Official Cummins 6cta 450C thread

Jaybeaux said:
When reinstalling Heat Exchangers and After-coolers, is it recommended to use any kind of lubricant or adhesive like stuff to facilitate sliding the hoses on? Can I spray the inside of the hose ends with silicone? Just curious what others have done.

Thanks,

Jaybeaux
I sometimes use a bit of silicone grease
I use Rectolseal 5 ... same as what is used in the aftercooler mtce. Read it somewhere that it can be used. It does make it easier to get the hoses on/off and over the past couple yrs I've had no problems. I need to get the intake hoses off/on at the strainers for winterization - it has helped.
 
Regarding the gear oil coolers, we pulled the damaged zf280 transmission and the owner took it to the rebuild guy. I thought I’d post that he said gear oil coolers should be replaced every 7 years in salt water and every 8 years in fresh water. I assume most all of us with the early 2000s 450 Diamonds are still running 15+ year old oil coolers.
Old topic but curious about the replacement coolers. They come with ports for 2 zincs where the old ones had none. Would adding zincs extend the lifespan of the coolers? Would be a PIA to get to and if they broke apart may cause way more restriction if the combined with the ones that break apart and in the Aftercooler.
 
Old topic but curious about the replacement coolers. They come with ports for 2 zincs where the old ones had none. Would adding zincs extend the lifespan of the coolers? Would be a PIA to get to and if they broke apart may cause way more restriction if the combined with the ones that break apart and in the Aftercooler.
My new ones have two zincs and a lug for a bonding wire. I went ahead and bonded it to a ground bolt on the block. I still change the zincs once a year but I don’t really check on them because of the bonding. Three of the four are straight forward access. But the fourth one is right under a transmission oil line so I have to remove that line from the cooler to access that last zinc. My guess is I don’t really need the zincs with the bonding wire. Especially since the sea water drains out of the cooler when the engine is off. But I am not smart enough to know for sure.
 
Last edited:
So I received my oil samples back from Blackstone and its pretty much a carbon copy from previous years (past 3 seasons). Everything is within spec but we've been keeping an eye on the potassium levels. Blackstone has said its nothing to worry about however its worth watching even though readings have not changed in 3 seasons. They state its so boarding line they hesitate to highlight it. I'm curious how others with similar setup fair with these readings.
 
Hi All,

I am struggling to do my first annual raw water flush. Here is what I have done so far.

1. Installed valves in all seawater strainer caps to allow maintenance and regular flushing.
2. Built adapter to put in raw water exit at exhaust elbow (image below)
3. Removed impeller
4. Reversed flush through coolant HX
5. Failed to reverse flush though coolant and gear HXs (pumped 10 gals through and nothing ever came out of the gear cooler (crankcase oil level unchanged, transmission oil level is unchanged, coolant level unchanged)
5. Reversed and pumped normal direction (seacock closed) and another 15 gallons went in and would not complete the loop.

I have pumped nearly 30 gallons of fresh water into the raw water circuit on my port engine and I have not seen any of it come back out. You can hear water "percolating" through the engine. No engine fluid levels are changing.

What am I missing?!?!?!?!?

Thx in advance for the help (and the previous owner let raw water drip on that engine mount, still working on curing that).

flush2.jpg


flush1.jpg
 
Hi All,

I am struggling to do my first annual raw water flush. Here is what I have done so far.

1. Installed valves in all seawater strainer caps to allow maintenance and regular flushing.
2. Built adapter to put in raw water exit at exhaust elbow (image below)
3. Removed impeller
4. Reversed flush through coolant HX
5. Failed to reverse flush though coolant and gear HXs (pumped 10 gals through and nothing ever came out of the gear cooler (crankcase oil level unchanged, transmission oil level is unchanged, coolant level unchanged)
5. Reversed and pumped normal direction (seacock closed) and another 15 gallons went in and would not complete the loop.

I have pumped nearly 30 gallons of fresh water into the raw water circuit on my port engine and I have not seen any of it come back out. You can hear water "percolating" through the engine. No engine fluid levels are changing.

What am I missing?!?!?!?!?

Thx in advance for the help (and the previous owner let raw water drip on that engine mount, still working on curing that).

View attachment 115523

View attachment 115522
Did you clamp off the feeds to the shafts? Could be running out the shaft seals.
 
Hi All,

I am struggling to do my first annual raw water flush. Here is what I have done so far.

1. Installed valves in all seawater strainer caps to allow maintenance and regular flushing.
2. Built adapter to put in raw water exit at exhaust elbow (image below)
3. Removed impeller
4. Reversed flush through coolant HX
5. Failed to reverse flush though coolant and gear HXs (pumped 10 gals through and nothing ever came out of the gear cooler (crankcase oil level unchanged, transmission oil level is unchanged, coolant level unchanged)
5. Reversed and pumped normal direction (seacock closed) and another 15 gallons went in and would not complete the loop.

