atomic 4 issue. How screwed am I

asivesind · #1 (**permalink**) 03-09-2008

So last night I went for a sail out on S.F. bay, it was fairly windy as usual and very choppy. We decided to head in, so I turned over the Atomic four, she started up easily,, I put her into gear, and we headed in. About five minutes later the motor suddenly stopped. Hhm. I turned on the blower and a turned her over, she started and then stopped. Seemed to me we ran out of gas. NO big deal, I will just sail her into the slip. About ten minutes went by, and out of curiosity I tried to start the motor again. She fired right up and stayed fired up. I thought perhaps the tank was close to empty so the rolling of the bay was causing it to run out of gas. I motored all the way in and shut her down. THis morning as I was messing about, I turned over the engine to see if she would start, and low and behold she did, BUT, I went to check the water flow and a whole mess of oil shot out the exhaust!! I don't know what this means!! Am I screwed. I looked in my manual and it says nothing of this. I know you guys will know about this. I just couldn't get to my computer fast enough! Thanks. Tony

bestfriend · #2 (**permalink**) 03-09-2008

Well, I was going to say fuel pump until you said oil. I don't know the A4, but from what I know of engines, it sounds like you blew a gasket somewhere. The biggest pain, besides finding it, taking it all apart, putting in the new seal, will be cleaning out the cooling system that the oil has gotten into. Start by checking the cooling system for oil, and check the oil dipstick for a milky brown fluid, the mix of oil and coolant or water.

bestfriend · #3 (**permalink**) 03-09-2008

This is a good site to search for answers.

Torresen Marine, Inc. - Sailing and Boating Forums • Index page

this too:

Universal Atomic 4 Engine - Inboard Sailboat Engine

How does she run? Could also be a bad valve or piston ring that is allowing oil into the exhaust system. You can find that out by checking the compression.

asivesind · #4 (**permalink**) 03-10-2008

She has been running fine, but then again I only bought the boat two ago!

ChicagoNewport27 · #5 (**permalink**) 03-10-2008

You might ask for advice over at the Moyer Marine forum. Nobody knows more about Atomic 4's than Don Moyer.

Moyer Marine Inc. - Forums

Moyer Marine Atomic 4 Engine Rebuilding and Parts

asivesind · #6 (**permalink**) 03-10-2008

Yes thank you. I did order his Manual, it is very helpful, but I didn't see anything about this issue.

Rockter · #7 (**permalink**) 03-10-2008

Put a compression meter on it for a start. They are about £20 and you just shove the rubber end into the plug hole and turn the motor over.

You will see a loss of compression readily.

Is the sump taking oil? Does the oil look milky in the sump?

ChicagoNewport27 · #8 (**permalink**) 03-10-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by asivesind

Yes thank you. I did order his Manual, it is very helpful, but I didn't see anything about this issue.

No, thats not quite what I was getting at.

While the manual is certainly helpful, you might also do a search in the Moyer Marine forums for this issue. They have a very active forum community much like Sailnet, and a search over there might yield more responses. If the search turns up little, you might post over there and see what they say. If all else fails, contact Don Moyer and his team directly (email, phone, etc) and see what their advice is.

Edit: My cursory search on the moyer forums for "oil in exhaust" yielded the following promising threads among many many others...

Oil in exhaust - Moyer Marine Atomic 4 Community

soot spews out on startup - Moyer Marine Atomic 4 Community

white smoke and oily discharge - Moyer Marine Atomic 4 Community

Crud in the exhaust water - Moyer Marine Atomic 4 Community

Oil Spray?!?!? - Moyer Marine Atomic 4 Community

Water in oil/ steam in exhaust - Moyer Marine Atomic 4 Community

question about removing water from the oil and smokey exhaust (yes I read the sticky) - Moyer Marine Atomic 4 Community

mgraham49 · #9 (**permalink**) 03-16-2008

Moyer's guys rock. they could not be more helpful. read the posts, then call them. They keep my A-4 in my Pearson 10Meter alive (circa 1974 - Hull 14)

Mike Graham - Bali Hai.

cardiacpaul · #10 (**permalink**) 03-16-2008

use the k.i.s.s. principle with these motors, they are very simple to operate.

Was it oil or a lot of black colored water? how did you know that it was oil?
Because of a film on the water? it might have been gas.

If it was oil, how much? is your engine oil milky white?
Do you have a closed or open cooling system?

these are but a few qualifying questions to help out.