Siphoned Anything Lately?

Most of us have used a siphon to move a fluid from one container to another (and if you started the flow by sucking on the siphon tube, you likely swallowed something). While our use of siphons is intentional and beneficial, a potentially dangerous siphon may be lurking in your boat if the propulsion engine(s) or genset is installed below the waterline with a water-cooled exhaust. This unintended siphon can fill the cylinders of an engine with seawater.

Fortunately, the possibility for this undesirable siphoning action was foreseen when your boat was built. The automatic anti-siphon valve in the seawater cooling system, which is there because the seawater pump’s impeller cannot be depended on to act as a check valve to block a flow of water when the engine is not operating, will prevent the siphoning of seawater into your engine, if it works. But do you know where the valve is located and do you know how to check its readiness to protect your engine? ...

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