Cummins Aftercooler Servicing

[Tom]

Hello,

Just started servicing my aftercoolers (Tony’s way of course) and found pitted corrosion inside the housing.  The surface area where the end caps join are fine but just inside the lip there is pretty significant pitted corrosion.  Is my housing toast?  Where does the o-ring seal the seawater from airside?  Will the pitted corrosion result in seawater leaks to airside?  

Thanks!

Topic

[Bill Desmarais]

Tom,

I’ve serviced the same after cooler as yours on my engines for the past 15 years the Seaboard way.

I service the coolers every three years. This is after making sure the cooler is greased up the Seaboard way to begin with. The more grease the better IMO.

I pressure tested the first one serviced with my own made up pressure test contraption.

Since the first one serviced,  I have not pressure tested since.

And have not had any issue with mis-assembly.

Follow  Rob & Tony’s suggestions and use plenty of Alco-MetaLube.

 

[Tony Athens]

Block sand the end faces and post way better pics………..

[Rob Schepis]

Do some searching on this forum and you will find the core tester that some of us have built and how we used it.  And also testing of assembled units.  You could say that pressure testing the core itself is not a necessity, it is a luxury.  But if you pressure test the assembled unit and cannot locate a leak at that point core testing does become a necessity.

[Tom]

So I bought the Seaboard aftercooler maintenance kit and reviewed the how-to video doing it the “Seaboard way” but it does not explain how to pressure test the core, or it’s even necessary?  I saw pictures showing some contraption rigged up to pressure test the core, but where/how would I find this tool?  How much pressure to test, etc? 

Thanks gain for your help!

 

Tom

[Rob Schepis]

Worry only about the flat machined upper and lower ends (faces) of the housing specifically where the o-rings sits.  Need much better pics for us to comment.  You can dry fit the core in the housing and set the o-rings in place to be sure you know where it sits on the machined ends.  Yes, the o-rings do double duty keeping the seawater in the end caps and the air in the housing space surrounding the finned core.

2 users thanked author for this post.

Tony Athens, Tom

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