Carver Owners Forum

Afternoon all. Recently bought a 1979 Carver 3326 ( crusader 270's ) and made a 4 hr trip to her new home. Couple things that were off and would like your opinions. ( saltwater bay ) The engines both ran about 180-185 . Is that high? Also there seemed to be a tremendous curl of exhaust fumes to the back of the boat even up to the bridge from out of the back. So much so it would not have been safe to stand on the back while cruising. Thoughts on this? Restricted water flow, engines rich? OR is this normal? I have seen some posts on the internet that sim Carvers have had this issue as well. But would like more input. Does not do this at idle only when cruising and getting the back draft
And lastly the Port side V-Drive seemed to have a small spray of water from somewhere on it at 2500 or higher RPMS? Thoughts on what this may be? It was very small and almost "spitting" Thanks in advance for any inputs. Been a boater most of my adult life, but am fairly new to the inboard world.

Thanks
Dave

Welcome to the forum and Carver.......By what you said you are on salt water, correct?....to comment on the engine water temp we would have to know if you have closed cooling ( heat exchanger with engines having antifreeze coolant ) , or raw water cooled ( that would be sea water flowing thru the engines and waste thru the exhausts)......If you have raw water cooled then that is way too warm ( salt will separate and attach to engine blocks etc ).....Is there a good flow of water out the exhausts ?
Station wagon effect is quite common on all boats, be careful...try to break that with air flow thru the boat and out the sides.A spray of water would indicate water under pressure have a look at hoses etc in that area that are pressurized.......

Thanks Bud. Yes thats correct ( Chesapeake Bay ) saltwater. And the engines are closed cooling with heat exchangers and fresh water at the engines. One question on the station wagon affect, it does seem to be ALOT of exhuast fumes, like a white water vapor. Is that normal for cabin cruisers like this?
Thanks for your input

Doesn't sound like exhaust by what you're describing. It sounds more like steam. There are several things that contribute to that but the typical culprits are restricted flow and low raw water volume. Low volume is usually due to a failing impeller or worm pump. A restriction can be anywhere in the system from the intake, strainer if applicable, collapsing hoses, clogged oil coolers and heat exchangers, clogged manifolds, risers and elbows, etc. If your elbows are more than 5 years old, you could have restricted ports. This will cause steam as the water flow is narrowed and easily burned off by the exhaust and changing it to steam.

Do you have a fully closed system (closed cooled manifolds)?

Thanks VIper yes I do have closed cooling system. I am sure the elbows are more then 5 years old. Should I start there with replacements?

Thanks

I would start with the impellers. They should be replaced every year or two.

Thanks Tom

NE Time.

Where are you on the bay?

Agreed, start with the simple stuff first. Impellers are a regular maintenance item so they should be replaced anyway if they haven't been for a while. Then test again.