steam out of exhaust

hey i am new here and i have a problem, i have a 69 correct craft barracuda with a 351 h/m. i took it out this past weekend and noticed what i think is steam coming out of the passenger side exhaust only and it is overheating. i checked the oil and i saw no water, and i have done some reading here and i keep seeing people talk about the impeller breaking into pieces and clogging things, has anybody had the same issue and could they both be the same problem? i have a general understanding of motors and how they work but i have no experience with the cooling system on this boat. does anyone have any tips on what to look for ?

You had me till the vacuum leak

Post up some pictures too,is it the single crank mounted pump HM or does it have the crank pump and a circulating pump too? Original exhaust manifolds? If it's the single pump no need to pull the thermostat to find any pieces

Alex,
Use the "post reply" and not the quick at the bottom of each thread. Click on the icon of the tree with the up arrow.

I am assuming that the water pump is behind that plate?

Interesting dual pulley setup too. Parts book shows all single pumps using a single belt, dual belts were used on the 2 pump models. Donzi owners would mount an extra belt out of the way but behind the main pump plate and cable tie it out of the way to the plate standoffs. If a belt let go they would cut the tie's and put the belt in place and not have to go thru the work of trying to remove the plate and pump while out on the water. I wonder if someone came up with this to stop this problem?



The pump is crank driven and is between those two rubber connectors behind the plate mounted with 4 bolts. If it's a new to you boat I'd replace the impeller,if it's missing any vanes you could remove that cast iron Y right after the pump. If nothing is there you could remove the 'stat and check there. You'll have to make your own gaskets for the Y but the 'stat housing uses a regular Ford one. Below is a parts breakdown for the pump,some parts are almost next to impossible to find now like the cover plate,cam and body. Seals,impeller,gasket bearings are all standard parts used on many different models. Holman Moody supplied drive drive parts impossible too.





seal assy-


Lovejoy drive spider between pump drive and crank drive,don't run without it

Looks like RWP efficiency maybe a root cause! Those chunks don't look like they're supposed to fall out. So--all you need is an impeller?

Might be the innards of some water hoses that got hot or could be from former impeller. Replace impeller or--if it's an air leak from a seal on the pump you'll want to replace or rebuild the whole thing. Does anyone know how to bench test this pump to see if it is leaking air?

One piece of advice--get a bucket and stop using the hose water pressure. Many tell me that it masks pump performance giving a false sense of good function.

i did forget to mention is the boat did sit for about 2 years and when i ran it for the first time it smelled like burned rubber and when i hooked up the hose last night i smelled it again. also the outer side of the runner where the exhaust is running to the back holding some water.

Glad you got it fixed and running like it should....Welcome to the site and lets see come pics of the boat itself!

GottaSki wrote: shierh wrote: For those who dont think vacuum leak can cause steam, you dont know what you are talking about.   Lean condition causes excessive heat and a way hotter exhaust.   Of course it will cause steam. Thats how i found the vacuum leak in my last boat, port engine was making steam at the dock.   I knew right away why and found base gasket got sucked in.    Still unconvinced. I believe you witnessed vapor condensing on unburned hydrocarbons, leftover from a miss caused by the vacuum leak,. Not steam An engine at idle will never overcome its cooling system due to a lean idle from a vacuum leak. Its a heat engine, if it were that easy to create heat (read power, due to expanding gasses, we would run them that lean all the time) The only way to run super lean without falling on its face is to raise the ambient and put energy into the charge, either by preheating the mix, (a Yunick style homogenizer) or direct injection.

Or just plain old cold water, a common cause of exhaust steam. Deep lake? Water temp?

In my case i had twin engine boat, both pipes above water line at the dock.   One steaming severely and the other normal. Thats why I knew there was a vacuum leak.   Rochester Quad Jet sucked in a base gasket. Had 2 spares on board so was quick fix.    

Don't see video just a link to tinyurl.

We had a '68 which appeared to be all original and it had red carpet just like in the brochures. Kind of ugly. '67 and back had rubber which I've never seen available. We put Nautolex shark skin in ours which I think is the best choice that I have seen for a 60's boat.