Soot on transom and dinghy

[peterrenton]

Hello everyone,

I am having a major problem with soot mainly all over my dinghy as well as the transom of the boat. I have the Cummins diesel package of 475 hp engines. The exhaust has tips on it that discharge the exhaust to the side of the boat just ahead of the swim platform. My engines only have 830 hours on them and I am wondering what is causing all this soot. I typically run the boat around 9 knots and step it up now and then. The engines are running perfectly and I've tried additives and the like with no success. I am thinking of exhaust extensions to the back of the swim platform to see if this would help.
Has anyone else had this type of problem?
Thanks for any insight you could provide.

Regards,
Peter
Carver 440

[kkochner]

Yep the same thing happens on my 530 voyager...it pretty common on diesel engines to have that even when they are running great. My buddy has a carver as well and he has the same thing too. I personally dont think extensions would do much. I have gotten in the habit of wiping down my transom as part of my ritual:)

[carvergofast]

I am having the same problem on my 466 with Volvo 480 HP TAMD, does anyone know a cleaner that will clean well without removing the wax?

[geauxcruise]

I know the above post are three years old, but if any of you guys are still around, any news on the findings of the cause?

I have a new to me 2002 Carver 530 that has done it one time and one time only. The only thing I can attribute it to was an extended period of idling speeds and then stepped it up to only about 1650 rpms for about an hour or so. I "think" it has something to do with the idle speed building up soot, and then when I went to 1650 rpms, it was not enough for the turbos to clean it all out. Ever since it happened the one time, from any time period of idling, if I want to open it up for a while, i go to 1850 rpms. Have had no more issues with soot since dong that.

Would love to hear back from you guys or anyone else who can comment.

P.S. First time to post on this forum. Have learned a lot form a lot of reading on here. Love it.

[mjk1040]

Just wonder if you were at optimum operating temperature? Diesels need their heat to burn fuel efficiently. Aged fuel does not help either.

[beaty3]

I have a 560 voyager with just under 1000 hours and it runs great. However, it produces the soot all over the back of the boat and the dinghy. Would love to know what products are good to get it off and any solutions to stop the issue? I have ceramic coating on boat so must be friendly to that. Thanks

[Tireless]

I use a product called Stanadyne and it seems to clean things up a bit including the injectors. I don’t have a major soot issue on my boat, however, there is a bit depending on the speed I am running. My experience with friends of mine that do have soot on the aft of their vessel, is after they are running at the 6-8 knott range and travelling through channels. This is less apparent if the boat is running on step.

Greg

[Viper]

Ya rpm and temps are important variables, also make sure your air filters are clean. Stanadyne is a good fuel treatment. I don't know of any harsh cleaner that is friendly enough not to remove wax, don't know how they would affect your coating though.

[C-Numb]

I have a 560 voyager with just under 1000 hours and it runs great. However, it produces the soot all over the back of the boat and the dinghy. Would love to know what products are good to get it off and any solutions to stop the issue? I have ceramic coating on boat so must be friendly to that. Thanks

I was turned on to a product by Volvo mechanic last month and it was worked outstandingly well for cleaning soot. I do not know about taking the wax off, but it sure cleans the soot and other hard to clean residue both on the gelcoat and the engine. The product is called "Oil Eater" and can be found at Amazon, Home Depot and many auto supply stores. I buy it in 5 gallon container and pump it into smaller pump pressure spray container for use on the boat.

[beaty3]

I'll give it a try. Thank you