Oil? Filter? Mystery?
Michael T
Member Posts: 7,227 ✭✭✭✭✭
This was a new one for me and apparently for my Merc. tech and some of the guys at Merc. HQ. While on a recent trip I got a "Service Engines Now" message on my vessel view monitor. When I turned-off the engines and restarted them thereby re-booting the vessel view the warning would go off - but - be back the next day. The warning was in the color blue. I called this in to my marina's techs to see if I should wait for them at the marina I was visiting. They got back to me to ask if the screen had "gone red" to issue a critical alert or if my engine RPMs had been limited. I said no. They said I could proceed to my home port. Today a tech spent about two hours on my boat. About an hour of that time was spent on the phone with a "hot line" tech at Merc. HQ. A computer was plugged into the smart craft port to read the engine codes. The first determination was that the engine hours had not been "zeroed-out" (like on a car) when the oil was changed in the engines, last Fall, during winterization. A few days ago the engine hours hit 100 at which point the vessel view sent a "service now" code as the oil in the new 8.2 Mags should be changed at 100 hours, if not sooner. Even though there were only about 30 hours on the new oil the vessel view management system did not know that because the tech had not zeroed-out the hours at the oil change. We zeroed-out the oil change date and the code was erased. BUT - It gets better. A second management code emerged. I mentioned (and the tech had seen this himself) that when the engines had been left idle for more than 24 hours they "clattered" at start-up ( a noise that I hate) and a red message was displayed on vessel view that there was a critical low oil pressure. This always went off after about 5 seconds. The techs had thought this was normal as the V V was just reacting to low oil pressure at start-up. Maybe NOT! Because when we were using the computer to check codes it became apparent that the engine guardian system had been limiting engine power to 5% during one start-up to protect the engines. THIS sure got the techs talking! Here's what they are speculating - at the moment: The oil filters my marina uses are a very well known brand that rhymes with "spam". The theory, at the moment, is that these filters do not have any kind of check valve that stops a complete oil drain from them thus leaving the top of the engine unprotected at start-up. The plan is to install a couple of the new Merc. high efficiency (not high performance as I first said!!!) oil filters that should prevent this? BUT ... I have another theory. I have always used FULL synthetic oil in all of my engines. I have never before had "clatter" on start-up. Merc. HQ USA has told me that I am not to use FULL synthetic, even Merc's brand, as it is not formulated for the new catalyst engines. I am supposed to use the synthetic blend. Is it that the new Merc. synthetic blend is not protecting my engines like the full synthetic did? What do you guys think? Mystery, yes?
Post edited by Michael T on
Comments
the issue with catalyzed engines is the zddp additive (zinc). It will ruin a cat.
The Spam filter is not all that great. Convert to a WIX XP type for syn oils. Just my .02.
You can always add a preluber to the engines. Common on big diesels. Just one type: http://engineprelube.com Some use small pumps too.
PC BYC, Holland, MI
All I've wanted was to just have fun.
'spam' freaked... they sued and won... Mopar had to recall the TSB and bury it as if it never happened... they couldn't issue another 'not' calling out spam, either, due to the terms of the suit...
this is the part that kills me- slays me, actually- all 'Spam' had to do was place their hat in their hand, issues apologies and spend the coin to fix the problem... you know, the same coin it took to pay the attorneys to protect their products image in court... but they didn't... they opted for the image protection option... so.... I'll NEVER run any product made by them...... ever.... People lost their engines, and the warranty didn't cover it because it wasn't a cummins or a mopar supported product... that is just plain wrong.
Go Steelers!!!
synthetic has zilch to do with it... Synthetic... Dino... Blend... Group 1,2,3- group 4 and 5 super syn ester based.... yada yada blah- it doesn't matter one way or the other if they are maintained properly. 50weight, 40weight, 30 or 20 weight... modern oils and philosophies based off of advancements of the past 10 years entail, now, that 'lighter is better', as the additive packages suspend and hold better, but that doesn't mean that heavier is worse, it just means the approach to achieve the same ends is different...
your filter has everything to do with it, especially if it's draining. if it's draining, it's also likely bypassing, meaning you aren't filtering the oil at all, or very little... I'd wager the new merc engines operate off of pressures like many (most) new cars do, and it's a pressure sensitive system... obstructions increase pressure as it interrupts flow- when the pressure has been steady and higher than whatever parameter, it assumes it's the filter and/or ash laden oil causing it... and it tells you to change it..
when you turn that engine over at start up, and if the gallery is empty of oil- the lifter rollers ride the lobes and press against the push rods which actuate the rockers and in turn the valves.... if that lifter pushes against a push rod and it isn't bathed in oil when that happens, it pushes the oil charge out dang near completely, and it doesn't have anything to recharge with..... clatter clank clunk.... the push rods are hollow and send the oil through them to the valve train, and the second time the push rods actuates the rocker, there is no oil coming out- stamped rockers now are pressing against springs and valve ends dry- and that isn't good... especially because manufacturers now use mostly ballistic plastic tipped rockers, which require that oil to maintain their integrity....
in short............ I'd be some kind of tweaked if I were you.
I think you may be correct Steve. I just posted some info on the data my dealer forwarded to me from the download of my vessel view yesterday. From it I can see that the engine guardian only came on once and only for the starboard engine. That notwithstanding I have the Merc. Hi-Efficiency oil filters and they're going on tomorrow.
Go Steelers!!!