Went and looked at the carver 356

[Humbucker427]

Looked nice. A few little things wrong here and there, but nothing too distracting. Two things stuck out and I'd like to get you guys take on it.

First, there was some pink coolant leaking from both engines. The port engine just had some pink stains in the bilge, but starboard had about a quart or two in the bilge under the engine.

He said it's always leaked a little but only enough to stain. He was a little surprised to see that much coolant. I feel it is something simple leaking, but I figured I'd run it by you guys anyway.

The other thing was the relay in one side of the electrical system that shifts the power from the generator to shore power when the generator is shut down. It seems to be failing intermittantly. Anyone know how difficult/expensive that is to fix?

I think he has a guy coming out to take a look at them, but I was just curious if these also might be a sign of something larger.

Thanks!

 

[awboater]

The pink stuff is most likely winterizing antifreeze. You cannot help but get it in the bilge when you go about winterizing the engines, air conditioner, holding tank, and so on.

Unless it is due to a leak rather than sloppy winterizing, it should be of no issue.

If it is not pink antifreeze, it might be transmission fluid, and if that is so, it would be a problem. But for the life of me, I cannot remember if the transmission fluid is red or not.

 

[Humbucker427]

Well, were down here in the south, so it wasn't winterized.

Does anyone know if these engines has an overflow for the cooling system that would flow into the bilge?

 

[Kastlercreative]

The 8.1 horizons do have a res for the coolant, I would say start with the easy things that it may be, then go from there...

I would note that on our last season's boat, a 2006 340 SR, we had the 8.1's, and both leaked a little coolant, nothing too visible, but you could smell it, it was a warranty fix so I do not recall, but I believe, it was nothing more than a gasket somewhere near the pump possibly... If i recall correctly, the dealer said some of the 8.1's had similar issues, but the fix was easy, heck, there may even be a recall on it...

another thing to check is the caps on the aftercooler/cooler (round radiator) Many people make the mistake of over tightening the little bolt in the center of the end cap, and if you do that, you're looking at new caps and seals which are pricey (don't ask me how I know-as I did the same thing on our 37 maxum a couple of years ago) There is a very specific, very minimal torque they should be at, and when exceeded it pops the seal and flattens the cap, on ours it only leaked when the engines got warm...

also check little things like clamps, res rubber tubes, etc...

I certainly don't think it would be a deal breaker, but would be best to get a professional opinion, coolant leaks are usually pretty easy to track down, at least they have been for us...

I would be a little concerned about the generator breaker, could be simple, bad breaker, but could be the gen, or shorepower is a little out of whack too...

Good luck, they are a nice boat! And you'll LOVE the 8.1S, one heck of a motor, the torque is incredible.

BTW, engine room looks pretty clean...

 

[MrsRobinson]

Our boat was missing the overflows, so I installed them. You should see them easily, plastic tank with a plastic tube line running to the heat exchanger. If the owner does not know where they are chances are they have not kept up with the regular maintenance.