CAT 3196
 

Running a 50' SeaRay. My CAT 3196 engines had to be rebuilt, under
warranty, after 400 hours due to manufacturing problem with the after
coolers. Engines are meticulously maintained. At 1,000 hours they are
failing again with the same problem. CAT says they will rebuild with
a six month warranty. It takes longer than that for the problem to
show up. Otherwise they want me to pay for new engines and
installation. Anyone else with this problem? Any suggestions?
Thanks.

I've found, over several years, that after coolers on CATs as well as other
diesels are a very weak link. Even in a non-sal****er environment they are
prone to corrode and leak. Often the first indication is a change in
exhaust color and/or excessive pressure in the cooling water mixture.

IMO, a sal****er environment compounds the problem. I've been told by CAT
techs that careful and frequent adjustments to cooling water chemistry
helps. However, in virtually every after cooler failure I've observed the
damage was caused by failure on the air side of the cooler.

In your situation I would seek the advice of a corriosion engineer with the
view of installing some kind of sacrificial anode on the air side. I would
also conduct frequent inspections of the cooler to ensure it was not
corroding or leaking. It's a bunch cheaper to replace coolers as a
preventive measure, if necessary, than to replace coolers AND overhaul the
engines.

Perhaps there is an after market cooler with a more bullet proof design?

Good luck.

Butch
"dieseldoc14" wrote in message
om...
Running a 50' SeaRay. My CAT 3196 engines had to be rebuilt, under
warranty, after 400 hours due to manufacturing problem with the after
coolers. Engines are meticulously maintained. At 1,000 hours they are
failing again with the same problem. CAT says they will rebuild with
a six month warranty. It takes longer than that for the problem to
show up. Otherwise they want me to pay for new engines and
installation. Anyone else with this problem? Any suggestions?
Thanks.