Official Cummins 6cta 450C thread

Wet stacking is not the issue it once was but even on new computer controlled engines it can be an issue under extreme conditions. As an example, according to Ford, there are 3 primary reasons that in extreme cold temperatures when the oil temperatures are like less than 10 F +/-, my truck engine starts and idles at 1200-1500 rpm. One of them is Ice cold cylinder walls hamper the heat necessary for combustion. The high idle helps “promote heating and pressure in the combustion chambers, prevents fuel dilution and sends a more completely burned exhaust into the catalytic converter and particulate filter”. That is wet stacking prevention in my opinion.
The older engine on my boat doesn’t seem to mind easy running as long as I keep the egt at 400+. On my boat that’s 1050 +/- rpm or right around 7 knots.
We have logged thousands of miles at those speeds and tested fuel viscosity, percentages and moistures have always been under universal averages.
My motors call out 160 degree thermostats and that’s what I run. I believe the spec on them is that they begin to open at 160 and are fully open at 180.
As stated boats at cruise are always “running uphill” so they are going to run warmer than the 160 degree figure.
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I drive them through. I took a 4” pvc coupler from the plumbing section. It’s just a hair too big to fit inside the housing. But run your table or mitre saw one swipe through the side of the coupler to take a blade width out of the circumference. Now it will fit inside just right. Then rig up a way to drive the coupler through. Like a 3/4”-1” thick piece of wood cut to the right diameter. Then a 2x4 on end wacked into that with a sledgehammer. Anyway, that’s the pusher I rigged up.

It was long and painful, but they're out. Finally, will get the after cooler housings and coolant heat exchangers to the powder coater. Now I just pray the port core is still sealed. Note: the newer strb housing has the aftercooler drain set up, not that you can reach it.

Strb
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Port
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Why powder coat….. I know it’s more durable but Cummins has a matching paint that will do a good job as well
 
Why powder coat….. I know it’s more durable but Cummins has a matching paint that will do a good job as well

TBH, part for durability and part being lazy. :) I tell my self durability, but deep down I hate sanding, priming, and painting.
 
TBH, part for durability and part being lazy. :) I tell my self durability, but deep down I hate sanding, priming, and painting.
Powder coated mine back in 2019 still look as good as the day I picked them up from the shop.
 
Many thanks for the link. Very good article and definitely helps with the decision.

I didn't expect any issues with 160s t-stats, as it's preferred for the most applications. It's just a while ago, I read somewhere (don't recall if it was BD thread or SBMR article) that when cruising at trawler speed 180 t-stats is preferred for keeping the temps higher to help minimizing carbon build up and the blow by.

I had a situation when temp on the port engine went up to a hair over 195. I saw it climbing and was able to catch it in time. As soon as I saw it going past 195 I pulled the throttles back and came off plane. The temp dropped pretty quickly at trawler speed. No alarm went off. According to Tony's article, the alarm would be going off at 205*. But I don't want to take any chances and get the engines to this temp.

This leads to the question regarding Tony's statement. "When running the 160F tstat you can have your redundant a.k.a “sleepyhead” alarm system triggered by a 190F switch. Therefore, your alarm is alerting the operator that something is amiss while the engine is still in a safe temperature range before irreversible damage is done."

Do you guys know how to rig this type of redundant alarm to go off at 190*?
Alex, here is a link to a different thread where My3sons posted a photo of a redundant location. Assuming both switches trigger to ground, you could just run a wire from it to the existing overtemp switch and the first one of those two overtemp switches to trigger, will set off the alarm.

http://www.clubsearay.com/index.php...mechanical-engines.108787/page-2#post-1318403
 
Why powder coat….. I know it’s more durable but Cummins has a matching paint that will do a good job as well
I would agree. Unless your concern is durability in a chip-prone environment I think its overkill. Powder will do no more than paint to prevent corrosion. The key is a sealed surface which both will achieve when PROPERLY applied.
 
TBH, part for durability and part being lazy. :) I tell my self durability, but deep down I hate sanding, priming, and painting.

Here are the before and after from the powder coating. Aftercoolers, heat exchangers, oil drain tube, charge air tubes (except one that I didn't remove and is hidden).

Before
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After
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Here are the before and after from the powder coating. Aftercoolers, heat exchangers, oil drain tube, charge air tunes (except one that I didn't remove and is hidden).

Before
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After
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Wow ….. you are an over achiever….. nice job
 
Well, I have been racking my brain for about an hour and now asking for some help.

So, I pulled my water pumps, disassembled and rebuilt. I was almost to the point of putting in the seal between the adapter plate and the engine that rides on the shaft and mating the two so I could prep/paint.

