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Old 07-27-2010, 02:21 PM   #1
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Perkins 135hp diesel questions (slight smoke)

Edited! *No clue about why this was flagged....

We are buying a 36' trawler with single 135hp Perkins diesel. *I am trying to see if the smoke they produce is "normal." *See vids below from a cold start to end of 2 hour sea trial. *I "think" as we were later in the sea trial that it was not smoke and was just steam? *I had asked on another forum but you all here seem to have a lot of experience so let me know what you think. *

Start up from a cold start. *Outside air temps around 90-92 degrees:



Here it is 20 minutes into a 2 hour sea trial. *Running at about 175 degrees engine temp and 1,800 RPM:



2,200 RPM's about 40-50 minutes into sea trial. *Is this steam or smoke? *Looks like steam to me??? *Video:





End of 2 hour sea trial, 900 RPM's, full operating temps. *Note that what may look like smoke is not- there was sheen on the water from another boat we had just passed! *Basically no smoke or steam visible as we were pulling into marina:



NOTE: Last video link was wrong....here is the correct video at end of the sea trial at 900 RPM's:





Thanks!













-- Edited by Baker on Thursday 29th of July 2010 01:54:51 PM
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Old 07-27-2010, 03:39 PM   #2
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RE: Perkins 135hp diesel questions (slight smoke)

What did your Surveyor say?
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Old 07-27-2010, 04:02 PM   #3
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Perkins 135hp diesel questions (slight smoke)

Your first video is what I consider normal (or better than normal) startup oil burn-off. To me, this looks real good, particularly if it went away after a couple of minutes.

Your next three clips appear to be steam to me, no question. Not being familiar with this engine or the exhaust system in your boat (which can greatly effect how much steam comes out the pipe) I can't say if this is normal or not. But it looks like what I've seen a lot of other boats do, so I would suspect it's normal for this boat.

What I am a bit surprised at is that it put out this amount of steam with an ambient temperature in the 90s. But again, it all depends on the water temperature of the cooling water entering the exhaust and the design of the exhaust system. We were out this weekend with ambient temperatures in the 80s (but with water temps in the 50s) and I saw a few boats trailing steam behind them. Our boat (twin FL120s) does this in the winter but the exhausts are "steamless" in the summer.

By the way, this is a very clever use of YouTube.* A picture is worth a thousand words but lots of times a video is worth ten thousand.* Good on you.

-- Edited by Marin on Tuesday 27th of July 2010 05:03:15 PM
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Old 07-27-2010, 04:15 PM   #4
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RE: Perkins 135hp diesel questions (slight smoke)

Hi Tony
What model is your 135 hp Perkins and year?
Cheers Mike
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Old 07-27-2010, 04:17 PM   #5
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RE: Perkins 135hp diesel questions (slight smoke)

hmm...I edited my link as it was wrong and now it says my post needs to be approved by a moderator? I must have messed something up!

Thanks Martin- I agree- it looked like steam to me but it seemed to be a lot more steam and lasting longer into the sea trial than I would have thought it would. To be candid, the purchase price on this boat is such that I have not bothered to get a survey. However, after today, a good friend of mine who is a surveyor is coming out with me tomorrow to look her over "unofficially" to see what is what. I don't want to look a gift horse in the mouth so to speak (this boat is a serious once in a lifetime deal) but at the same time, I don't want another extra $10k in work I wasn't planning on. I've got enough to do on her already!
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Old 07-27-2010, 04:21 PM   #6
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RE: Perkins 135hp diesel questions (slight smoke)

MOdel year is 1983, and I believe a Perkins 135hp 6.354M "I think." Seller told me and I wrote it down but left it at the office.
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Old 07-27-2010, 05:17 PM   #7
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RE: Perkins 135hp diesel questions (slight smoke)

Steam does not necessarily go away during a cruise. In fact most of the boats I see emitting steam as they are cruising have obviously from their location been running for several hours (this includes our own boat). The oil smoke at startup should go away, but actually the steam won't appear until the engine and exhaust heat up to the point where it starts generating some steam at shich point it will continue to do so until the conditions in the exhaust system change, like cooling down as you slow down at the end of a run.
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Old 07-27-2010, 05:21 PM   #8
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RE: Perkins 135hp diesel questions (slight smoke)

What happened to the beginning of this thread with the links to youtube? The first post I see is from JD.
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Old 07-27-2010, 05:49 PM   #9
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RE: Perkins 135hp diesel questions (slight smoke)

That does look like a lot of "steam" for the air temperature. I would have a close look at the spray ring and check for hot spots in the exhaust just downstream.
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Old 07-27-2010, 05:51 PM   #10
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RE: Perkins 135hp diesel questions (slight smoke)

I'd be interested in seeing the video. I have twin Perkins 135's with about 2,200 hours. They smoke at start-up and clean up after a few minutes. Do you have some sheen at start up as well?
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Old 07-27-2010, 05:55 PM   #11
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RE: Perkins 135hp diesel questions (slight smoke)

Woodsong, btw if you need manuals, I have them in pdf format that I can e-mail. big file.
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Old 07-27-2010, 06:11 PM   #12
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RE: Perkins 135hp diesel questions (slight smoke)

I have no idea what happened to my original post but here are the vids I took today....


