Yanmar 6lpa maintenance

[alpha]

I am doing routine maintenance on my 6lp .

Decided this year to also inspect exhaust mix elbow,it seems to work fine but I have never had it off .

Remved elbow, looks to be in good shape until I clean it up and take a close look and find 2
small cracks near water passages.

Engine has around 600hrs.

I have read where some say go stainless,this one I believe is cast.

Any advice or comments appreciated.

[beamishken]

That small crack in the base won't do much harm untill it's much bigger (if it gets bigger) I'd just keep an eye on it now & then
Not seen any stainless ones for 6lp's but there's an original one on boats and outboards just now
The thing many people ignore is the need to strip & clean the intercooler core they often corrode between the brass core and the aluminium case which distorts the end caps
It's not a massive job but if left too long a it splits the housing and a new cooler is something like 2k

[alpha]

beamishken thank you so much for your good advice.
intercooler is now on my maint short list.
should I remove the entire cooler to clean or just the end caps ?
any advice would be great thanks.

[beamishken]

Hi personally I'd take the Cooler off its only 6 bolts and the hoses the gasket usually comes off in tact and can be re used with a smear of silicone.
The entire core slides out once you remove both the end caps. Note the orientation before you slide it out
I clean the air side fins with a strong water soluble degreaser then clean it with a steam cleaner just be carefull the pressure doesn't distort the fins
The water side tubes I pour brick acid or patio cleaner through and catch it in a bowl untill it stops fizzing then wash with water to neutralise the acid
I'm not sure if it's listed as a job in the service schedule but it is on a lot of marine engines and is often overlooked untill it's too late
Best of luck with it

[alpha]

beamishken thanks again for your time,I will get on that cooler project soon.