CAT 3126 FLUSHING

[John100156]

Hi
I would like to flush my Cats next time out on the boat, I have a couple of gallons of Rydelyme in the garage. I was thinking of back-flushing as the following sequence:

.1 Isolate SW sea cock and insert pipe connector to lid with a pipe outlet to a large bucket
.2 Remove impeller and anodes
.3 Remove the engine hose entering the exhaust elbow and connect hose to solid pipe from pump flow (hence reverse flow through engine)
.4 Install suction hose from the pump to suck solution from the large bucket allowing capacity for initial foaming
.5 Isolate valves to stern gland water feeds
.6 Circulate over night
.7 Install new impeller and anodes

Anyone done this to 3126's before? if so is the above acceptable, any advice welcome....!

Was thinking 50/50 mix of RL/Water?

 

[volvopaul]

Hi
I would like to flush my Cats next time out on the boat, I have a couple of gallons of Rydelyme in the garage. I was thinking of back-flushing as the following sequence:

.1 Isolate SW sea cock and insert pipe connector to lid with a pipe outlet to a large bucket
.2 Remove impeller and anodes
.3 Remove the engine hose entering the exhaust elbow and connect hose to solid pipe from pump flow (hence reverse flow through engine)
.4 Install suction hose from the pump to suck solution from the large bucket allowing capacity for initial foaming
.5 Isolate valves to stern gland water feeds
.6 Circulate over night
.7 Install new impeller and anodes

Anyone done this to 3126's before? if so is the above acceptable, any advice welcome....!

Was thinking 50/50 mix of RL/Water?

Hi John , I obviously do this a lot at work .
I wouldn’t mix it 50/50 as it will weaken its ability to penetrate the areas it needs to .
You will need more than 2 gallons as you will loose some in the first engine so you won’t have enough for the second one.
I would connect a pipe to the outlet side of the sea water pump so after the impeller , then a return hose from the last cooler to a bucket to collect etc .
Now if it’s like the 3116 follow the sea water lines , you may find it has a Y piece where the flow of sea water diverts to feed the intercooler and the heat exchanger , you may find it doesn’t clean the intercooler as much .
It’s the intercooler on a CAT that blocks up , you can tell because over the years the cooler tubes block up then the paint burns off because the heat isn’t being dissipated.

The idea of closing the sea cock and filling the sea water strainer will also consume more liquid .
Lastly when you start up collect the plain sea water in a separate bucket so yo7 don’t mix it with the virgin rydelime .
Hope that helps .

BTW I was asked to come to SC last year but my days of working abroad are gone .

 

[rafiki_]

John, how is the fluid going to circ if you remove the impeller? On my Azi, the water pumps have to be removed to change the impeller, and the access to the the port engine is challenging. You have to dangle down from the saloon floor through the opening under the port side settee.

 

[volvopaul]

It’s a Princess 45 which has a fantastic engine bay , I can service them without taking the floor up.

 

[John100156]

As Paul has said, access is good in the engine bay on the P45, albeit I have not changed the impellers yet as I have only had her a few months.

I had a look last time out, so the intention is to start on STB then move to Pt. I will probably use a water puppy to start with pumping through from the exhaust elbow to SW strainer, may leave the strainer in to catch any bits.

Paul have you done this before, does that make sense to you? Any tips?

 

[John100156]

Sorry Paul just read up - thanks for info.

 

[John100156]

Paul - do you see any advantage in back-flushing, reverse flow, just in case any historic bits of impeller have found there way into the system? I can;t think of any disadvantages but I defer to your experience in this regard.

 

[volvopaul]

You can backflush , is it overheating ?

 

[John100156]

No - she made 28kts with some spare revs and a clean bottom and settled at 80-85C, but I would like to clean and flush them as part of a first service as a new owner.

 

[John100156]

My Cat 3126's are working well, SW cooling systems fully cleaned and flushed and whilst doing so I fitted new service exchange SW pumps. Completed oil/filter/anodes and now want to flush-out and change the engine coolant, next time out. I have no idea what may have been used previously and if/when it was last changed, nothing obvious from colour of coolant. Engines are both running very well, temps uniform and stable.

So, my question is: What is the best 50/50 pre-mix coolant to use?

The manual is unclear, I was going to buy genuine Cat extended life coolant (ELC) but thought it best to ask others first. Whilst I am not fixated on OEM Products, I do like to fit genuine Cat filters, belts, impellers and the like, Any thoughts or advice welcome as always....