Feedback on offseason 6BTA 370 cooling system changes and alarms

[Jeff Guilbert]

I’m thinking about some my winter boat projects, and would like to lay them out here to see if they make sense overall.
My engines have SeaMax raw water pumps. I had the aftercoolers serviced by Seaboard Marine prior to this season (April 2017). I performed a descaling recirculating flush of the transmission oil coolers and heat exchangers at the beginning of the season as well. My gauge coolant temperatures seemed to be fine during the season, and verified them with IR gun checks on the engines (~178-181C at the sensor location).

I’d like to make sure the system stays reliable and give me ample warning of issues in the future.

1. Fuel cooler removal: My two aluminum fuel tanks are 180 gallons each, and located under the cockpit. I do travel 3-4 hours at a time for some of my trips, although most of my trips are 1 hour long. I’d like to remove the fuel coolers to simplify fuel routing, increase access to the raw water pumps, remove a seawater cooling restriction, and remove a potential point of failure. Given my configuration and usage, does removing them make sense?

2. 160F Thermostat: I estimate that I spend roughly 60% of my hours traveling on plane. I think it would make sense to switch to a 160F thermostat from the 180F thermostat to give me a margin of error in the event of heat rise in the system. Is there any disconfirming info for making this change?

3. Alarms: I’m thinking of adding an alarm panel for coolant temp, oil pressure, and exhaust temperature. I would like to go with the Borel 167F temperature band switch for exhaust temperature. If I made the two changes above, could I safety go with a 195F coolant temp switch? Is there any compelling reason to go with alarms other than these 3 on this basic panel?

Based on my engine SN’s and CPL, do I also need the idler pulley bolt upgrade? It probably makes sense to do this if I have the belt off for a thermostat change.

Thanks in advance for any feedback!
Jeff

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chefboyelroy

Topic

[Rob Schepis]

The alarm panels do not have to be 100% “in your face” when you are sitting at the helm. They are loud. How about posting pictures of both dash areas, the gauge dash and MFD dash?

Tranny coolers were replaced due to age and being proactive and the Sendures are an upgrade over the stock ones which were likely Champs which have a colorful history. A leak in a gear cooler can cause fluid loss in short order with little as to warnings until bad things are already happening. So I figured new Sendures and a low pressure alarm and I can scratch this one off the “worry list”. The take-offs were “visibly” in good shape and got me good money on eBay…

[Jeff Guilbert]

Rob – I’m trying to figure out whether I can fit the separate panel alarms on my helm. The plan is to install the engine alarms this year, and add the boost and EGT pyro gauges next year. I don’t have enough room on the gauge dash for two panels, but I was also considering the dash where GPS MFD is located. That should be able to fit two alarm panels, boost/EGT gauges, and the MFD.

I still have the stock Cummins transmission cooler. Is that something you replaced due to age or failure?

[Rob Schepis]

The original gear coolers supplied by Cummins (see attached pic) did not have zinc ports. I replaced them with Sendures from Seaboard (pic attached). This thread shows it all.

https://www.sbmar.com/community/topic/pencil-zinc-install/

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Bill Desmarais

[Bill Desmarais]

Rob,

Nice write-up documentation in your article !

Question ? Where are the zincs on your gear cooler ?

I might send mine out to Seaboard to have the one on the ZF63A drilled and tapped for zincs.

Tony made the modification on a pr of trans coolers he shipped out with two new engines to me back in 2008

Regards, Bill D

[Rob Schepis]

Bill Desmarais wrote:

Rob,

The guy at Cummins who designed the “combo block” on the 6Bs sure didn’t think much about simplicity.

“I have a great idea: Let’s put something on the side of the engine with a dozen or so leak points!”

It reminds me of a wall mounted display in the local hardware store for identifying thread sizes….

[Tony Athens]

IMO, If you have enough real estate at your helm station, Rob’s setup is well worth the effort..

Tony

[Bill Desmarais]

Rob,

The guy at Cummins who designed the “combo block” on the 6Bs sure didn’t think much about simplicity.

[Rob Schepis]

Alarm Panels

Jeff, why not a dedicated panel for each engine? Here’s what I designed and had made by Borel

1 user thanked author for this post.

Jeff Guilbert

[Jeff Guilbert]

Rob – Thanks for the feedback and links. I’m definitely losing the combo blocks! I’ve previously looked at your excellent Tstat changing article before, and no doubt I’ll be referring to it when I do the work.

Bill- I am probably copying you a lot since I’ve done a lot of my research on this site! I didn’t realize the Borel alarm was louder than the Aqualarm. I was favoring the Aqualarm since I could do three sensors for both engines on one panel. The Borel does four sensors max, so I’d have to lose one sensor per engine, or add another panel. I’ll have to think about that. The EGT and boost gauges are on the list for next winter.

[Rob Schepis]

Combo Block & Fuel Cooler

Fuel Flow Diagrams for the Popular 6BTA 5.9 330/370 Diamonds

[Rob Schepis]

B series Tstat Upgrade

Changing a Cummins Marine 4B, 4BT 3.9, or a 6B, 6BT, 6BTA 5.9 Thermostat

[Rob Schepis]

Engine/Gear Alarms

Awesome Bill.

Jeff, I’ll post up some links

Redundant Alarms – The Least Expensive Engine Insurance

[Bill Desmarais]

Here ya go Jeff…….”you copying me?..LOL?

My 6BTA 370.

I purchased the engine from Seaboard January 2014.

Tony removed the fuel cooler and installed a SMX Aquaalarm between the raw water pump and the after cooler.

I later installed a SMX Hi Flo 160F Tstat.

Changed out the SMX 205F to a SMX 190F temp switch.

All wired to a Borel Manufacturing Alarm panel.

IMO the Borel beeper is MUCH louder than the Aquaalarm panels.

I also have a redundant loss of raw water temp switch on the custom Seaboard Marine exhaust.

Also, while you are at it…..add an SMX EGT kit to the 370s if you already don’t have them.

Keep us posted,

Bill D

[Rob Schepis]

Jeff,

All great stuff and they ALL get a big YES from me. I’ve implemented all that on my B’s. I’m traveling now and on my not-so-smart phone or I’d post some links and pics.

Remove the combo blocks too.

I had the 205deg coolant switches before the190’s were out. I relocated the 205’s and put the 190’s in the mani cap adapter when I installed the160 tstats.

I have an article here on the Seaboard site about engine alarms with lots of pics.

Post some real good pics of the engineroom and maybe we can come up with a few more winter projects for ya!

[Author]

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