Aftercooler Maintenance

[Moonzy1]

I also removed the oil filter mount, and put it to the side w the filter on. Just plugged the holes. This was a lot less messy than taking the filter off.

[Moonzy1]

Get it on a vise, pull the caps and i used a 4x4 wood block and mallet on the fore end of the cooler to get it moving out. It wasnt terribly stuck. Once started, I was able to slide it out by pulling w my hands.

I also bought all new stainless bolts from McMaster Carr for reassembly. Some of the old bolts were beatup and I didnt trust them going back in. $10 for 25 brand new screws. No brainer.

[LaBomba]

I keep an dedicated 1" wood chisel for scraping off old gaskets and had no issues and peels things off quickly. I personally would never use a sander as they are hard to keep perfectly flat at all times. Wire wheel on a die grinder or dremel would work also IMO.

[Moonzy1]

Originally Posted by LaBomba

I keep an dedicated 1" wood chisel for scraping off old gaskets and had no issues and peels things off quickly. I personally would never use a sander as they are hard to keep perfectly flat at all times. Wire wheel on a die grinder or dremel would work also IMO.

Spoke to Mechanic that does these and he said sander is fine due to O-rings, but I ended up using a wire wheel and dremel as you say because it was just was more effective to clean it up.

[Moonzy1]

I sent out the cartridges and cleaned the housing and caps myself.

They did not come back as clean as i would have liked on the air side but I could see though them all. For the remaining black soot that I wanted to remove, I soaked it in SEAFOAM and that went through the air side like a hot knife through butter. Cleaned it rt up.

Then got ALCO METALUBE and lubed everything up and reassembled.

[Moonzy1]

sorry guys
I cant seem to get these pics flipped the rt way

[Moonzy1]

Pressure tested
Done!

[Baker]

Well done!!!!

[Moonzy1]

Thanks Baker
Been wanting to try this project for a long time
Feels good to have it completed

[jimL]

Moonzy1,

Thanks for sharing. I wish there was a youtube video for this. I need to do mine as a new owner of a 2005 Mainship, previously owned by one owner. Don't know if the last owner cleaned them up, but I'm feeling I need to before I embark on serious cruising.

Jim

[RT Firefly]

Get r done...

[Dougcole]

Very informative post, thanks for putting it up. I considered doing them myself on my 4LHAs, but in the end I decided to let a mechanic do it. This thread may have saved me a boat buck if it had showed up earlier.

[Moonzy1]

Originally Posted by jimL

Moonzy1,

Thanks for sharing. I wish there was a youtube video for this. I need to do mine as a new owner of a 2005 Mainship, previously owned by one owner. Don't know if the last owner cleaned them up, but I'm feeling I need to before I embark on serious cruising.

Jim

Jim
Happy to help you in any way i can. Perhaps I will make a video when I reinstall.

If you decide to tackle it Feel free to PM me and ill get you my email and cell.

Pop the aft endcap off and take a look to get an idea of its condition.

Disclamer: I am not a mechanic but this particular job is not complicated. A matter of unbolting, cleaning, and reinstall.

There are a couple of things I would do next time to make it even easier. Like pour "SEA FOAM" in the cooler before I removed the cartridge to pre clean the fins. I suspect that seafoam left to soak overnight would likely be all you needed to do to the air side. That stuff cuts through the soot like a hot knife through butter.

I also ordered some matching replacement O-rings from McMAster Carr. They are coming today so I will compare. $10 for 5 vs the 23.00/ o-ring from yanmar

[sunchaser]

Moonzy
You adroitly accomplished two very important things. First the recognition that ACs require servicing. Secondly, the "get-up and go" to move forward

The rest of us, especially Yanmar owners, take note!

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. M1. VERY nicely done. I've heard all sorts of "magical" claims about SeaFoam but your experience is first hand.

MSDS lists the ingredients (SeaFoam) as: Hydrocarbon blend and Isopropanol. Not much different than a lot of other engine "additives".

I wonder if a parts cleaner would work as well? I use this stuff to soak my carbs... https://www.amazon.com/CRC-14101-Car.../dp/B000BXHVQ2

[Aquabelle]

Originally Posted by Moonzy1

Jim
Happy to help you in any way i can. Perhaps I will make a video when I reinstall.

If you decide to tackle it Feel free to PM me and ill get you my email and cell.

Pop the aft endcap off and take a look to get an idea of its condition.

Disclamer: I am not a mechanic but this particular job is not complicated. A matter of unbolting, cleaning, and reinstall.

There are a couple of things I would do next time to make it even easier. Like pour "SEA FOAM" in the cooler before I removed the cartridge to pre clean the fins. I suspect that seafoam left to soak overnight would likely be all you needed to do to the air side. That stuff cuts through the soot like a hot knife through butter.

I also ordered some matching replacement O-rings from McMAster Carr. They are coming today so I will compare. $10 for 5 vs the 23.00/ o-ring from yanmar

Why would you use Sea Foam BEFORE removing the core if you are still going to remove it anyway? Wouldn't it be easier to remove the core 1st and use Sea Foam once it's out?

Originally Posted by jimL

Moonzy1,

Thanks for sharing. I wish there was a youtube video for this. I need to do mine as a new owner of a 2005 Mainship, previously owned by one owner. Don't know if the last owner cleaned them up, but I'm feeling I need to before I embark on serious cruising.

Jim

[Moonzy1]

Originally Posted by RT Firefly

Greetings,
Mr. M1. VERY nicely done. I've heard all sorts of "magical" claims about SeaFoam but your experience is first hand.

MSDS lists the ingredients (SeaFoam) as: Hydrocarbon blend and Isopropanol. Not much different than a lot of other engine "additives".

I wonder if a parts cleaner would work as well? I use this stuff to soak my carbs... https://www.amazon.com/CRC-14101-Car.../dp/B000BXHVQ2

Perhaps. Cant hurt to try I guess. I hit it w a can of carb cleaner too. It worked but I went thru a lot and the fumes were getting bad.

I used to use seafoam on my outboards and it always did the job. Thats why I had a few bottle around to try.

thanks

[Moonzy1]

Originally Posted by Aquabelle

Why would you use Sea Foam BEFORE removing the core if you are still going to remove it anyway? Wouldn't it be easier to remove the core 1st and use Sea Foam once it's out?

Great question.

Because the cooler housing is the perfect container to soak the core without having to buy 5 gallons of seafoam.

You can lay the housing on its side w the inlet and outlet facing the sky and fill ea side up to cover the core w the seafoam.

You need to fill ea side though because there is a metal partition, midpoint on the cooler cartridge (refer to a previous pic) that separates both sides..

you will give the housing a good cleaning this way too.

Id soak it overnight and then blow it out w compressed air into a towel or something.

Ill post a before and after seafoam shot

[Moonzy1]

Of you look on the lower left portion of the cartridge you will see it black and sooty on the rt half and then copper clean rt next to it.

And all i did was pour the seafoam bottle through it once.

Now im assuming whatever they used to soak it at the radiator shop loosened it a bit. But maybe the seafoam is just that effective. Either way, an overnight soak should get it very clean.



sorry pic flipped

im referring to the rt end of the cartridge

[Lepke]

Another method for cleaning mating surfaces is a large, fine, flat file. You can span across most openings and caps from several directions, keeping the surface uniform and square. I think is as easy or easier than a sander, and all the debris can be cleaned up instead of flung everywhere. If necessary you can remove small dips and bumps in a controlled way.