I have pumped nearly 30 gallons of fresh water into the raw water circuit on my port engine and I have not seen any of it come back out. You can hear water "percolating" through the engine. No engine fluid levels are changing.

What am I missing?!?!?!?!?

Thx in advance for the help (and the previous owner let raw water drip on that engine mount, still working on curing that).

View attachment 115523

View attachment 115522
Can you tell me what size is the fitting you used going into hose from exhaust elbow?
Thanks
 
If the housing is leaking, check the glue seam where the filter element seats against the housing, it may have developed a crack. I had some success painting a thin coat of epoxy over that area when one of mine started an occasional drip there 5 years ago.
The foam material inside will eventually begin to break down and crumble, it is not replaceable. The newer housings are made differently and if you speak with Walker, they will tell you that the airsep bodies have a 10 year life expectancy and you should consider replacing them. Also, they are fragile, 30 in/lbs is the torque spec for the band clamp to attach it to the turbo. don't over tighten. The distortion/pressure could start a leak.
Good luck.

Foam will begin to deteriorate as seen in this photo.
View attachment 114060
I took my air filters off today to wash them and re oil after they dry. After removing the filters I was looking inside the housing and my foam too is deteriorating. So as the foam is falling apart over time and being ingested into the intake, are there concerns of damage? Should I scrape them clean and shop vac it up? Other than this I don't have any other issues that I'm aware of.
Thanks
 
I took my air filters off today to wash them and re oil after they dry. After removing the filters I was looking inside the housing and my foam too is deteriorating. So as the foam is falling apart over time and being ingested into the intake, are there concerns of damage? Should I scrape them clean and shop vac it up? Other than this I don't have any other issues that I'm aware of.
Thanks
We discussed that topic here recently. None of us in the thread know for sure what that foam is for but the theory is it’s just a sound silencer. Could call Walker and ask them.
http://www.clubsearay.com/index.php?threads/airsep-question.107024/
 
thanks for the link, I'll check it out. Further search elsewhere online seems like other also thought it was just for sound deadening as well. I plan to put shop vac to it this morning.

I still have one of these (can't wait to replace it), but I read on SBMAR.com that the foam was integral to the functioning of the filter. I spent a few mins looking but couldn't find the thread. Might be worth a look before you clean it out.
 
thanks for the link, I'll check it out. Further search elsewhere online seems like other also thought it was just for sound deadening as well. I plan to put shop vac to it this morning.
Keep us posted. There are a bunch of us ready to follow your lead. Ha!
 
thanks for the link, I'll check it out. Further search elsewhere online seems like other also thought it was just for sound deadening as well. I plan to put shop vac to it this morning.

This is why I hate CSR. I think I'm pretty decent at maintenance on my boat, but when I come here I hear about so many more things I need to go inspect. These things fester in my brain until I look further into them. CSR stresses me out, takes up my free time and costs me money!

JK
 
This is why I hate CSR. I think I'm pretty decent at maintenance on my boat, but when I come here I hear about so many more things I need to go inspect. These things fester in my brain until I look further into them. CSR stresses me out, takes up my free time and costs me money!

JK
Ya…. And we pay to be here ….to rub more salt in the wound
 
I took my air filters off today to wash them and re oil after they dry. After removing the filters I was looking inside the housing and my foam too is deteriorating. So as the foam is falling apart over time and being ingested into the intake, are there concerns of damage? Should I scrape them clean and shop vac it up? Other than this I don't have any other issues that I'm aware of.
Thanks

personally I wouldn’t loose sleep over it. At this point, it is what it is, right? The compressor will pulverize it into dust and hopefully it was burned up in the combustion process. What I would do is order up new ones that you can have inside a week even if you have to order direct from Walker. If you can’t find them retail, call walker. Be up front with them, tell them your airseps are falling apart and you’re out of service. They’re a good company, I would hope they’ll take care of getting you hooked up with new ones ASAP. As far as scraping it out and running with it, not something I would personally do, it’s there for a reason. What the reason is I’m not sure. You’re call, or maybe someone else here can offer info otherwise.
Fwiw, the Seaboard system doesn’t have any foam that I recall, it’s a totally different setup. Good luck finding new Walkers if that’s the route you choose.
P.S. a couple of weeks ago, Fisheries Supply had one, if you only have one disintegrating, if it’s still available, it will keep you on the water while you look for another one. Good luck
 
I decided to scrape out the remaining foam from both air filter bases, wiped out the insides clean with mineral spirits soaked rags, re vacuum the insides of any left over crumbs of foam, and re installed. All the online information I found leads me to believe the foam is most likely for sound deadening of either turbo whine or air flow noise. I'm not really concerned with either noises.
 
Next question I have is regarding priming the fuel after fuel filter change. I don’t have a squeeze bulb. Is there a primer mounted on or around the fuel pump like I’ve seen on other diesels? I’ll try to hunt and search for one when I get back into the boat but thought I’d ask ahead of time. thanks
 

Forum statistics

Threads
112,948
Messages
1,422,802
Members
60,930
Latest member
Ebrown69
Back
Top