Marine Forum

Ocean Water Engine Cooling, General Question....

essenz

01 July 2009 02:46:07

Joined: 01 July 2009 02:35:38 | Posts: 1

I am very experienced with big block motors in cars, and I am also very experience in the HVAC trade, especially with glycol and heat transfer systems.

I will be buying a power boat soon, and I have always wondered how the engine is cooled, especially for a salt water boat.

Is the raw sea water run through the block and heads, or does the engine have a typical closed-loop glycol system, which is then connected to a heat transfer coil, which is in turn cooled by sea water?

My gut is raw sea water is used, but I never understood why a boat would not use a glycol-to-water heat transfer system. With that, the engine would last years between servicing, and you would only have to clean the heat transfer coil every once in awhile.

If it doesn't exist, I will probably just retrofit my boat with a closed-loop glycol system, and add my own aftermarket heat transfer coil with pump.

I have a MEL block 66 Lincoln with 462ci engine, an engine commonly used in boats of the late 60's. Even with the insane heat output of that engine, you could easily cool it with a coaxial heat transfer cooler, using 70 degree water at about 10-15GPM. The coaxial coil can be made out of nickel or SS.