MD2B ENGINE OIL OVERFILL

[wotan4]

I have Westerly Renown with a Volvo MD2B engine.
We went out yesterday, the first time since changing the engine oil. After 10 minutes or so after increasing the revs, we noticed white smoke coming out of the exhaust so we immediately returned to the marina slowly.
Upon investigation we found that the engine had been over filled with oil although we cannot understand how this occured.
My question is: has this event caused any other problems?
Some other boaters in the marina have told me that excessive oil goes down a breather and into the air intakes and this causes the white smoke.
Since this event, I have pumped out the excess oil and the dip stick level is spot on but I have not run the engine yet.
Any advice or guidance would be appreciated.
Mike

[rhumlady]

Mike,

Is there any milky colour in the oil that would indicate water has got into It?

[Jolly Roger]

Not good news. You were wise to return to the marina.

This is copied from this web site, http://www.aa1car.com/library/problem_engine_smoke.htm

WHITE SMOKE:May be unburned fuel passing through the engine, or it may be coolant. Some white smoke is normal following a cold start, especially during extremedly cold weather. But if you see continuous white smoke while driving, you have a problem: incorrect injector timing or a loss of compression in one or more cylinders.

Urgent engineer advice is your best route, before you do additional damage.

[wotan4]

Hi Dereck,
The excess oil I pumped out was nice and clean with no milkiness or water in it.
I have been told that excess oil goes down the breather and then into one of the air filters and hence this causes white smoke.
I should just add that the white smoke was only apparent when the revs were increased. When we returned to the marina it was very slowly and the engine was ticking over with no white smoke.
Hope this helps
Mike

[rhumlady]

Good to know it isn't water in the oil. My Bukh DV20 produces white vapour but only when hot and then only when the thermostat opens. This is just steam though.

[wotan4]

Hi guys,

I used my extractor pump to remove excess engine oil and ran the engine in gear for about 40 minutes on the mooring in the marina.
There was a small amount of oil coming out of the exhaust for a few minutes and then water ran clear ok. No engine oil leaks so no gaskets blown.
I think I have been lucky and all seems to be ok with the engine.
I will get some Gunk engine cleaner just to wipe down engine a bilge locally.
who's a lucky boy then??
Mike

[Sea Tangle]

Just for information, my Md2b does the same thing under heavy loading. After checking with several forums and changing the water pump, oil and anything else I can think of the problem is still there. I did have another Renown pass me out in the Solent last year doing exactly the same thing.. I guess it's just a characteristic of these old but fairly reliable (so far!) engines.

[Vegable]

White smoke means coolant
Black smoke means oil.
If you throw oil on a bonfire you get horrible black smoke. Throw diesel on a bonfire you get black smoke. So it wasn't overfilling the engine oil that was the problem nor was it unburnt diesel.
Considering the weather we've had the temperature is low and humidity is high and the white smoke is steam. Either the thermostat hadn't opened fully yet i.e. the engine hadn't heated up fully, or you've got/had a restricted waterway somewhere, or a bit of seaweed/plastic flotsam over the water inlet.
My advice is to keep half an eye on it and if it develops then start looking at the waterways/inlet filter etc.,etc. You'll know if it becomes a problem by the hollow sound the exhaust makes. That means there's no water, and the noise is unmistakable. However as always, your first check is the impellor on the water pump, don't go running away thinking the end of the world is nigh!!!
These MD engines are now around 40 years old and restricted waterways like arteries in old people will become a problem
To really cheer you up, see Raw Water Cooling Flow in the last section Comments/ Suggestions :- http://www.westerly-owners.co.uk/woafor ... f=2&t=2851
Mike