Cooler & Heat Exchanger Maintenance

[Pitou]

This past weekend the seawater side on the engine was disassembled for service and coolant drained on my new to me 2007 31TE as it had never been apart before. The aftercooler didn't look too bad on the sea water side, but did have some blockage and the air side had some gooey mung inside. The gear cooler and fuel cooler bundles do not have end caps so who knows, but a bath in a diluted solution of muriatic acid and water and pressure testing at 40lbs will put that all back into known shape. The intake side of the heat exchanger was severly blocked even though the boat was not running hot at 170 degrees at cruise and pusing to 175 at WOT during sea trial. I did negotiate this job into the price as a full breakdown had never been done and only a Rydlyme flush 4 years ago. I wanted the end caps off and greased so that they would continue to be able to come apart and be reassembled without leaking. On my '02 28TE I did not disassemble for 9 seasons and the end caps would not seal and my aftercooler was replace to the tune of a $3500 part.

I vowed never again and to be proactive with PM.

The coolant was also drained, impeller replaced and heat exchanger bundle removed on the generator. All and all not too bad. About 20% blocked on the intake side.

Here are some pictures:

5.10.2014.2 (800x600).jpg

5.10.2014 HE intake blockage 3.jpg

5.10.2014 HE intake blockage (800x600).jpg

[RobS]

...on my new to me 2007 31TE....

Does taking care of all required maintenance and adding upgrades allow one to call their boat one model year newer ? If so T-R is an early release 2015 model !

...The intake side of the heat exchanger was severly blocked even though the boat was not running hot at 170 degrees at cruise and pusing to 175 at WOT during sea trial. ....

Kudos to a very effective cooling system if she looked like that and still held the temp within spec. That just proves that there is no merit to the theory of "it ain't broke don't fix it."

You've done more to her than the seller did in 7 seasons. Based on the zinc crud in the cooler(s) it seems he was a bit lax even on the easy stuff.

This confirms what I have learned in my recent 6 months of boat searching - buying from an original owner is NOT always better. It's the 2nd or 3rd owner that get's everything up to snuff, many times with nice upgrades along the way...

Nice work. A superb first season awaits you.

Oh, and BTW, if you have buyer's remorse, when you get it all back together and get the new mast and gear mounted I'll give you what you paid for her in December, less depreciation of course

[Pitou]

Yes Rob, I was very surprised with what I saw given the running temperatures. I just wanted to be sure and get things apart and back together with lots of grease before any casing or end cap corrossion damage occurred making the coolers throw aways down the road. My motto - Saltwater is the Enemy and Marine Age "means more" than Engine Hours. Don't I envy the freshwater boat owners!

Thanks for the generous purchase offer. It is always nice to know that one might have a buyer ... .

While the coolers were / are off I decided that it was a good time to make any small paint repairs. I'm keeping the old girl "pretty". All serviced parts will also be painted before being reinstalled.

5.18.2014 Touch up (1).jpg

5.18.2014 Gear Touch up.jpg

[John_Madison CT]

Kudos for a great thread! I hope to do a Rydlyme flush of my Peninsular this year. She runs cool now, but I want her to stay that way.

[jleonard]

Kudos for a great thread! I hope to do a Rydlyme flush of my Peninsular this year. She runs cool now, but I want her to stay that way.

I think you missed the point of the post which is the components need to be taken apart and cleaned. A rydlyme, etc flush is not enough.

[Pitou]

Kudos for a great thread! I hope to do a Rydlyme flush of my Peninsular this year. She runs cool now, but I want her to stay that way.

I think you missed the point of the post which is the components need to be taken apart and cleaned. A rydlyme, etc flush is not enough.

Hey John, Jay is correct. Removal, tearing down and cleaning is the way to go for thorough cleaning and for the longevity of the components and the only way to clean the air side of the aftercooler. In lieu of all of that a good long reverse and then forward flush with Rydlyme is a good way to maintain the saltwater side in between tear downs .. have at it and stay cool!

[jleonard]

I take mine off the engine and apart and rod them out/flush them myslf every 2 or 3 seasons. It's sometimes amazing what I find.
Not just stuff inside blocking the flow, but last time I discovered that the bracket was broken at the weld and the only thing holding the main heat exchanger in place was the hoses!
I never would have known until it failed under way if I didn't take it off.
Plus once the heat echangers are removed, you have visual access to normally hidden areas which is always a plus.
And it's a way to freshen up/replace the antifreeze because it really should be replaced from time to time (I think "they" say 5 years).

[Gammoner]

My new to me 2001 28 TE blew a raw water hose Memorial Day weekend. Limped home with a very hot engine -had a mechanic aboard, thankfully, because I'm not. In 14 years and two previous owners, one of whom is known to be OCD about maintenance- no one took apart the heat exchangers. What a mess. Fortunately no damage done, but everything had to be cleaned up and I had all the hoses replaced. Engine only has 975 hours on it, so that maintenance was deferred. Might be called "Duh-ferred". Not worth putting off some of this stuff. Do it right the first time and you won't be chasing the problems downhill.