When to change an oil cooler ?

The title may be misleading, because you obviously want to change the oil cooler before it fails, but my biggest question has become: 'when do I change them ?'.
I had my oil coolers pressure tested beginning of 2023, they were OK and they also went without any problems through the 2024 season. However, since there is no zinc anode in the oil cooler how many years would they be 'safe' to use ?
I know that they were on the engines when I bought the boat (now 4 years ago), but I have no idea how long they have been on the boat before I bought them. There are no records of any replacement.
For now I have decided to change them this year, no matter what the condition is, just because I don't want them to fail next season.

And then it comes to the second question:
I can get new oil coolers in the US for around 150 USD a piece, but then it will take shipping, import, VAT in Europe and if they will be good for 5 years then that is not a bad investment. If they would only be good for 2 years (for example) then I might be better off with buying a different oil cooler, one that has a coating on the inside to protect the cooling pipes from salt water corrosion. Those ones are a bit more expensive, but they have about a 25 year lifespan (by that time I will be dead by the way), which would give a lot of peace of mind while out at sea.

So am curious to hear what all of you use as a guideline for the lifespan of the oil coolers. I have 2 x FL 2715E engines, so that will be the copper 2C207 oil cooler (4 times).
thanks.

You might want to consider "fresh water flushing" your engines after you use them. This would take the salt water out of the raw water side of all your heat exchangers and would significantly extend the life of all of them. If you're interested in this, there have been a number of threads on this topic and it would end up saving you money in the long run.

Taras said:

You might want to consider "fresh water flushing" your engines after you use them. This would take the salt water out of the raw water side of all your heat exchangers and would significantly extend the life of all of them. If you're interested in this, there have been a number of threads on this topic and it would end up saving you money in the long run.

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We spend about 8 months per year on the boat, run the engines sometimes every day, sometimes a few days not, so flushing the engines after each trip will be difficult. On top of that I would have to flush them with water that we produce through our water maker, which will be difficult to keep up to produce if we would have to flush each day. So although a good idea, for us it won't work.

Based on how your question was worded my suggestion is to go ahead and change them now at a convenient time. Then pressure test the old ones, if found good, paint them and put aside for am emergency spare. Now use the new ones until they fail, you will have peace of mind knowing spares are at the ready and not worry about it again.

Obviously I would change them now. Mine were on the engines when I brought the boat. I have been going through all the replaceable parts to get a baseline. The old transmission oil coolers didn’t have anodes but the new ones do have anodes.

Comodave said:

Obviously I would change them now. Mine were on the engines when I brought the boat. I have been going through all the replaceable parts to get a baseline. The old transmission oil coolers didn’t have anodes but the new ones do have anodes.

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I have not found the ones with anodes, where did you buy yours, if I may ask ?

SteveK said:

Based on how your question was worded my suggestion is to go ahead and change them now at a convenient time. Then pressure test the old ones, if found good, paint them and put aside for am emergency spare. Now use the new ones until they fail, you will have peace of mind knowing spares are at the ready and not worry about it again.

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The problem is that I don't want to use the coolers until they fail. I saw the video of Sailing Lady Liselot where 2 of his oil coolers failed while he was at sea. It did cost him his engines, cost a fortune. So am trying to find out how many years or months I can use them safely and then I want to change them before they fail.

Sbmar.com. Tony Athens is a Cummins guru and has great parts, some which he designed so they are better than OEM.

Sen-Dure out of Fort Lauderdale Florida makes an equivalent of the 2C207, (see page 10 of the catalogue) although I think it has copper tubes. I'm not familiar with any coating that is applied to the tubes to improve longevity in a salt water environment.
I am familiar with tubes that are made from Cupro Nickel which is an alloy of copper & nickel, not a coating. It has improved resistance to salt water corrosion.

Sen-dure may make a 2C207 using Cupro Nickel, email them. They have always been responsive and will likely send you a drawing.

I am partial to heat exchangers with removable end bells like those show on page 3. You can open them up to service them.

Here is Sen-Dure's Catalogue. https://sen-dureproducts.com/Sen-DureCatalog.pdf

With respect to longevity, if you rinse with fresh water and Copru Nickel, I would expect 25 years or more. I'll be dead too.

luna said:

Sen-Dure out of Fort Lauderdale Florida makes an equivalent of the 2C207, (see page 10 of the catalogue) although I think it has copper tubes. I'm not familiar with any coating that is applied to the tubes to improve longevity in a salt water environment.
I am familiar with tubes that are made from Cupro Nickel which is an alloy of copper & nickel, not a coating. It has improved resistance to salt water corrosion.

Sen-dure may make a 2C207 using Cupro Nickel, email them. They have always been responsive and will likely send you a drawing.

I am partial to heat exchangers with removable end bells like those show on page 3. You can open them up to service them.

Here is Sen-Dure's Catalogue. https://sen-dureproducts.com/Sen-DureCatalog.pdf

With respect to longevity, if you rinse with fresh water and Copru Nickel, I would expect 25 years or more. I'll be dead too.

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Thanks, I will contact them and see what they can do for me. Hopefully they can provide some info about lifetime of these coolers.

Coincidentally, I ordered a new oil cooler today.
The oil cooler is 14 years old and we always sail on salt water.
I saw a little bit of oxidation on the outside so I replaced it!When it's changed, I'm going to look on the inside to see what condition the cooler is.
I'll share my findings!

Pascall said:

Coincidentally, I ordered a new oil cooler today.
The oil cooler is 14 years old and we always sail on salt water.
I saw a little bit of oxidation on the outside so I replaced it!When it's changed, I'm going to look on the inside to see what condition the cooler is.
I'll share my findings!

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Heel benieuwd naar de resultaten. Jouw boot ligt toch in Dordrecht ? Ben net aangekomen in Dordrecht, ben hier tot begin december, dus mocht je die koeler nog onderzoeken dan ben ik zeer geinteresseerd om de staat van die koeler te bekijken om te vergelijken met die van mij.

Many transmission coolers with cast ends can be drilled and tapped for an anode. Frankly, I wouldn't buy a cooler without one or could be added. It's been 25 years since I've had one without an anode.

Ted

My recollection L120s oil coolers have a projected 15 year life. Not sure where I saw it, possibly the Lehman manual. I replaced them with Seakamp ones, from FredWarner1, at a lower price than from Seakamp direct. But, it was a while ago.

SeaKamp in Bellingham, WA manufactures heat exchangers and oil coolers for Ford Lehmans out of copper or cupronickel.

Their coolers are a design improvement to OEM.

The FL heat exchanger have a zinc but the oil coolers do not.

The FL coolers were designed as throways according to American Diesel and should be replaced after X hours. I don't have those hours at home but will post them from the boat. Or call Brian at AD.

syjos said:

The FL coolers were designed as throways according to American Diesel and should be replaced after X hours. I don't have those hours at home but will post them from the boat. Or call Brian at AD.

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I sent Brian an e-mail, hope to get an answer soon. Thanks

Mambo42 said:

Thanks, I will contact them and see what they can do for me. Hopefully they can provide some info about lifetime of these coolers.

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No, the boat is on the Veerse Meer.
The cooler is expected at the end of this week and I can mount it.I'm going to open the old one, then I can see what kind of condition it is in.