8.1 elbow removal (question)

[DaltonGang]

I want to inspect my SS elbows and peek down the manifold (per my mechanics recommendation) this weekend. He said 9/10 times they send in the elbow to get stainless steel welded. Sounds good to me. Is stainless steel OEM for these engines? anyway..

For the manifolds....I may need to just bite the bullet and get new ones. Its been 5 years.

Anyway, I have a closed cooling system. It just goes from manifold to elbow (there is no spacer) and the mechanic told me I need to unhook a hose below manifold to drain the seawater. This doesn't make sense to me just to remove the elbow. The manifold, yeah, but now I'm confused.

Wouldn't taking off the 2 hoses going into the elbow drain the elbow?

here's the diagram of my setup. It does not have that spacer in the top left corner. It looks just like the main exploded view.

https://www.marineengine.com/parts/...ru-0w697153/exhaust-manifold-elbow-and-riser/

 

[skibum]

I am guessing that the hose he told you to remove is attached to part #3 in that diagram? On my boat, that hose runs forward a bit to a connection where there is a blue plastic plug with wingnut style wings that can be removed to drain the manifolds so removing the hose is not necessary. Removing the 2 hoses at the elbow is above the part that needs to be drained to prevent freeze damage (part #1) in the diagram. It needs to be drained from the bottom to get all of the water out.

 

[SeadawgVB]

I want to inspect my SS elbows and peek down the manifold (per my mechanics recommendation) this weekend. He said 9/10 times they send in the elbow to get stainless steel welded. Sounds good to me. Is stainless steel OEM for these engines? anyway..

For the manifolds....I may need to just bite the bullet and get new ones. Its been 5 years.

Anyway, I have a closed cooling system. It just goes from manifold to elbow (there is no spacer) and the mechanic told me I need to unhook a hose below manifold to drain the seawater. This doesn't make sense to me just to remove the elbow. The manifold, yeah, but now I'm confused.

Wouldn't taking off the 2 hoses going into the elbow drain the elbow?

here's the diagram of my setup. It does not have that spacer in the top left corner. It looks just like the main exploded view.

https://www.marineengine.com/parts/...ru-0w697153/exhaust-manifold-elbow-and-riser/

To answer a couple of your questions: Yes, the 8.1 OEM exhaust elbows were stainless. In a saltwater environment you can get about 15 years life expectancy as well as about five years for the manifolds.

Those two hoses that supply raw water to the elbow (for cooling exhaust gasses) may be somewhat difficult to remove before disconnecting the elbow, and you want to prevent spilling raw water down the manifold. Pulling the larger hose off of part number 3 (in your linked diagram) is pretty easy to remove (depending on your access) and will drain the two elbow hoses and the manifold. BUT, it will not drain the interior jacket of the stainless elbow. So be careful when it comes time to remove the elbow so as not to spill raw water down the manifold. (The welded joint of the interior is where the weld starts to pit and allow raw water to drain down into the manifold / exhaust valves.)

Also, pulling the elbow out of the rubber exhaust hose may prove difficult depending on how long it has been insitu. I loosened the rubber exhaust hose at the fiberglass canister muffler inlet and pulled the elbow and exhaust hose off as one unit, then used a heat gun to loosen the exhaust hose on the elbow.

P.S. If you have it and trust your winterizing system you can just pump up the system with air and allow it to completely drain. I never used mine, I was always afraid that one of the drain valves would stick open!

"Water Drain System" : https://www.marineengine.com/parts/...-ho/0w690000-thru-0w697153/water-drain-system