Replacing Engine Freshwater/Antifreeze

[chala]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

On my perkins 4-108 I had to remove the thermostat and fill the block with coolant.

I find it curious that Perkins would manufacture an engine without a bleed hole or thermostat by-pass channel. I know that for some very old engine they where some instructions on how to drill (create) a bleed hole.

[cruise]

I have a old perking 6-354, I changed my coolant for the first time in about a year, because I needed a new heat exchanger. besides that I do the regular checks she always seems to be fine.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by chala

I find it curious that Perkins would manufacture an engine without a bleed hole or thermostat by-pass channel. I know that for some very old engine they where some instructions on how to drill (create) a bleed hole.

Yeah, it took me a while to ferret it out for sure. I had just had the head rebuilt. ran fine but over heated. FInally the light went on in my head and I solved it. Some t-stats have a small hole in them I think. Maybe this engine didnt have the original stat. This was an 85 engine and this occurred in about 97-98. I discovered the boat for sale again recently, and conversed with the buyer on the boat history,,,,,still has the same Perkins in it and is running great. He bought it.

[Uncle Arthur]

Thanks Chala will do as you suggest ie topping up so no air left in heat exchanger, .
then hopefully the overfow tank will flow .
Just looked the Captforce post : on the yanmar coolant bottle it states 50 50 mix i hope they mean one to one ?

[Hudson Force]

Originally Posted by Uncle Arthur

...................
Just looked the Captforce post : on the yanmar coolant bottle it states 50 50 mix i hope they mean one to one ?

Yes, 50:50 is 1:1 , but my point was NOT to buy the pre-mixed bottle! Buy a One dollar bottle of distilled water and "mix" your own instead of paying more for half of the coolant!

[Uncle Arthur]

Thanks i got that and wasn't ? you more that i had got it right and would have been clearer if they had stated 1 to 1 .

[Ziggy]

According to my Yanmar manual, ELC/LLC (extended life coolant/long life coolant) should be replaced every two years. According to the Rotella ELC spec sheet, it is good for at least 6,000 hours of coolant service. Rotella Ultra ELC is good for 12,000 service hours. The shelf life of Ultra ELC is 5 years, by the way.

Since i probably will not run my engine for 6000 hours in my remaining lifetime, I think replacing the coolant before the end of its shelf life is a reasonable schedule.

[chala]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

Maybe this engine didnt have the original stat.

Yes good to use genuine parts. By the way it is also wise to have a genuine heat exchanger spare cap. They can fall apart in less than five years and give little warning when doing so.

Originally Posted by Uncle Arthur

topping up so no air left in heat exchanger, .

No air left under the cap. Depending on the design of the heat exchanger it may still be some air left in a recess on the top of the heat exchanger.

[Uncle Arthur]

I have yet to go and give it a good run ie an hour at 3000rpm . i am informed that this will open the thermostat and allow me to top up the expansion tank .
I will post an update when i have done this .

[chala]

Originally Posted by Uncle Arthur

I have yet to go and give it a good run ie an hour at 3000rpm . i am informed that this will open the thermostat and allow me to top up the expansion tank .

Originally Posted by chala

To run an engine with not enough coolant is a bad idea.

Originally Posted by Cheechako

On my perkins 4-108 I had to remove the thermostat and fill the block with coolant. When I ran the engine prior to that the t-stat was closed and created an air lock... so it wouldnt open even when the engine heated up because it was surrounded by air.

It would be wise to make sure that the engine block contains some coolant before running the engine.