[C38] How do I tell if my heat exhanger is not working?

[Tom Troncalli]

Hello Patrick,

I have a weld shop but there are 3" exchangers on the market already.  I 
am just too cheap to buy a commercial unit.

Tom Troncalli




On 8/2/2015 8:18 PM, Patrick wrote:
> Tom
> Is it difficult to make 3" heat exchanger?
> Patrick
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Aug 2, 2015, at 7:21 AM, Tom Troncalli <tdtron at earthlink.net 
> <mailto:tdtron at earthlink.net>> wrote:
>
>> The original 2" heat exchanger on the 5424 was marginal in the best 
>> of conditions but with any debris or warm sea water environment the 
>> engine will overheat.  I have seen the 5424 overheat on a relatively 
>> new boat going across the Florida straight to Bimini.
>>
>> I kept my Catalina 38 in Tampa bay and even with the engine flushed 
>> and using clean antifreeze water, the engine would run on the hot 
>> side in Summer when the bay was warmer.
>>
>> I made a 3" exchanger for my 38 and never experienced overheating again.
>>
>> Prestone makes an engine flush kit that puts an elbow in a coolant 
>> hose from the engine to the heat exchanger which allows easy flushing 
>> of the engine and also an easy way to "burp" the engine to remove air 
>> in the system.  This kit is cheap and works well with any boat, 
>> upgraded heat exchanger or not.
>>
>> With this kit you can put the chemical flush in the engine, run it to 
>> clean up the engine, then use a city water hose to flush the residual 
>> cleaner from the cooling system. We first drained the engine into a 
>> bucket to remove as much of the cleaning solution safely from the 
>> boat as possible before we used the city water flush with the 
>> intention of keeping as much of the flush chemical from exiting 
>> through our bilge pump into the harbor.
>>
>> Flushing probably eventually helps any engine but on the 5424 nothing 
>> beats a larger heat exchanger.  The original 2" exchanger just could 
>> not handle 24hp except in ideal conditions.  With a thermostat 
>> controlled engine, it is better to have an exchanger larger than 
>> needed but not smaller.
>>
>> That's my experience anyway.
>>
>> Tom Troncalli
>> Previous owner #95
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On 8/1/2015 11:29 PM, 1derful at comcast.net wrote:
>>>
>>> Hello,
>>> My Catalina has been overheating.  Universal Diesel 5424.
>>> I removed the thermostat........it was corroded and wrapped with debris.
>>> I removed and cleaned the internal water pump.  Also lot of debris.
>>> Put hose in engine.  Water didn't flow but eventually it did.  More 
>>> debris.
>>> now when I run the engine it is cool until I put on the radiator 
>>> cap..........then it gets too hot and loses water.
>>> Any thoughts?
>>> Patrick
>>>
>>>
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