leshthomas
New Member
Hi folks-
My wife and I bought a 1976 29' Ericson recently. The survey showed few problems, we had a compression test done (excellent), and we sailed it a few times with no problems. Then we tried to fill the water tanks. There was a cap that said "water" near the bow on the starboard side. We filled it untill full, and then to our horror, looked inside the boat to find 6" of water on the floor. We pumped it out, and then dried the engine block out with a fan. When we took the boat out, the engine didnt want to run under load, so we limped back to the marina, and scoped the engine out. The oil was no longer black, it was milky. Also, when I tried to run the engine later to heat the oil for removal, the hose that goes to the coolant reservoir, which is wrapped in fiberglass or something, was smoking. So we shut it down and are unsure what to do. We dont know how water got into the oil--the only thing we can think is a blown head gasket or (gasp!) a cracked block. The engine was supposedly a rebuilt atomic 4 freshwater cooled with 60 hours. It ran beautifully for weeks before this.
So, thats the engine problem. Any ideas?
The plumbing is more complicated. The sink wasnt draining, but when I removed the hose below the sink, it spit water at me untill all the nasty sink wastewater was gone, but then it kept spewing freshwater--and I dont know from where! I followed the pipe from the sink, and it appears to go into the hull on the starboard side--so where is the sink wastewater going, and where is the freshwater coming from? Is the wastewater pumped out of the boat by a freshwater gravity feed or is the sink wastewater being pumped into our bow water tank? There is also a cap on the aft starboard side that says "water" , but we cant find a water tank for it. We also cant locate the bow water tank we filled. Anyone have any ideas or schematics for the plumbing for a 29 foot Ericson?
Thanks!
Les and Margarite Thomas
29' Ericson "Opus"
My wife and I bought a 1976 29' Ericson recently. The survey showed few problems, we had a compression test done (excellent), and we sailed it a few times with no problems. Then we tried to fill the water tanks. There was a cap that said "water" near the bow on the starboard side. We filled it untill full, and then to our horror, looked inside the boat to find 6" of water on the floor. We pumped it out, and then dried the engine block out with a fan. When we took the boat out, the engine didnt want to run under load, so we limped back to the marina, and scoped the engine out. The oil was no longer black, it was milky. Also, when I tried to run the engine later to heat the oil for removal, the hose that goes to the coolant reservoir, which is wrapped in fiberglass or something, was smoking. So we shut it down and are unsure what to do. We dont know how water got into the oil--the only thing we can think is a blown head gasket or (gasp!) a cracked block. The engine was supposedly a rebuilt atomic 4 freshwater cooled with 60 hours. It ran beautifully for weeks before this.
So, thats the engine problem. Any ideas?
The plumbing is more complicated. The sink wasnt draining, but when I removed the hose below the sink, it spit water at me untill all the nasty sink wastewater was gone, but then it kept spewing freshwater--and I dont know from where! I followed the pipe from the sink, and it appears to go into the hull on the starboard side--so where is the sink wastewater going, and where is the freshwater coming from? Is the wastewater pumped out of the boat by a freshwater gravity feed or is the sink wastewater being pumped into our bow water tank? There is also a cap on the aft starboard side that says "water" , but we cant find a water tank for it. We also cant locate the bow water tank we filled. Anyone have any ideas or schematics for the plumbing for a 29 foot Ericson?
Thanks!
Les and Margarite Thomas
29' Ericson "Opus"
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