Removing the Aftercooler for Service

[firehoser75]

I am planning on taking my aftercooler off the engine for servicing this fall. It was last apart 1.5 years ago when I had an exhaust hose overheat situation and the entire raw water system was removed and serviced by a mechanic. A new exhaust elbow was needed and now is dry coming off the turbo with the water injected well below the spill over point as outlined in the Seaboard literature.
On my Cummins 6BTA 330 hp (2002) engine, there are only short hoses connecting the SMX pump to the fuel cooler and another short hose connecting the fuel cooler to the aftercooler. What is the easiest way to get these (or one of them) off so the aftercooler can be removed? Are there any tricks or tips to make it easier? Are there methods to avoid? Is there also a specific sequence for reassembly?
Thanks,
Tom

Topic

[firehoser75]

Thanks Rob. Yes, the puke bottle is just inside that stringer on the ER floor. It only collected barely enough “substance” to cover the bottom of the bottle in 260 hours of engine operation.
The exhaust was done on my watch last season. I had installed Borel exhaust hose alarms and Aqualarm flow alarms right after I purchased the boat in Sept. 2016. It turned out to be a good investment, as otherwise, I would not have found the corroded “doomed to fail” exhaust elbow (until possibly it was too late). I got off lucky, as the turbo looked good. This elbow was built by National Marine Exhaust in Marysville, Wa. I used them because NT uses them now, and another Tug owner had done the same thing, and highly recommended them. They could also supply me (relatively) quickly, as I was stuck in a marina (not home) for a month.
I freshwater flush the engine and gen set as often as I can (when at a marina with decent water flow and availability), and flush and store the engine for the winter with a salt away solution. Following the advise on this forum, I also close my ER vents and use a Wolverine heater!
I am not sure (off the top of my head) what the grey covered wiring is, but the heater wiring is on the opposite side of the engine.
Regards,
Tom

1 user thanked author for this post.

Rob Schepis

[Rob Schepis]

Nice engine room! I see a lot of tinkering and TLC down there, 100% attention to details… 16 years and looking primo, you should add some photos to the thread I did about marine age and how it does not have to win.I include the link below.

Envirovent looks good. So the puke bottle is on the inboard side of that stringer, under the engine?

What is that grey colored covered wiring right next to the Envirovent low point? Engine pan heater?

Was that exhaust done under your watch? Or at NT? Judging from the wrap it looks like some I’ve seen from Marine Manifold on Long Island but I am sure many other fabricators use it as well…

Here’s the marine age link:
https://www.sbmar.com/community/topic/marine-age-age-is-just-a-number/

[Dan]

Firehoser,
That engine room is a credit to you!

[firehoser75]

Mislabelled Pics

The aftercooler, envirovent, fuel pump, air filter, etc. are on the port side of the engine, whereas the exhaust elbow, on engine fuel filter, heat exchanger, and oil filter are on the starboard side.
Just for info, this is a 2002 Nordic Tug with 2002 engine with almost 2200 hours on it. This summer I put on about 260 hours.
Hopefully this clears up my brain f_rt that I suffered from earlier.
Thanks,
Tom

[firehoser75]

More Pics

Here are a few more pics.
Tom

[firehoser75]

Pics

Thanks for the info Steve. That should prove very helpful.
Rob, attached are the pics you asked for. Unfortunately a couple of them are a bit blurry as the ER is a bit cramped and I used an IPad for the photos.
Thanks,
Tom

[Stephen Oliver]

Hi Tom

Topic here…

Fuel cooler to aftercooler hose 6bta 330

In very quick summary – If you wanna cheat and leave the fuel block in place – get the 2x hoses premade..

Shut off fuel cocks.. and seacocks.

Drain the seawater.. if you can

Remove fuel cooler from pump and aftercooler (takes a bit of effort) – but if aftercooler is off its easy

Remove fuel pipes from cooler (you could do this before previous step if you want.) you will get some fuel loss.

Once aftercooler is back on add 1.75″ pipe in place of fuel cooler.

Remove fuel pipe from fuel block

Remove fuel pipe from pump return (make sure you use 2 spanners)

Clean connections – and attached new pipe to pump return line

attached same pipe to fuel block

And you are pretty much done except checking for leaks

Steve

[firehoser75]

Pics

Heading to the boat for the pre-winter oil sampling and changes in the next couple of days. Sampling kit should be here by then. I will take and post pics then.
Thanks for all the suggestion and help, really appreciate it!
Tom

[Rob Schepis]

firehoser75 wrote:

As an aside, I installed the Envirovent CCV this spring, and put about 250 hours on the engine, and there is very little “gunk” that has accumulated in the catchment bottle. Ours connects to the front of the engine. Is this normal?

Yes, normal for many (most actually) applications. From what I can see things look pretty good as to the battle against marine age … nice.

Would like to see good pics of your Envirovent setup – the front of the engine, the low spot at the puke bottle and the air filter connection. And some pics of the overall engine installation too.

[firehoser75]

Fuel Cooler

Thanks Steve and Rob,
I have attached a few (poor quality due to cramped ER and poor lighting) photos of my aftercooler/fuel cooler setup. Steve, I only have a double Racor primary and on engine filter. The on engine filter is on the opposite side compared to the aftercooler. Any pointers and/or your write up would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Tom

[Stephen Oliver]

I’ve just done a brief write up on doing this recently on here including the lengths of the fuel hoses required. It literally took me 10 minutes to do..

SBMar do a removal kit which allows you to do diy hoses, but I had some made up and cheated by still going back to the oil fuel block.. I’ll replace the hoses back to the tank at some point.. once I have a new filter system.

I have an off engine filter also and you don’t need to touch those lines. It’s literally 1 fuel hose from the return line from the injection pump back to the fuel block..

Happy to give any pointers if you need them..

Steve

[firehoser75]

Fuel Cooler

I am interested in removing the cooler, but I am not really confident in doing so myself, worried about how the connections go together, would I need some new fuel hoses, etc? My engine does not have the on engine fuel filter on the same side as the aftercooler.
As an aside, I installed the Envirovent CCV this spring, and put about 250 hours on the engine, and there is very little “gunk” that has accumulated in the catchment bottle. Ours connects to the front of the engine. Is this normal?
Tom

[Rob Schepis]

Any interest in incorporating removal of the fuel cooler as part of this servicing? As far as any tips on removal, nothing special really comes to mind.. do pull the lower and upper zincs to drain the aftercooler of seawater. The aftercooler assembly is a tad heavy, so be prepared for that once you get it unbolted. Leave the air horn on and the brackets.

[Stephen Oliver]

Hi Tom

Having just done this to both engines, my method is to loosen and pull back the hose clips and make sure the hoses are not stuck to the aftercooler and fuel cooler etc… Then I unbolt the aftercooler and basically jiggle it out and the hoses come off. I needed to do this on the port engine as I cannot easily get to the fuel cooler.

Removal and bench service are not hard and it’s good to know they have been done right. Make sure you service as per sbmar protocol and to make things easier.. it’s worth buying one of the service kits from here too..

Have a read about removing the fuel cooler also I have just done this in a recent post ( as it was cheaper than replacing the small hoses) and should make things a bit easier…

Steve

[Author]

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