KAD300 draining (sea water) heat exchanger

[alt]

On the KAD43, if I remember, there were 2 drains on the bottom of the heat exchanger; 1 for draining sea water, the other for draining coolant

Today when draining water out of my KAD300's, I noticed there is only a drain for the coolant and you have to drain the sea water side of the heat exchanger by un-doing a hose at the rear of the heat exchanger, and is a PITA tbh.

A step back in time, or am I imagining the 2 drains on the KAD43?

 

[Ian h]

I have KAD44's and there are 2 drains on those. 1 for coolant and 1 for seawater

 

[alt]

I have KAD44's and there are 2 drains on those. 1 for coolant and 1 for seawater

Well feck the KAD300's then. At least I know I wasn't imagining it

 

[volvopaul]

Well feck the KAD300's then. At least I know I wasn't imagining it

Under the supercharger you will see two black hoses tied to the black plastic air ilet pipe., one has a blue plastic tie wrap, that is the drain from the oil cooler which is the lowest cooler, that will drain most of the system, the intercooler has a 14mm head plug at the bottom which wil drain that too.

 

[Portofino]

There are two drain hoses -but have slightly different roles
The one without the blue marking -drain s the coolent from the H/E .
The one with the blue marking drain s the seawater from the oil cooler .

To drain the seawater from the H/E you do indeed have to pull hose at the back.

These are the same for kad 44 and 300 I think

 

[alt]

Under the supercharger you will see two black hoses tied to the black plastic air ilet pipe., one has a blue plastic tie wrap, that is the drain from the oil cooler which is the lowest cooler, that will drain most of the system, the intercooler has a 14mm head plug at the bottom which wil drain that too.

Hi Paul, yeah i'm aware of this hose (the one with the blue for sea water) and drained this. BUT, I didn't realise that this would drain most of the system. I thought that it would drain only the cooler.... good to know!

Also aware of the 14mm intercooler nut cheers, that was the first one I drained.

The hose behind the heat exchanger was a bit of a pain in the bum, it's nice to know that draining the oil cooler will also drain some of the heat exchanger.

Doesn't matter all *that* much to me as I have 3 tube heaters in the engine bay, but you can never be too safe...

 

[Portofino]

Under the supercharger you will see two black hoses tied to the black plastic air ilet pipe., one has a blue plastic tie wrap, that is the drain from the oil cooler which is the lowest cooler, that will drain most of the system, the intercooler has a 14mm head plug at the bottom which wil drain that too.

That 14 mm plug under the H/E drains the coolant not the seawater along with another on the exhaust elbow .
( I,ve got the operators DIY manual open -so I can say this with confidence )
The one under the inter cooler drains the seawater out of that .

 

[alt]

That 14 mm plug under the H/E drains the coolant not the seawater along with another on the exhaust elbow .
( I,ve got the operators DIY manual open -so I can say this with confidence )
The one under the inter cooler drains the seawater out of that .

I think he WAS referring to the 14mm under the intercooler draining the seawater

But yeah, i'm aware of the drainage points for seawater:
Intercooler
Heat Exchanger
Black hose (blue) for oil cooler
Turbo

I had the manual with me earlier so was aware of all the drain points, I was just raising the point that having to pull the hose off at the back of the heat exchanger was a pain compared to just having to loosen the drain on the heat exchanger on the KAD43's (and others). It appears the 'new' way of draining the heat exchanger (ie. loosen the hose) came in with the KAD44 or KAD300 ... wonder why?

 

[volvopaul]

That 14 mm plug under the H/E drains the coolant not the seawater along with another on the exhaust elbow .
( I,ve got the operators DIY manual open -so I can say this with confidence )
The one under the inter cooler drains the seawater out of that .

Read my post again!! As I said 14mm nut under the intercooler, not the heat exchanger.

 

[Portofino]

Read my post again!! As I said 14mm nut under the intercooler, not the heat exchanger.

Yeh got that ---- but he,s trying to remove the seawater from the H/E and realised ( manual) that they reccomended pulling the rear hose -cos what appears to be a drain plug under it drains coolant which presumably contains active reasonably fresh antifreeze of the correct proportions ?

 

[scubaman]

Alt, i presume you're doing this as part of your winter lay up preparations.

Wouldn't it be better to just flush the sea water side with glycol?

 

[gjgm]

Under the supercharger you will see two black hoses tied to the black plastic air ilet pipe., one has a blue plastic tie wrap, that is the drain from the oil cooler which is the lowest cooler, that will drain most of the system, the intercooler has a 14mm head plug at the bottom which wil drain that too.

If the boat has been lifted, doesnt the majority of the water run out through the legs anyway as they are now the lowest point? I appreciate that wasnt what he asked...

 

[volvopaul]

If the boat has been lifted, doesnt the majority of the water run out through the legs anyway as they are now the lowest point? I appreciate that wasnt what he asked...

Good point but no, the height of the inlet elbow on the inside of the shield is about half way from the lowest point in the pipework, the lowest pipe is the one from the sea water filter running to the oil cooler, when the boat is out the water the hose can be removed and tilted in the bilge to empty the pipe.

 

[alt]

Alt, i presume you're doing this as part of your winter lay up preparations.

Wouldn't it be better to just flush the sea water side with glycol?

Hi K,
boat is staying in water until after Christmas. This is just precaution... Prevention is better than cure.

I also have 3 tube heaters in the engine bay... For the sake of a little electricity it keeps the place warm and dry

 

[scubaman]

Ok, good.

We used to run antifreeze into the engines by fitting a hose to the inlet of the water pump and then running engine letting it suck from a bucket full of a/f until some came out through the leg. Also poured some into the hose loosened from the w/p inlet, to protect the oil cooler side of things. Basically same same but has the added benefit of corrosion protection.

You probably already know all this but just in case.

 

[alt]

Ok, good.

We used to run antifreeze into the engines by fitting a hose to the inlet of the water pump and then running engine letting it suck from a bucket full of a/f until some came out through the leg. Also poured some into the hose loosened from the w/p inlet, to protect the oil cooler side of things. Basically same same but has the added benefit of corrosion protection.

You probably already know all this but just in case.

Good advise is always welcomed! When I take my boat out of the water, I find as long as I open the water strainer, and drain all the usual spots, gravity does its thing and completely drains the sea water side of things. Being on fresh water (like you) negates the need to flush out with 'fresh' water. You make a good point thought about running through with anti-freeze... i've just never had the need to and coupled with the 3 tube heaters in the engine bay I doubt i'll ever need to