6LP-STE Engine zincs

[Capt Paul]

First time for me changing the engine zincs on my 6LP-STE. There are a total of 6 and I have changed 5. The zinc at the end of the engine coolant heat exchanger is a real PITA to get to. Anyone have any secrets they can share on how they remove it?

Looks like some of the hoses in that area need to be removed and they are not going to come off very easily.

Thanks in advance for any advise that can be shared.

Paul

[mhanna]

That Zinc is the hardest one to get to but on 2 different boats I was able to get it off without removing anything. You might be able to loosen the cooler and rotate it a bit to help.
It took time but it can be done.

[Capt Paul]

mhanna,

Thanks for the idea, I will try it out this weekend.

Paul

[RobS]

With the port floor box removed you should be able to lay on your back in that compartment with your legs out on the deck facing the transom and get a clear view of that zinc and be able to get very small turns on it with an open ended wrench. Just be sure to have the new zinc in reach so you do not have to get into and outof that position more than once. Also, if you are alone, a good idea is to have your cell phone in reach in case you get stuck - seriously...

[zinbaad]

HELP!! I'm Stuck

[Capt Paul]

Zinbaad,

It happened to once already, I was lucky enough that someone walked by and check up on me about 2 minutes after it happened,

Very embarrassing!

Paul

[zinbaad]

I absolutley believe it.. I have crawled down on the engine sides of the 31 te, careful not to bend or rip out any electric wires and felt like a pretzel, twisting & turning to grab a dropped tool or angling to get a wrench on a nut. Yes a cell phone is a must along with someone up top to rescue or hand down a tool or something.. I was laughing at myself on that one at 5'11 and 220lbs if I only had a Little Person friend to help out a bit...

[robonurse]

That is a raw water hose in the way. It comes off quite easily and the zinc is removed with a stubby 11/16 wrench.

[robonurse]

The hose isn't that difficult to remove and it is a raw water hose so you will not lose any coolant. Once the hose is off, a stubby 11/16 wrench will fit in there nicely.

[Cape Codder]

You do end up like a pretzel getting to that zinc. I have my wife check on me every 5-10 minutes. You really CAN get stuck in there.
An open end 11/16th CAN get to it, and you need to reverse the wrench after every incremental move.(what a pain)

After I finally got the nut backed out, I found the zinc had broken off and was stuck in the hole. Well, it will eventually do it's job and dissolve.
Now getting that nut back on and tightened.........THAT was a challenge!!

After dropping that nut TWICE down underneath the engine, I was cussing every word known to man. My solution was to tie a light braided fishing line around the shaft as close as possible to the hex nut, and the other end onto the engine, and lower the line with my right hand and get the nut into place with my left fingers and just begin to tighten....whew....that is NOT easy. Then employ the wrench. The fishing line was a VERY useful, as I dropped that sucker at least another half dozen times, but just pulled it back up with the fishing line.

So I'll wait a year or so and try it again...hopefully the old zinc will have dissolved by then.