Help identifying cooling system part, can i patch it?

[nmcafee]

I am losing coolant through a hairline crack when under pressure. The crack is circled in blue



It is too the right of the coolant tank.



2 questions, 1) is that something that you would recommend some welding putty, or even take to a welder?
2) Can you help me identify what the part is called so I can get a new one?

Thanks for the help

 

[Captain Ralph]

Welding cast iron usually does not work well.
Bead blasting and epoxy from the inside MAY buy you some time.

You will sleep better at night replacing it.

I assume you do not have a part manual for your engines.
With serial number, go to a real DDC shop and they can look it up.

Sadly, That may be a Covington or JT or other marinizer part.
DDC or Western Branch Deisel may be able to point you to their part also.

Paint may be the only thing holding that together but if you strip off all that paint (no sanding), you may be able to read the part number.

I can't find the post, but I recall another HOF member having a similar issue long ago.

 

[doc g]

Looks to me that someone beat you to the patch it phase. I would guess if you remove that paint you're gonna find some JB weld or something else. Agree with Ralph replace it if possible. Check your coolant too things like that should not rot out. Maybe a leaky HE?? .........Pat

 

[JD5652]

Welding cast iron usually does not work well.

IF you can find a very OLD school welder.... cast iron can be successfully "welded" using a "stitch weld"... particularly for a low pressure system such as this.

Having said that, if I could find the OEM replacement part, I'd go that way all day long!

 

[Play'N Hooky Too]

If the replacement part isn't readily available (still stocked by DD parts shop), the first thing I would do is to strip the old part down to the bare metal. As stated above, someone has already done a repair on it probably using JB Weld or something along those lines. That would all have to be stripped off to assess the condition of the metal underneath.

Cast iron can be welded, it just has to be done under the right conditions. The entire part has to be heated and cooled at the same rate, otherwise it will just crack again due to differential expansion/contraction. If it is just cracked and not completely rusted out, then it could likely be welded by someone that knows what they are doing.

Not to brag , but I have been able to successfully weld a couple of cast iron housings by digging a small fire pit, letting it fill with coals while I prepared the parts, heating the parts in the coals, tig welding the cracked/broken areas, immediately returning the parts to the coals and filling in the pit with dirt. The next day I would dig the parts up, finish and paint them. 3 years, so far so good on the repairs.

 

[Avenger]

Cast Iron can be brazed, or repaired with interlocking plugs. This piece isn't highly stressed like an engine block, so either may be a viable option. I'd clean it thoroughly first so you can determine what you're actually dealing with.

 

[bostonhatteras]

X2 on brazing

 

[nmcafee]

I got a recommendation for a radiator repair guy in Maryland, he is supposedly a wizard at rebuilding stuff. Will let you know how it turns out.

 

[jim rosenthal]

Where in MD, if you don't mind disclosing it? Might be a shop I know.

 

[nmcafee]

Smittys Radiator Shop in Hyattsville, MD. He was super helpful but the part can't be repaired. It is aluminum, and over the years someone had epoxied the inside and fiberglassed the outside. He pushed me towards Marine Exhaust Systems out of Fairhope Alabama to have a new one made. I have a call into them.

The part is called an airsweep. If he can't do it I will need to find a different part and piece it together, he said running it without one could be very damaging to the engine.

The adventure continues

 

[jim rosenthal]

Good luck on this.

 

[rwaldrop13]

Also give these guys a try

Marine Salvage | Used Engines | Strike Marine Service | Fort Lauderdale | Florida (marinesalvagesale.com)

 

[nmcafee]

I finally got a solution. I had a few people tell me that I didnt need that part, but a few respected mechanics that said it was dangerous running a cooling system with turbos without this part. In the end, I sent the bad one to marine exhaust systems in Alabama. He fabricated a new one for me. Was expensive, but the engine is running again! Great customer service, and I appreciate everyone giving me their advice.

 

[Captain Ralph]

Outstanding good news.