Advice on flushing cooling system - Perkins Diesel

G

Gulfstar Mark

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Dec 8, 2014
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33799
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I am not new to diesels...but new to them for a boat.

I have been studying all the different approaches to flushing and removing scaling and quite honestly it is hard to know what approach is best.

Chemicals, super flush systems...

Where is the best place to attach etc...

Any advice on a good website or document to check out?
 
There are two areas to consider the seawater side and the coolant side. Which are you considering?
 
Is there a problem with over heating? Can you remove end caps on the heat exchangers to see what it looks like? IMO the best approach if you have a problem is removing the exchangers and taking them to a radiator shop. But often just removing the end caps and rodding out the passages is sufficient.
If you don't have a problem leave them alone. Or remove the exchangers and fill with vinegar to soften stuff then rod then out. Dilute muriatic acid works but I am always worried about led solder joints and any aluminum if present.
 
for the salt water side, use Barnical Buster, it is less caustic and mfg claims will not eat thru metal like acid. make a loop using a bucket w/ a cheap fountain pump from home depot. feed the solution to the raw water line at the output side of the raw water pump and return to the bucket at the discharge at the exhaust mixing elbow. remember to close/seal the feed to the dripless shaft seals if you have them and remove all the zincs in the system before starting. follow up with replacing the rubber gaskets on the heat exchanger caps. on the fresh water side flushing is usually only done if there is an overheating issue. on that side the engine mfg will have a procedure in the manual on how to perform that flush effectively.
 
I did my gas horizon motor once. George (GVP) for the fresh water side told me to drain the anti-freeze and fill with ammonia, then run the motor up to temp. Then drain ammonia, remove end caps, rod it out, replace rubber gaskets and fill with fresh anti-freeze. Dropped my running temp 5 degrees!

On my diesel I recently had both motors totally cleaned fresh and salt as I was running hot and there was a blockage before oil cooler.

This year I ran salt away thru the motors before winterization. It's similiar to barnacle buster but I think it's more effective against salt residue.

Check out a company called www.overtempmarine.com I think it's like $1k and he does 2 motors, generator and all A/C units with a material called redlyme which is similair to barnacle buster. Seems cheap considering how expensive the material can be and then making all the special adapters you will need to make a closed loop system.
 
I will second what Vic33oo4 said. Used the product on my Perkins 4.236 as temps were rising to almost 200 degrees from the normal of 180 when running. The amount of junk that came out of the system was amazing. When done the operating temp actually dropped to just over 170 in 80 degree FL waters. Highly recommend the Barnacle Buster.
 
Barnacle Buster is 85% phosphoric acid. So any acid based product will work. Like, deluted muratic acid, RYDLYME or Ospho.
 
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