Flushing a D4

beejay190

beejay190

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I want to flush through my D4 but the traditional muffs clamped over the water inlets in the DPH leg are insufficient because there is a small round hole underneath the leg through which the water pours out. A mate of mine uses a cork - suitably carved to shape - to block the hole .

I have heard that VP or someone makes something fit for purpose to block the hole. Does anyone know what this is and where I can get hold of it.[ I plan to ask the local VP dealer this week ].

Also, what is the purpose of the hole underneath the leg.?
 
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I can't answer your question, but I have a D4/ DPH leg on my boat and I would like to flush it out/ run it out of the water. My previous boat, which had a VP petrol V8 had a flushing port as standard so muffs were not required to do that.; basically a bronze "T" piece ( actually more of a "Y" piece) in the inlet hose to the sea water pump to which a garden hose could be attached.
The fitting at the end where the garden hose was attached was a bit basic and prone to air leaks. I modified the attachment end so it had a "Gardena" type quick release coupling and a cap, plus a stainless steel ball valve for positive shut off. I can't see any reason why such a setup could not be used on the D4/ D6 + DPH combination, or indeed why VP never fitted such an useful cheap bit of equipment in the first place !

Any "excess" water, i.e. more that the pump will pass through basically just goes back to the outdrive
 
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Thanks. My engineer has been trying to obtain a similar T piece of equipment from the USA which will fit into the raw water inlet pipe with a hose type connection
fixed to the port shoulder. I have been waiting nearly 3 months for this and it has not arrived yet.

My boat is kept in a Dry Stack hence I am now looking to go the muffs route.
 
beejay190 said:
I want to flush through my D4 but the traditional muffs clamped over the water inlets in the DPH leg are insufficient because there is a small round hole underneath the leg through which the water pours out. A mate of mine uses a cork - suitably carved to shape - to block the hole .

I have heard that VP or someone makes something fit for purpose to block the hole. Does anyone know what this is and where I can get hold of it.[ I plan to ask the local VP dealer this week ].

Also, what is the purpose of the hole underneath the leg.?
Click to expand...

use the nozzle uncut that comes with tubes of sealant . works a treat
 
beejay190 said:
Thanks. My engineer has been trying to obtain a similar T piece of equipment from the USA which will fit into the raw water inlet pipe with a hose type connection
fixed to the port shoulder. I have been waiting nearly 3 months for this and it has not arrived yet.

My boat is kept in a Dry Stack hence I am now looking to go the muffs route.
Click to expand...

Do you know what ID the inlet hose to the water pump is ? The OD looks bigger that that on the V8 petrol one.

Interestingly, the parts diagram for the raw water system for the D4 shows an eye wateringly expensive "T piece" (#3684430) before the water pump inlet hose; I have no idea (yet) what the side connection is connected to, if anything at all !
 
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Kits for doing this with simple fresh water or better still using a "Salt Away" reservoir are widely available in the US, The VP part mentioned earlier is for use with the VP system similar to the "Salt Away" albeit far more expensive both in hardware and consumables. But your "engineer" might like to try more readily available hardware, pop off the inlet hose to the raw water pump, measure the bore and buy one of these http://www.carbuildersolutions.com/uk/aluminium-modular-inline-housing-38mm to suit. The 1/2" female BSP thread will accept many inlet fittings for the hose including a manual valve or a one way valve, it has the advantage of being usable in or out of the water. You can either connect the flushing hose direct or run a hose to a convenient connection point in the cockpit. All 15mm compression plumbing fittings have 1/2" BSPP threads so the range of fittings to the Tee are widely and cheaply available. Not much use with drives using internal impellors but perfect for any internal raw water pump and the "Salt Away" really does protect the raw water side from corrosion.
 
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What type of water filter do you have? Early screw cap, upgraded early clamp on cap or later type clamp on cap?

You can modify an old lid from the early types to accept a quick fit hose connection and fit this when you want to flush. This will flush by hose pressure without engine running.

If you are a later type (where the filter is before the pump) you can do the same, but will have to run the engine to flush.

Means no removing of hoses, no extra connections etc.

For end of season winterisation/ system cleaning take a look at www.flushsok.co.uk. Less hassle than a hosepipe. (I am the proprietor of this product)
 
David2452 said:
The VP part mentioned earlier is for use with the VP system similar to the "Salt Away" albeit far more expensive both in hardware and consumables. .
Click to expand...

No, it's not the same.

The VP Neutrasalt system has a fitting that is inserted just before the power steering cooler and has quite a narrow inlet for the corrosion protection fluid. ( I've fitted two of them, so I am pretty sure !)

The standard engine flush fitting is quite different and is fitted just before the raw water pump inle . Remarkably simple and works well.
 
beejay190 said:
I want to flush through my D4 but the traditional muffs clamped over the water inlets in the DPH leg are insufficient because there is a small round hole underneath the leg through which the water pours out.

Also, what is the purpose of the hole underneath the leg.?
Click to expand...

To draw the majority of the water in to cool the engine
 
Thank you all for your replies.

I have been waiting nearly three months to get a flushing kit from the US and have now given up.

Yesterday I bought some muffs (£17) which feed water into the water intakes on both sides of the leg; rammed a cork into the hole underneath the leg
and flushed through without any problems. There was hardly any water leakage as the water fed in.
 
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