Hi folks, I'm about to buy a 1987 Carver 3207 aft cabin with 2x 5.7 Mercruisers that lived in fresh water all her life and im getting a slip in salt water, any advise on installing a closed cooling system?
I used mr cool .com for a set a few years back. Pretty easy install, they can sell you the kit. About 1200 a side. May have to get creative with the mounting of the expansion tank. If your gonna do it right get the manifolds in the loop and just replace them while you do the job. I know they have been in fw but they will still show age in my experience.
Given the age of the engines, I wouldn't even bother. They'll live the rest of their life in salt water without issues........then just replace them with freshwater cooled engines when the time comes.
That sounds good, so do I need to do a freshwater flush on the engines after each use? Or salt water can stay in the engines for a period of time (I will make sure all zincs are good) And thank you for the feedback!
A fresh water flush is wonderful, but I've found that most who install it don't use it on a regular basis once the novelty wears off. So no. You will however want to do things like change your anodes, and things like risers won't last as long. Personally my first concern with this boat would be the fuel system. Change out things like fuel lines, etc. Being a fresh water boat means it hasn't been subjected to the corrosive effects of salt water, not that it can't take those effects.
Thank you I understand there will be substantially more maintainence involved but I feel better about the transition to salt water now.
I would replace exhaust manifolds and risers now and exhaust hoses/clamps off of the risers. Then plan on changing them every 5-7 years with saltwater use. Agree with NYCAP, change fuel hoses/lines and inspect the tanks really well, make sure to have a good fume detector in engine compartment (if it's old replace the sensor now or entire system) and new Carbon Monoxide detectors in staterooms and main salon. Also check all cooling hoses, change raw water impellor, check plugs/wires. I'd try to get all of the maintenance records from the previous owner and see what's been done, hasn't been. Don't forget the generator as well.
Not sure I'd change the manifolds risers and exhaust hoses. The boats an '87 so they could have been done 2 years ago. Inspect of course, and check maintenance records. Everything else +1
That’s not a bad point. Although it brings up another, at some point these motors and replacing them are going to cost more than the boat so you gotta ask yourself how many years you expect out of the boat and at what cost. To capt j and nycaps point you could completely waste a lotta money adding the closed loop and need an engine real soon, then again those 5.7s could run hundreds more hours. Generally more than just the internal stuff starts rusting. I always kept a spare for everything on the belt.