600 HR Cummins Service

CAMELLA

Active Member
Dec 14, 2008
1,046
Annapolis, Maryland
Boat Info
2016 510 Fly
Engines
Cummins QSM-11
I asked the local Cummins dealer for a quote to clean the after coolers, heat exchangers, clean gear coolers, fuel oil coolers, and adjust the valves. They quoted $5,700 with $4,100 as labor. That seems extremely high to me, does that seem about right? Can't I flush the engines with Barnacle Buster or Rydlyme instead?

Verbiage from Cummins:
TRAVEL GAIN ACCESS TO THE ENGINE ROOM (MARINE APPLICATION ONLY) AFTERCOOLER ASSEMBLY - REMOVE AND INSTALL AFTERCOOLER ELEMENT - CLEAN AND VISUALLY INSPECT FOR REUSE, (MARINE) AFTERCOOLER ASSEMBLY - PRESSURE TEST COOLANT SIDE SEA WATER HEAT EXCHANGER AND EXPANSION TANK ASSEMBLY - REMOVE AND INSTALL (2MEN) RAW WATER HEAT EXCHANGER - REBUILD, EACH RAW WATER HEAT EXCHANGER - PRESSURE TEST, EACH VALVES - ADJUST, ALL MARINE GEAR OIL AND FUEL OIL COOLER - REMOVE AND INSTALL FLUSH MARINE GEAR COOLER
 
Hello a friend of mine had his cummins service done her in NH and paid 5 grand for the 5 year service also on a 43 dancer
 
Jon,

$5K is about right. Make sure you have them change all the hoses and clamps too. In short, my bill covered these items:

- Aftercoolers
- Heat Exchangers
- Coolant
- Hoses
- Stbd Sea water pump
- Genny heat exchanger replacement (it had a crack)

This was $6400. Valve lash was just few hundreds extra.

If you need more details PM me your email, I don't remember if I have it, and I'll send you whaever you need.
 
Thanks guys, it just seems a little crazy that the labor is that high, is this a time consuming job? It seems like I could probably do myself over the winter, could I?
 
Jon, in my opinion, calling in Cummins only needs to be for fairly technical items. They are so expensive I believe in pretty tightly targeting them for things only they can or should do. I would think only the valve adjustments on your list qualify for that. While you have the tech I would also pay for a general inspection. The rest is pretty much manual labor work that I would think you could either do yourself or give to a local diesel shop. There are a couple of good shops on the Herrington Harbour North compound and there are certainly a few in Annapolis although I would guess they are more expensive. As to doing it yourself, do you have an account at Cummins Quickserve (https://quickserve.cummins.com/info/index.html)? Register your engine serial numbers there and you can download the same maintenance procedures the Cummins tech will (or should) follow for each of your maintenance items and see which of them you think you can do yourself.
 
$18,000 on MAN 900's. I know because the job is in process as I type. Count your blessings.

Ken
 
Jon - My local Cummins charges about $3800 to do the after cooler service, both motors. I actually stayed with him the entire time. 1 man 1 day to remove both after coolers. He then brings them back to his shop, cleans them and re-assemble. Then presurizes them overnight to make sure there are no leaks, which is the most important part. Shop time is 4 hours plus travel. Back to the boat and 8 hours to reinstall. So about 24 hours labor @ 150/hr = $ 3600 plus nominal parts. He charged me $ 350 for valve lash.
 
I am looking at a copy of the Cummins "Operations and Maintainance Manual Marine B & C Series". It makes no specific mention of any kind of teardown service of the aftercoolers at 600 hrs. At 600hrs/24mths it lists the following:

Vibration Damper - Checking
Coolant System Cleaning/Flushing (drain coolant, clean cooling system, flush coolant system, replace coolant)
Valve Lash Clearance

The only other major maintenance cycle listed is at 300hrs/12mnths and part of that service is:

Flush Sea Water aftercooler
Flush gear oil cooler
Flush sea water heat exchanger

The local mechanics I discussed this with in the process of buying a 2001 400DB with Cummins (still in that process) generally flush every year and use annual oil sample data and daily engine performance information to determine when/if you need any kind of major teardown inspection/service. They told me they generally don't do these 500-600 $5k maintenance events that I told them I read about on Club Sea Ray, unless something in the engine data and oil samples gives them concern.

I am not advocating one thing or another - just passing on what I am reading on paper and hearing from a small sample size of marine mechanics (they are not Cummins mechanics working for Cummins).
 
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Make sure you get the aftercoolers done correctly. This includes removing and cleaning the cores replacing o rings and applying waterproof grease to seals. This need to be done every 2 years or you will be risking major problems. I know first hand as I replaced my aftercoolers 4 months after I bought the boat at the cost of 6k just for the parts. Internal leaking will cause premature engine wear also.
 
http://www.unlimitedyachtservices.com/index.html
Check out the section on aftercooler cleaning. My aftercoolers looked just like those. in the pics and were "serviced" by previous owner. I also replaced the water pumps with the SeaMax pumps. Stock ones are junk. All said and done I spent Around 9K-10K the first 6 months getting it up to par even with a good survey and I did most of the labor my self. Keep up on the maintenance!!!!!!!!!!! Pay now or alot later.
 
Make sure you get the aftercoolers done correctly. This includes removing and cleaning the cores replacing o rings and applying waterproof grease to seals. This need to be done every 2 years or you will be risking major problems. …..

My Cummins tech explained to me similar approach where aftercoolers need to be done every 3yrs while heat exchangers every 5yrs. So, theoretically the $5K-$6K price tag can be split up within 5yrs span, unless of course you can do some or most of the work yourself.
 
I found the new aftercoolers for 6bta on ebay for 1200 including seals and grease that is a good price if i need them ever.I also hear the aftercoolers dont go bad in fresh water as compared to salt but i think a good flushing will be scheduled maint. anyway.
 
Make sure you get the aftercoolers done correctly. This includes removing and cleaning the cores replacing o rings and applying waterproof grease to seals. This need to be done every 2 years or you will be risking major problems. I know first hand as I replaced my aftercoolers 4 months after I bought the boat at the cost of 6k just for the parts. Internal leaking will cause premature engine wear also.

Where did you get this two year recommendation? Is it in a cummins manual somewhere? If so, could you let me know which one so that I get all the right documentation from the manufacturer regarding maintenance
 
I did my after coolers and heat exchangers 2 years ago. I removed them myself and brought them to a radiator shop. I had my nephew help out and paid him a few hundred so the entire thing was less than $1K. I did have the top end reset by a CAT mechanic for another $1K by the time truck and travel charges were applied.
 
I did my after coolers and heat exchangers 2 years ago. I removed them myself and brought them to a radiator shop. I had my nephew help out and paid him a few hundred so the entire thing was less than $1K. I did have the top end reset by a CAT mechanic for another $1K by the time truck and travel charges were applied.

Why did you decide to do them? And what will you use to determine that they need to be done again?
 
Why did you decide to do them? And what will you use to determine that they need to be done again?

I was replacing my pencil zincs (11 on each engine) and had to scrape out room with a screwdriver in the aftercoolers because they were so gunked up. Maintenance had not been done for a while before I bought the boat.
 

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