Engine Zincs and general maintenance

[SCHUTZEE]

I have the Cummins 6CTA 8.3M2 engine. . I see one zinc on the after cooler, and one on the heat exchanger. Are there any others? Where can I order them? I found all the Fleetguard filters online, and also purchased the Cummins refractometer to check the coolant and battery acid. Very cool instrument.

I have used a Cummins dealer in the past for routine maintenance which cost dearly. I have a friend who was an AP mechanic in the Air Force and a factory trained Porsche mechanic. He successfully rebuilt my 911 engine, which is extremely complex, so I feel comfortable with him doing the maintenance following the Cummins manual.

Given the cost of the engine, am I being penny wise and pound foolish

[Mariner]

I think if you know what you're doing, performing your own preventative maintenence is just fine and saves you a ton of money. Personally, I feel better knowing that it was done right when I do it myself. It's important, though, to be armed with all the information. I could simply not believe the number of zincs in our engine when I started combing over it (at least 15, probably 20). Get your hands on a full maintenence and parts manual for your engine. Highlight and mark the location of all zincs, and any part that needs to be regularly serviced, and religiously follow the guidelines. Record all maintenence in your logbook. Even if you just check a zinc and it is fine, make a note of it in the logbook, so you know when you last checked it. Oil changes can be very easy or somewhat difficult, depending on how your engine is set up for it. But if you have the right equipment and tools, it's never all THAT hard. Don't skip out on the regularly oil analysis. That is the most valuable tool for diagnosing problems with the engine before they become catastrophic.

[Tuxedo]

Hi Bob, just back from 2 weeks in England or I would have responded earlier.

The most important zinc is, unfortunately, at the bottom of the aftercooler. You have to remove the aftercooler to change the zinc. The project takes about a half a bucket of cuss words.

Also, my mechanic is pretty fanatical about cleaning the aftercooler, both the air and water side. Said something about costing another boat in the yard $3,000 because of lack of maintenance.

Tom

[SCHUTZEE]

Tom,

Thanks for the info. I have a zinc on the top of the aftercooler also. I found a great article on http://boatdiesel.com which details maintenance on the Cummins aftercooler. I intend to do that project when on the hard this winter. I also want to install a high water alarm and a temp alarm on the exhaust.

Bob