Closed cooling system?

bgraham

I'm interested in a 2005 Rinker 342 with the Volvo 5.7 320hp engines and want to know if it is a closed cooling system, thanks.

prgrod01

You have to look at every engine individually, boats for fresh water are typically not closed cooled. But salt water boats will most likely be closed, but not always.

If the system is closed, you still have to ask if it is the engine only (half system) or engine and exhaust (full system). I bought my boat from a fresh water lake and it was not closed. I added a half system after purchase as I intended to run it in the Pacific Ocean primarily. Mine is a San Juan Engineering unit, it was about $1,000 and it took about 1-2 hours to install, it was very straightforward DIY project.

http://www.go2marine.com/category/14159/mercruiser-freshwater-cooling-kits.html

If you have a picture of the engine, it is rather easy to see the heat exchanger sitting right above the serpentine belt, 5" diameter tube about 24" long.

Autodog61

Make sure it doesn't have XDP drives.  I think Volvo stopped using them around 2004-2006.  Not sure.  OceanX is fine but stay away from XDP.  The bellows fail and allow internals to rust causing major issues.  I'd be curious to know if Rinker used those drives in and around 2002-2007.

andyd

Autodog61 is correct. The only way I would buy an XDP equipped boat is with a $20K per drive discount.

Andy

Autodog61

Bgraham,

Here is a photo of heat exchanger for Freshwater cooling.  This is my Starboard engine.  Note the tank at the bottom of the photo just south of the carb cover?  That is the heat exchanger for the fresh water cooling.  Its got the white sticker on it too.  That's how you tell a boat has "freshwater" cooling or not.  as noted above, little harder to near impossible to tell if its full (meaning engine and exhaust) or 1/2 (meaning only the engine).  In my case its 1/2 cooling system.  There is an impeller housing below that heat exchanger with a pulley drive on the front that pulls water from outside the boat through the heat exchanger on the "freshwater" side and back out to cool the engine.  On the other side of the heat exchange is your typical coolant that circulates through the engine.  If you have full cooling, the coolant circulates through the engine and the exhaust risers with additional plates installed you cant see.  You'll have to ask current owner if they have full or 1/2 if you see the heat exchanger below.  I actually have never seen a full cooling system or that I was aware I was looking at anyway. 

Sej1969

We have a 2009 Rinker 280 EC with a 8.1 GXi NO FW cooling just bought, any ideas, weve all looked for months. Im nervous as it is in salt always when we get it in. it the Salt Away system good enough? Ive never owned a boat without FW cooling. any ideas of where to find this system? HELP 

Aqua_Aura

What system, are you looking for the neutra salt system or a closed loop cooling system. Either one can be purchased and added. 

I do know @aero3113 has raw water cooled but he's on Mercury however he may have some insight on corrosion issues or cleaning. I have the same boat as you but I'm in freshwater and have a closed loop system. 

aero3113

I would say, the more you use the boat in salt water the better. I never owned a fresh water cooled boat and I’ve always been in salt water, haven’t had any issues. Just use it and keep everything clean. 

Aqua_Aura

I was kinda thinking that as well. If the boat is in the salt and being used it never should dry out and rust internally? When it is out of the water be sure to clean it out very well though as I'm sure aero has a recommendation for that as well? 

aero3113

@Aqua_Aura  , if the boat is used often, the salt won’t build up and coagulate. If it sits not being used that’s when the salt starts to build up in the lines and passages and cause issues. Just thoroughly clean as much as possible externally and flush the engine with fresh water as soon as it’s out of the water. The sooner the better.

aero3113

I was very happy to see how clean my drives were when the boat came out today. I’m guessing the Mercathode systems are doing their job! The boat was in the water early May.