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Kinship of London - Exhaust replacement PDF Print E-mail
Written by Steve Hadley   
Friday, 04 June 2010 07:29

Last year on re-launching our Ocean 37 after a few months on the hard at Mayflower Marina in Plymouth, I started the starboard engine (Perkins HT 6-354) only to have it very quickly become extremely noisy and the saloon fill with exhaust smoke. Managing to get her across the marina to our summer pontoon berth, and with the aid of a mirror on a stick, I discovered that a large hole had appeared in a very badly corroded section of the starboard engine exhaust manifold, which even from a cursory glance appeared to be terminal.

  • After a brief trawl of the internet and a few phone calls I decided to purchase a replacement manifold, albeit not a genuine Perkins part, from Lancing Marine near Brighton, which I collected a few days later, priced at just over £1000 including VAT. I will admit that the price (compared to other quotes) was a major factor in this decision.
  • Some time later, having removed the manifold, it seemed to me that it was the eventual failure of an earlier botched repair job (probably a leak in the water jacket that had been sealed with gun-gum or some other such product).
  • Having removed the manifold it was also necessary to take from it the ancillary components which would need to be fitted on to the replacement unit, i.e. the front plate with the water inlet hose tail (note the position of the tail in relation to the attitude of the manifold), the by-pass hose tail flange at the rear of the unit, the side inspection plate and the drain tap.
  • The water leaking unnoticed from that area prior to total failure, also badly corroded part of the aluminium inlet manifold directly below it.
  • The inlet manifold I was able to get repaired by Bropel Specialist Welders Ltd., a company local to our home in the West Midlands, they built up the corroded section and I dressed it and drilled the hole for the fixing stud.
  • The reclaimed ancillary components were cleaned and fitted to the new exhaust manifold with out any problems, and although working in the confines of the space between the hull and the underside of the cylinder head was awkward to say the least, and definitely requires two pairs of hands (the manifold is a heavy bit of kit !) all went really well until I came to replace the rocker cover . The exhaust manifold married perfectly to the cylinder head - and the turbo charger adaptor to the manifold – the problem arose when I could not get the rocker cover flange between the number 6 cylinder tappets and push rods and the inner of the top turbo adaptor stud bezels on the new manifold.
  • The solution was to slacken off the exhaust manifold nuts just to the end of the studs which lowered the manifold sufficiently to let the rocker cover flange pass the bezel onto its seating. The rocker cover was then fixed in place, and then the manifold retightened. Inconvenient but not the end of the world – except when I want to check/adjust the tappets of course!
  • At some future date I may fit spacers between the manifold flanges and the cylinder head with slightly extended studs, which would solve the problem. It has been a year now since I carried out these repairs and whilst cruising extensively in the warm summer sunshine last season was but a pipe dream – I have to report that all is well with the starboard engine, which runs as well as ever (albeit a little smoky) with no water leaks.

 
Last Updated ( Friday, 16 July 2010 08:16 )
 
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