact cause.

 

Kay’s now comfortable enough with the rest of the waterway between here and Mobile Bay (“comfortable” is maybe the wrong word, but knowledgeable as possible without actually having been there). Now we’re starting to look at the Gulf charts between Mobile and Carabelle on the Florida Panhandle:

 

 

Gotta run to pick up the ole heat exchanger with the marina’s courtesy van so we can get the boys back down here to put ‘er back in. 

 

Later, ‘gators…