Can you repair an oil cooler?

beormakate

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Hello all.

I have just serviced my starter motor and in the process, had to remove the heat exchanger. When I did, I inadvertently pulled off a corroded piece of pipe. Unfortunately, this pipe was attached to the oil cooler. Even worse, this is a sod to remove and costs £600 to replace! There is plenty of prior discussion on this apparent design fault on this engine - Yanmar 4JH3E. It doesn't have anodes as it's supposedly a special material that resists corrosion. My photos tend to disagree.

My question is: can this damage be repaired? Attached photos show each side of the unit: where the pipe has broken off and what it should look like.
My next question is: can a cheaper one be fitted? Preferably with anodes that I can check.

Any advice much appeciated!
Tim, S/Y Monty B, Montenegro
 

DaiB

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LO cooler

Looks repairable by making a new end but difficult to say without seeing it. Suggest you google bowman heat exchangers and you will find a size to suit there, quick phone call will get you a price and expect it to be a lot less than 600 quids.
 

Latestarter1

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Hello all.

I have just serviced my starter motor and in the process, had to remove the heat exchanger. When I did, I inadvertently pulled off a corroded piece of pipe. Unfortunately, this pipe was attached to the oil cooler. Even worse, this is a sod to remove and costs £600 to replace! There is plenty of prior discussion on this apparent design fault on this engine - Yanmar 4JH3E. It doesn't have anodes as it's supposedly a special material that resists corrosion. My photos tend to disagree.

My question is: can this damage be repaired? Attached photos show each side of the unit: where the pipe has broken off and what it should look like.
My next question is: can a cheaper one be fitted? Preferably with anodes that I can check.

Any advice much appeciated!
Tim, S/Y Monty B, Montenegro

The first question we have to get out of the way is 'why has this come as such a surprise' somebody has not been giving the water side of their motor the correct three yearly servicing and you have paid the price for 'fit and forget'.

However all water under bridge. Do not even think about cobbling up a repair, mechanical integrity of whole unit has been compromised by neglect. Moving on, Yanmar parts prices are breathtaking so seeking an alternative makes sense. Much of Yarnmar marinising work is done in the US, cooler probably comes from Seakamp but is proprietry to Yanmar so no point looking there. Take a look at the SenDure oil coolers, I think that they have a model which works just fine as replacement for about 150 bucks. Do not be tempted to use 'Champ' brand coolers, utter junk! Bowman make decent tranny coolers, however you need to remember that as marinisation of your motor was done in in US threads on oil hoses will be NPT, Bowman is BSP, not a big deal, however please do not be tempted to graunch NPT nipple into BSP with loads of PTFE tape.
 

Bobobolinsky

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Don't know the diameter, but it is possible that an end rubber termination from a bowman or polar (which are now Bowman) heat exchanger. Alternatively get a tundish made to size and fitted with a short length of hose and jubilee clips
 

Bobobolinsky

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Just a little thought, is your engine raw water cooled? Is the oil cooler on the raw water side, it just looks a bit corroded internally. It may be that if it is on the freshwater cooled side and there is raw water getting into the fresh water side. Might be worth checking the sealing on the heat exchanger
 
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