Perkins 6.354 problems

[PhilPB]

Hi all. I lost my mechanic (no longer in business) for our Mainship. Can't seem to find anyone on the Palm Beach County area and after our last outing we need someone for repair(s) . Port side of engine screaming....I suspect possible water pump issue, but don't know. Any suggestions for mobile dockside Perkins 6.354 mechanics? Good ones seem to be hard to find. Asked around in our marina and seems to be a problem finding a good reliable mechanic.

 

[STB]

I can't help with a mechanic in that area....but that raw water pump isn't hard to pull or install. Wrestling with the hoses is the worst of it.

Depending upon its condition, it can be rebuilt by most local shops that do that type of thing.

Replacement pumps are readily available. Depending on which engine and pump you have now the ports on the replacement may be different, so you may need different fittings to connect to the hoses.

There is also a plastic star in the coupling that may be worth replacing at the same time.

If you call Trans-Atlantic Diesel in Virginia or S&W Diesel in Wilmington (Los Angeles), CA, they can set you up with everything you need.

They also rebuild pumps. So you can send them your old pump and if rebuildable, they'll rebuild it. And if not, they'll sell you a new ones with fittings to match the originals.

 

[High Wire]

You can buy a new pump and replace the old. It’s a 2 star out of 5 difficulty job for DYI. Any marine mechanic worth anything could swap it out in an hour. Then send the old pump out for rebuild. It’s the only thing on the port side that would be screaming other than the alternator belt and that’s to starboard.

 

[PhilPB]

Thanks. The problem is that I don't know for certain that it is the pump. The noise is coming from that part of the engine though and it sounds like a terrible squealing (best way I can describe it and seems to possibly sounds like bad bearings. We took the boat put for about 4 hrs, ran great and not running hot. When we made it back into the slip I heard a faint squeaking noise from the water pump area. Restarted the engine a few hours later and within seconds the noise became very loud so I shut down the.engine. I did manage to get it on video so someone that knows about the motor might have an idea what it really is, when I can find someone!

 

[High Wire]

Ok. Take off the alternator belt. Give the alternator and coolant pump a spin by hand. If they are ok then that points to the seawater pump. It is held in place by a clamp around the pump barrel. Loosen that and slide the pump aft so that the coupling disconnects. Don’t lose that insert that separates the coupling halves. $$$$. Start the engine and the squeal should be gone. Shutdown the engine.

On second thought I would slide the seawater pump back first.

 

[PhilPB]

Thank you. I will give that a try!

 

[SlowBoater]

Hi all. I lost my mechanic (no longer in business) for our Mainship. Can't seem to find anyone on the Palm Beach County area and after our last outing we need someone for repair(s) . Port side of engine screaming....I suspect possible water pump issue, but don't know. Any suggestions for mobile dockside Perkins 6.354 mechanics? Good ones seem to be hard to find. Asked around in our marina and seems to be a problem finding a good reliable mechanic.

Hi PhilPB
I have 1978 Perkins 6.354 T in a 1978 Mainship 34T I have a Mechanic's stethoscope same as a doctor's only has a long pin on end that you place against water pump housing & listen same way as a doctor. great for finding noise & not to pricey.

 

[Gdavid]

Which variant of the 6.354 is it? Can you take a picture? If it is like mine, the heat exchanger tank is directly above the raw water pump and the can corrode out. The usually look fine from about but the front and bottom will tell the tale.

My bad, I misread screaming as steaming.

Forum member boomerang had a raw water pump listed for sale here in the classifieds.

 

[STB]

Can you post a video with the sound?

 

[STB]

If you are backing out the pump to disengage it from the auxiliary gear shaft to disable it for testing be /really/ careful.

You want to fully remove it or back it out and secure it back so you the two sides of the jaw couple don't meet as things move and damage each other. That coupling is one of the few parts on the engine that can't be purchased, even used. Anywhere.

I don't know why a lovejoy coupling pair can't be used. I have a hard time believing it, myself. But I've never had cause to try and thise who have all tell me no-go. The coupling could seemingly be fairly straightforwardly be machined. But I doubt you want to go there.

The star for the existing coupling is readily available and should be replaced if damaged in any way.

 

[PhilPB]

I can't seem to be able to post the video. If you can message me your email I may be able to send it to you.

 

[DNT99611]

Hi PhilPB
I have 1978 Perkins 6.354 T in a 1978 Mainship 34T I have a Mechanic's stethoscope same as a doctor's only has a long pin on end that you place against water pump housing & listen same way as a doctor. great for finding noise & not to pricey.

Cut a two foot piece of broomstick,put on hearing muffs, hold the stick to your ear and move the other end around to where you think the noise is coming from. I used this all the time when working on pumps, you could tell what valve was cut and leaking pretty easy.

 

[PhilPB]

Update: After many attempts to pinpoint the problem via stethoscope, head in the engine compartment, brought in mechanic...looks like it may have been the starter not fully disengaging all the time. Had the starter rebuilt and so far, problem has gone away. Or shall I say, appears to have been resolved

 

[Pete Meisinger]

Go to Harbor Freight and buy a mechanics stethascope . They are cheap, like less than $10. They have a metal probe instead of the standard plastic bell. Start up the engine and touch a few things (alternator, water pump, etc) with the probe. You will know right away which part is bad.

pete

 

[PhilPB]

I did get one of those. Not bad!

 

[High Wire]

I don't know why a lovejoy coupling pair can't be used. I have a hard time believing it, myself. But I've never had cause to try and thise who have all tell me no-go. The coupling could seemingly be fairly straightforwardly be machined. But I doubt you want to go there.
.

I think one shaft is US and the other is Metric. I'll check next time I pull it.
If that is the case, buy one US and buy a second one Metric. Now you will have two complete new ones for a third of the price of the insert alone.

 

[STB]

I think one shaft is US and the other is Metric. I'll check next time I pull it.
If that is the case, buy one US and buy a second one Metric. Now you will have two complete new ones for a third of the price of the insert alone.

Indeed. One design goal of the Lovejoy and other similar jaw couplings is to mate opposing shafts of different diameters along the same axis. The couplings all share the same face so that they can interface with each other via the same star, while being drilled to accommodate different size shafts. I've never even seen them sold in pairs -- always individually, since there is no assumption that the shafts will commonly be the same size.

If the Lovejoy coupling doesn't work to allow connecting the 6.354's take off shaft to the raw water pump shaft, it isn't because of differences in shaft diameter (or axis).

It could be, for example, that the length of the shafts and/or the distance between the engine take-off and the raw water pump doesn't allow for the length of one or both couplings. It could also be that the coupling is too wide for the space available.

But, I share your skepticism that the right pairing won't work off the shelf. I've never measured it, but it doesn't seem like a particular tight spot to me. If I ever run into that problem, I feel like I'll be able to solve it with Lovejoy couplings (or similar), even if I have to cut them down a bit or something. Or, worst case, getting something made at a machine shop. Interfacing two aligned shafts just isn't that hard a problem, even if they are different sizes, especially when the raw water easily unbolts, slides forward, and comes off, along with its shaft.

 

[PhilPB]

Update to my last update

It turns out having the starter rebuilt was part of the issue. It looks like, and I'm saying this optimistically, I had a short in the wiring harness, there were 3 wires that had the insulation worn off and were coming in contact with the block. One was for the ignition sensing wire. It appears, that the starter kept getting engaged sporadically while the engine was running and that was why the starter was screaming.

The short also fried one of my ignition switches. So far I have replaced both ignitions switches, the start battery, starter, and ended up replacing the alternator which I had anyway....and 3 shorts in the harness have been resolved. At the moment we now seem to have a usable boat!