oil cooler?

[tomcat rio]

the location of my oil filter (foward of the seacock) lends itself to an easy oil cooler installation if i was so inclined..even a small one would reduce oil temp, i'll bet.
...
http://static.flickr.com/86/247544766_dcf5e70077_b.jpg
..
does anybody here use one? if so, are you happy with it?

i think i would install an oil temp gage, also.
..

[jcollins]

Tomcat,
Is this something I need to have as opposed to a nice to have?

[tomcat rio]

... i'm gonna put in an oil temp gage first. get some data for ten engine hours or so and then see about an oil cooler.

[Mariner]

Were you thinking this would be an air or water heat exchanger?

I think the question is really not so much whether it could be done, but whether it's necessary. If you have a problem with the oil getting too warm, that could be indicative of some other more serious problem. My guess would be that most marine diesels don't really require it. It's just another place for a leak to develop.

[tomcat rio]

i took a look in the engine manual; there might already be one hiding in there.
still, an oil temp guage appeals to me. also one for the transmissssion.

[Capt Paul]

TomCat,

You are right there is an oil cooler on the engine already . It actually looks like there are two separate ones according to the diagram in the service manual. I'm having my entire raw water cooling system checked/cleaned due to some back pressure issues ( Pressure blows the hose off the intercooler). This is part of that system according to my mechanic. He said it needs to be checked/cleaned every 7-10 years depending on how much you use your boat. May be more or less depending on the salinity of the water you run in. I think temperature gages on the oil and transmission is a good idea.

Paul

[Double Lucky]

Our 28 TE, Double Lucky, has blown three raw water cooling hoses in the last 6 months (approximately 180 hours operation) since we bought her. Each of the hoses are upstream of the fresh water cooler. She now has 1200 hours on the engine. The engine runs well in all other respects. The engine is the Yanmar 300 (6LP-STZE). My mechanic says that the pressure in the raw water hose is high. He judged this by attempting to squeeze the hoses when the engine is running at 2500+ RPM. What should the pressure be? How do you measure the pressure in the raw water system? Last fall when the sea water temperature was 80+ the engine overheated at WOT (3800 RPM) but would return to normal temperature when throttle backed off to cruise RPM of 3200. I have records from previous owner indicating that engine was blowing hoses, heat exchanger was pulled and boiled out with acid in June 2004. Could it be that this just needs to be done again? Maybe I've waited too long already. Also, the indicator light for the fresh water cooling level comes on intermittently. Cooling level is where it should be so I've discounted this indicator light. What has been your experience? What should I do next? Thanks in advance for your help and advice. Russ

[Russell]

Russ, There are a few possibilities that you can check for the obstruction. If you have had an impeller failure a piece of one of the vanes could be lodged at the entrance to the heat exchanger. If you can open the end of it you can check for that and see the condition of the water channels. If they are filled with deposits you can clean it yourself or take it somewhere. After doing that on a small Yanmar I had in a sailboat I finally traced the obstruction to where the cooling water enters the exhaust elbow. There are transducers that you can put on the hose entering the heat exchanger to monitor the pressure. It will vary with your RPM but you mark the normal pressure during cruise on the gauge and then watch for any change. This will also tip you off to an impeller failure as the pressure will fall. The other Russ.

[Double Lucky]

My Yanmar 6LP-STZE at wide open throttle emits white smoke (steam, I assume) from the exhaust. This steam occurs almost immediately upon pushing the throttle to wide open (approx 3800 rpm). Engine runs all day at normal temperature (80 degrees C.) when run at 3200 rpm or below. At WOT the temperature climbs also to greater than 90 degrees C in less than a few minutes. The sea water temperature is about 74 degrees in the Gulf of Mexico now. Engine was also blowing hoses (sea water cooling). As Russell suggested, we have just removed and cleaned the Inter cooler, engine oil cooler, and transmission cooler. Pressure in hoses is less than it was. We did find parts of impeller from pump (hopefully a previous pump since pump seems to be putting out sufficient volume). I believe the overheating condition is improved but not yet completely repaired. Next we will remove, inspect and service the fresh water cooler and the raw water pump. The mixing elbow was replaced 200 hrs ago (June 06). What other tests should we try? Are we on the right track? Thanks, Russell and thanks in advance for other help, too.

Russ Varney
Double Lucky
Albin 28 TE (1999) (1200 hrs now, October 2006: 1000 hrs)
Tampa, FL