Start up from a cold start. Outside air temps around 90-92 degrees:


Here it is 20 minutes into a 2 hour sea trial. Running at about 175 degrees engine temp and 1,800 RPM:


2,200 RPM's about 40-50 minutes into sea trial. Is this steam or smoke? Looks like steam to me??? Video:



End of 2 hour sea trial, 900 RPM's, full operating temps. Note that what may look like smoke is not- there was sheen on the water from another boat we had just passed! Basically no smoke or steam visible as we were pulling into marina:


I should maybe add that the boat has really say idle for quite a while...only taken out a few times last season, at best 2-4 hours running time.
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Old 07-27-2010, 06:25 PM   #13
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RE: Perkins 135hp diesel questions (slight smoke)

Quote:
Max Simmons wrote:

Woodsong, btw if you need manuals, I have them in pdf format that I can e-mail. big file.
First... I have the same engine and would LOVE the manuals.

Second, and more to the point, it looks exactly like the smoke from my motor. It is totally normal from what I am told. Mine is an '86 model 6.354 and I had the engine gone over pretty well. It's nothing to worry about.

At startup is just the oil that seeps thru the valve guides. The regular runnig smoke is simple steam from the wet exhaust. A Perkins with only 2000 hours is barely broken in
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Old 07-28-2010, 05:42 AM   #14
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RE: Perkins 135hp diesel questions (slight smoke)

I think the steam duration and amount are the most concerning to me. The problem is around here there are no diesel mechanics that do pre-purchase surveys on diesel engines! However, there is a good diesel guy in the area so i have him scheduled to come take a look at her to make sure there is nothing serious going on...could be nothing, could be a cracked manifold or riser, or possibly warped head?? Hopefully its's nothing but we'll see.
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Old 07-28-2010, 08:15 AM   #15
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RE: Perkins 135hp diesel questions (slight smoke)

I just checked out the vido and say that start up is identical to mine. We have less steam in exhaust at operating temperature, but not much. Sound is identical. When I had the engine survey done at 2,000 hours the mechanic said it was normal.
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Old 07-28-2010, 08:23 AM   #16
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RE: Perkins 135hp diesel questions (slight smoke)

"Perkins... If it ain't leaking oil, it's out of oil."
"Perkins... Smoke 'em if you got 'em."
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Old 07-28-2010, 12:08 PM   #17
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RE: Perkins 135hp diesel questions (slight smoke)

I have twin Perkins 6.354 engines.* I recently ran mine on a nearly 12 hour run, I saw some steam but didn't look as thick as that.* Mine have well over 3500 hours and smoke very little on startup.

Off the subject, just got a call from my mechanic -- he seems to be having a hard time finding the tranny cooler replacement directly from Perkins.* What other places are there to source parts from an old '84 motor aside from Perkins directly?* He said spare parts are hard to find since the recession.
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Old 07-28-2010, 07:30 PM   #18
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RE: Perkins 135hp diesel questions (slight smoke)

Woody,

This site may have what you want http://www.cpperformance.com/c-731-t...l-coolers.aspx

Rob
37' Sedan
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Old 07-28-2010, 07:37 PM   #19
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RE: Perkins 135hp diesel questions (slight smoke)

Woody,

Are yours the turbos? I have a friend with two turbo engines and his smoke quite a bit less than mine does.
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Old 07-29-2010, 06:31 AM   #20
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RE: Perkins 135hp diesel questions (slight smoke)

Well the good news is that I had a good friend of mine who is a great surveyor come look at her yesterday and he gave her a thumbs up but was a little worried about the steam. As well, when first cranked up, exhaust discharge seemed to be a white milky color and then after that a slight oil sheen on the water at the exhaust. He seemed to think it might be unburned fuel. I have a diesel tech coming out Saturday to look her over. I was going to close today but have another week per the contract so I told the seller I really want the mechanic to see the engine first. If all is well I will still try and close Saturday afternoon.


Anyone else experience exhaust that starts off white/milky?
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