salty water questions

[letterman]

Is your cooling system closed or open system (do you get water thru a thru hull to cool the exchanger)?If it's an open system, and you are using salt water to cool the exchanger, how do you winterize the motor? Do you flush the system with fresh water/anti-freeze? When you are not going to the boat for a while, and it's in the water, do you fresh water flush the system before leaving?How bad does the ingress filter get in the Chesapeake during the summer?How bad does the ingress filter get everywhere else?Would a Ametek 1" #10 clear plastic filter housing work in salt water?And for the diesel folks - how often do you clean out your exhaust pipes(from the exchanger back)? How often do you clean out the exchanger? What prompted the questions? I know nothing about salt water. I picked up Nigel Calders book on marine diesels (Highly recommended...now send me a few bucks Nigel) and it has a lot of unanswered questions for me. I sail in fresh water where the zincs last forever, and corrosion is minimal. And I plan on sailing to the Keys and beyond at the end of summer.

 

[Bob S (Bucephalos M/28)]

salty water answer

I have a dirty water system - water from the bay directly through the engine, no heat exchanger. To winterise i put the fresh water intake in a bucket of anti freeze & run engine until anti freeze comes out the exhaust. The same will work for your heat exchanger. As far as salt & mineral deposits, when I change oil, when boat is on stands, i mix "Salt a Way" or a similar chemical in a bucket and warm up the engine using the solution as coolant & it cleans out quite a bit of the deposits, I imagine the same would work on your heat exchanger.

 

[Paul Akers]

Letterman

I know of no salt water sailor that flushes his engine after use. Maybe there is, but here in the Northeast when the boat hits the water in the spring, that's it until October. Don't worry about the water. Although, I don't know anyody that has an "Open" system(raw-water cooled, no heat exchanger), either.

 

[Fred]

Most of us have an open system

Salt water comes in, runs through a heat exchanger, and runs back out, usually through the exhaust.Closed system is typically a "keel cooler" - copper or brass pipes outside the hull that the fresh water/antifreeze runs through to be cooled.A closed system usually has a dry exhaust stack. We see this system on commercial fishboats and tugs around here.Paul is right for this area. Nobody flushes their engine or heat exchanger more than annually.

 

[letterman]

I suspected as much

A friend of mine destroyed his 4108 AND his outboard by not flushing the systems after he pulled the boat from the water. He left his outboard on its side, water went into the piston area and that was that. Not sure about the diesel, but he was they guy that forgot to push the kill switch back in and payed a $739 penalty to the repair person and towing company. So the possibility is that the motor wasn't shot after all.

 

[NewportVic]

So now a real question .... how many of us replace

the zinc on the side of the engine block? That's supposed to control corrosion inside the engine?Vic "Seven"

 

[BobW]

Winterize? What's that?

Oh, sorry, I forgot. ;DCheers,Bobs/v X SAIL R 8