volvo diesel

[3ccc's]

my carolina has a volvo kamd44 260hp.i get 3900rpm wot and cruise at 3500. first is that to hard to run the engine second i've noticed what looks like white smoke or steam when running at cruise speeds. the smoke or steam dissapates extremely fast.should i be worried.

[hubris 1]

my first thought is a head gasket. yes, you should stop running the boat before you blow the engine if thats what it is. do a oil check, if it shows antifreeze in the oil. do not run engine. get a mechanic to change the head gaskets.

[Split Bill]

Many inboard boats show some steam while cruising. You should check the engine temp and make sure that's normal. Also, watch your exhaust occassionally while running to see if the amount of steam is "normal" or if it has increased.
Both of my Cat 3208's steam a little at cruise. One time the steam on the starboard was a little more than usual and we needed to get the riser/shower-head cleaned out.
Hope this helps.
I wouldn't assume it is a problem unless it is something new.
Ed

[Split Bill]

You should check your engine manual about recommended cruise RPM's, but I bet 400 off the top is about right.
Also check occassionally to make sure your boat can reach maximum RPM's. If it does not, then you are over-loaded.
Ed

[char-sea cap]

We have Kamd 43s........basically same thing......sounds like your propped perfect.

Ours is propped at about 3875 WOT (normal load)

Cruise at 3400

We've had white smoke/steam for the last 1800 hrs

If your temps are fine- dont worry about it.

[Bird Dog]

White smoke or steam is fine. It's the colored stuff that you need to worry about.

[Questsportfishing]

always make sure your fluids are good on those engines they run great and are very fuel efficient but they love to run cool water through the water pumps. also it seems your running them hard all the time call or research what the techs say on rpms and use common sence and back her off some when your heavy. load / balance your boat out also to get the most out of performance and all around ride. You should be able to pass your hand over the raw water pump houseing and it should be cool. keep the air and fuel filters clean also... thats like you eating pork fat and dougnuts all day long and breathing through an old nasty sock if ya don't.

[JD5652]

I'm not a Volvo expert....but as others have said, some steam can be "normal". If you have excess steam, then this might be an indication of an erroded or plugged exhaust elbow/riser. You would have to remove exhaust elbow and do a visual inspection.

As Hubris stated, head gasket is possible....a blown head gasket is normally associated with increased engine coolant temps and elevated exhaust gas temps.

If it's white smoke (especially on start up), this can be a sign of either low compression or bad fuel injector. The white smoke is actually unburnt fuel. Do you have a fuel sheen on the water at start up??

Can you give us more info??

(1) Total Engine hours
(2) When was the last time you cleaned your raw water cooling system??
(3) Is your exhaust gas temps higher than normal??

[3ccc's]

motor has 750hrs,doesn't burn oil and coolant level remains constant.the only time i see white smoke is at cruise speeds.i haven't serviced the coolant system in 2 seasons.going to fluse it out this weekend.engine run a touch below 200.thanks for the help

[hammer slammer]

All of those atributes are normal for that engine, although 3500 rpms might be a little high. I would keep it at 3400 thats where i run mine.