Freshwater-Cooled Diesel - A Stupid Question

[First Mate]

reviewing a spec sheet for a boat, noticed the inboard diesel was listed as fresh water cooled.

does that mean engine won't function properly in salt water?

If yes, is there a simple inexpensive retrofit for salt water cooling?

thanks for your advice

[imagine2frolic]

It means the cooling of the engine is self contained. The water pump">raw water pump, sea water, cools the engine's water with an outside source via the manifold.....i2f

[bvimatelot]

Just to expand a bit on i2f's explanation. Fresh water cools the engine, just like a motor car. Instead though of a fan sucking air through the radiator to keep the fresh water cool, a marine diesel sucks up sea water to cool the fresh. This sea water is what you see coming out of the exhaust pipe when the engine is running. It is therefore important to check that you do indeed have waqter coming out with your exhaust, otherwise it tells you that no sea water is flowing (and therefore cooling) your freshwater (which of course in turn is cooling the engine!)

Just 2 threads below this one, read "Engine Overheats, Raw Water Problems - help". Raw water is actually the sea water. Tony

[Chief Engineer]

There are no stupid questions

[Sunspot Baby]

Only stupid answers.

I don't mean the ones on Cruisers' Forum of course.

George

[rtbates]

The alternative is a 'saltwater' cooled engine, be it fresh or salt. What these cooling systems do is pump the water that the boat sits in through the engine for cooling. The disadvantage is that in salt water you have the all the stuff in saltwater being circulated through your engine. The advantage is that they are simple, no radiator, less weight and need for room to house the radiator system.

[bvimatelot]

If you've got one of those - keep your eyes on the zincs....they can go extremely fast and are the only thing protecting you from engine melt-down! Tony

[David M]

What needs to be mentioned is that the device used to remove heat from the fresh water (water and ethylene glycol actually) side of the cooling system to the salt water side of the cooling system in a typical marine Diesel engine is called a heat exchanger.

A marine diesel heat exchanger might look like this.

...and works like this.

[First Mate]

thank you gentlemen,

that was all quite helpful.

FM

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha First Mate,
Just to add to what others have said. If you see a listing for a freshwater cooled diesel engine on a boat it is preferrable to a saltwater or rawwater cooled because it keeps the saltwater out of the waterjackets of the engine where it can corrode away from the inside.
So a freshwater cooled engine is on the plus side. Well cared for diesel freshwater cooled engines may be still be running after 5000+ hours.
Kind regards,
JohnL

[Chief Engineer]

Just make sure you religiously change the zoncs in them...they are usually small.