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So after years of throwing new parts into our cooling system, running barnacle buster through things, new pumps, etc... we FINALLY have a real solution to our W50 overheating.
My wife and I moved aboard a few months ago and have worked our way from the Chesapeake Bay to the Bahamas. While heading south, we took the ICW for a majority of the way and did a ton of motoring. We'd watch the engine temp like hawks, and while it ran ok at the beginning, it still ran warm. Then as we got further south, water temps warmed up and we were putting some serious hours on the engine, the temps started to get worse and worse. We could never nail down the issue until we made it all the way to the Berry Islands in the Bahamas.
We noticed bubbles in the overflow tank so we used a block tester kit we had bought on our way South. It never indicated exhaust gases in the coolant until we got to the Bahamas, but then we had our smoking gun. Our head gasket was bad.
I replaced the head gasket 2 years ago thinking I'd avoid this issue in the future. Well, turns out it didn't work. This time around, we decided to take the head to a machinist in Nassau (WB Machining) who resurfaced the head for us. It was badly warped he told us, and there were 2 spots (see picture) so badly warped that he had to spot weld the areas to build them up, then plane them down. This made me happy to hear because if he found an issue, I was confident we were on the right track to cooling down our engine. We also had new valve seals done while the head was out.
Another day later and the engine is all back together and running better than we've ever heard it run. It's quieter, feels stronger, and cools sooooooo much better!!
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#314, Silver Lining
Central Chesapeake Bay
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