Engine Flush

Last spring the fresh water cooling system disintegrated enroute to Olympia so I converted the engine to raw water cooling just to get me home. The engine was originally raw water cooled and I have no idea when the aftermarket cooling kit was installed. I talked to several Yanmar mechanics and they all agreed it should be no problem leaving the engine raw water cooled as long at the zincs got replaced as needed. Scamper has no hot water system (a plus in my mind) so I would not be missing any functionality.

I have added some sort of fresh water flush mechanism to all inboard boats I've owned in the past. They all required hauling out a hose when returning to the slip. When I re-plumbing Scamper's cooling system I added this feature and, for a year, dutifully flushed after every sail, short or long. This has the added advantage of regularly flushing the exhaust system which would stay salty even with a fresh water cooling system.

My wife rolls her eyes at my after-sail antics and it would be nice to make it a bit easier and quicker to take out and put away the boat.

To that end I'm trying out a Y valve that lets the engine get cooling water from the sea or from the fresh water system. Scamper holds 50 gallons of water and it takes a lot of dishwashing to go through the tanks during normal daysail and weekend use. The engine cooling system doesn't use too much water anyway. I've never thought the "emergency" bilge pump setup where you can get your engine to draw its cooling water from the bilge would be much use. In any case, using the fresh water tanks to flush the engine helps go through the water a bit quicker and will result in fresher water.

The new after-sail procedure is to open the cockpit locker just before I get into the slip and switch the valve over to the flush position. This lets me dock, idle for a minute or two, then shut the engine off almost right away. I don't have to get the hose out of the locker, connect it up at both ends, run the engine, and then put it all away.

I left the hose connection in place so I can put anti-freeze or a de-salt solution through the engine when necessary.