I went to press the seal in and both adapter plates are too big. I checked the seal against the original, same size. Surprisingly, the adapters are Sherwood, not cummins. I can find them for
$180 each, but before I order two new plates, have I lost my mind and tried to put the seals in the wrong place? Did using my wire wheel to clean them actually remove enough material to cause the huge gap you see in the pic??? TIA for any inputs.
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Well, I have been racking my brain for about an hour and now asking for some help.

So, I pulled my water pumps, disassembled and rebuilt. I was almost to the point of putting in the seal between the adapter plate and the engine that rides on the shaft and mating the two so I could prep/paint.

I went to press the seal in and both adapter plates are too big. I checked the seal against the original, same size. Surprisingly, the adapters are Sherwood, not cummins. I can find them for
$180 each, but before I order two new plates, have I lost my mind and tried to put the seals in the wrong place? Did using my wire wheel to clean them actually removed enough material to cause the huge gap you see in the pic??? TIA for any inputs.
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No absolutely not…. You have to have the wrong seal
 
Here are the before and after from the powder coating. Aftercoolers, heat exchangers, oil drain tube, charge air tubes (except one that I didn't remove and is hidden).

Before
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After
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Just got word back from the radiator shop, all four passed internal and external pressure checks! Was sweating the port aftercooler.
 
Anyone have a "how to?" instruction for dummies? I suspect it's just take old out and put new in ... just looking for any gotcha's and/or tips/tricks.

Pretty much like any other maintenance for fluid.

A few notable things, make sure you fill your filters with new clean fluid. The oil filters are too big to let the engine fill them without causing excessive wear/damage. Filling your fuel filter will keep you from having to bleed anything.

If you are doing your valves, not hard but a bit more involved depending on your comfort level with pulling valve covers and setting the lash.

I had a zinc come loose on the top of the after cooler and jam in the gear cooler, so make sure the old zinc comes out.

Barnacle buster flushing requires buying the kit, or just doing some adapters for the raw water circuit. Don't forget to clamp the shaft seal line or all your buster will go out the bottom of the boat (ask me how I know).

Impeller puller is nice (necessary in my opinion).
 
Pretty much like any other maintenance for fluid.

A few notable things, make sure you fill your filters with new clean fluid. The oil filters are too big to let the engine fill them without causing excessive wear/damage. Filling your fuel filter will keep you from having to bleed anything.

If you are doing your valves, not hard but a bit more involved depending on your comfort level with pulling valve covers and setting the lash.

I had a zinc come loose on the top of the after cooler and jam in the gear cooler, so make sure the old zinc comes out.

Barnacle buster flushing requires buying the kit, or just doing some adapters for the raw water circuit. Don't forget to clamp the shaft seal line or all your buster will go out the bottom of the boat (ask me how I know).

Impeller puller is nice (necessary in my opinion).

Thank you!
 
Pretty much like any other maintenance for fluid.

A few notable things, make sure you fill your filters with new clean fluid. The oil filters are too big to let the engine fill them without causing excessive wear/damage. Filling your fuel filter will keep you from having to bleed anything.

If you are doing your valves, not hard but a bit more involved depending on your comfort level with pulling valve covers and setting the lash.

I had a zinc come loose on the top of the after cooler and jam in the gear cooler, so make sure the old zinc comes out.

Barnacle buster flushing requires buying the kit, or just doing some adapters for the raw water circuit. Don't forget to clamp the shaft seal line or all your buster will go out the bottom of the boat (ask me how I know).

Impeller puller is nice (necessary in my opinion).

Got it all taken care of. New oil, oil filters, fuel filters (primary and secondary), water filters, zincs, impellers on both engines and the generator (less the water filter). All the belts look good even changed both engines belts. The zincs were in pretty good shape overall, the fuel was nice and clean and likewise with the oil. But since I'm gearing up for a longer trip hundreds of miles next month, I am getting ready. Oh and also checked hydraulic fluid on the lift, fluid in the hydraulic for the trim tabs (looks good/filled).

Did I miss anything?
 
Can someone please show me an easy way to disconnect the air intake grid heaters? Isn't there a plug or something I can disconnect? I know what they are for but I plan to be using the wolverine oil pan heaters and am tired of the up / down voltage of the grid heaters. Picture of what specifically to unplug/disconnect would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
 
There is a really good write up in here on removing the whole thing…. I had to do it on vacation ….. then someone else mentioned…. You can just remove the fuse… sorry driving and on my phone… can’t search
 

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