FWC used in salt water

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ddurand

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The boat I boought at the end of 2020 has a VP I/O with factory FWC which is full FWC I believe. So engine coolant cools the engine, exhaust manifold and riser. Sea water is introduced into the exhaust at the back of the riser I believe.

So my question is how long do the exhaust manifolds and risers last?

I know the sea water part of the cooling system needs to be winterized with non-tox antifreeze.

What about the heat exchanger,. does that need any special cleaning every few years? Radiator shops that could do that kind of cleaning disappeared when car radiators when to non repairable aluminum and plastic.
 
Not familiar with gas I/Os but on diesels heat exchangers can be descaled in place with barnacle buster every few years. Frequency depends on specific model. Just mix BB with water in a bucket, throw in a small bilge pumps, hook hoses to the heat exchanger and circulate for 30/45 minutes
 
PascalG said:
Not familiar with gas I/Os but on diesels heat exchangers can be descaled in place with barnacle buster every few years. Frequency depends on specific model. Just mix BB with water in a bucket, throw in a small bilge pumps, hook hoses to the heat exchanger and circulate for 30/45 minutes
Click to expand...
BB works 👍
 
I began at the first sign of rising temps, then twice a year. Had twin 454 fresh water cooled engines.
 
PascalG said:
Not familiar with gas I/Os but on diesels heat exchangers can be descaled in place with barnacle buster every few years. Frequency depends on specific model. Just mix BB with water in a bucket, throw in a small bilge pumps, hook hoses to the heat exchanger and circulate for 30/45 minutes
Click to expand...
Amazon shows Barnacle Buster and Trac Ecological Barnicle Buster. Looks like BB from two different companies. Which product?
 
Trac Eco is sold for use in seawater cooled systems-
the Quality Chemical BB is sold to 'Removes deposits on boat bottoms, scum line and rust stain'
A quick look @ the SDS', it looks like the Trac is 50% Phosphoric Acid and the Quality Chemical is 20%
 
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Not sure about the risers being FWC. Manifolds yes. Are far as how long the manifolds will last being FWC…the way I look at it, as far as rust and corrosion is concerned, they should last as long as the engine block.
 
Thanks for the post Pascal. Using BB will certainly simplify my cleaning. I've been removing the end plates and rodding out the ports annually. What a pain.
 
I got 15 years out of mine on a pair of VP I/O DPs - admittedly, they should have been done at least 5 years sooner!
 
PascalG, when you do the flush, do you see anything coming out on the discharge side of the heat exchanger? I have Crusader engines with heat exchangers I installed 15 years ago. I have never run a cleaning solution through them. I flush out the raw water side of my engines with chlorinated city water every time I come back to the dock through a valve system I installed on the sea strainer. Just wondering what to expect if I choose to perform this cleaning of the heat exchangers. Thank you.
 
The solution returning to the bucket should be dark and dirty carrying all the crap it dissolved and flushed
 
What about the oil cooler in my Volvo Penta gas engine? It's online from outdrive to sea water pump. I am thinking that could be the cause of my overheating problem in another thread. (DTC 441).
 
ddurand said:
What about the oil cooler in my Volvo Penta gas engine? It's online from outdrive to sea water pump. I am thinking that could be the cause of my overheating problem in another thread. (DTC 441).
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Very good question. I look forward to seeing what the answer is.
 
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