Orca half closed cooling system

[Schindawg]

Hey everyone - I bought my 2003 Wakesetter 23 LSV last summer with 70 hrs on it. It was used in salt water but is in great shape. The previous owner had an Orca half-closed cooling system put on it. Being that I'm now only on freshwater, should I leave it on? All those extra hoses and the coolant tank take up a lot of space and I had a tough time reaching anything last fall when I winterized. The zinc anode is completely worn down but other than having to replace that, it seems to work fine. Should I leave it on or is it wasting space? Thanks in advance for the advice!

[Schindawg]

Any thoughts out there? I'm half tempted to take it off this afternoon since there's no place local to buy the zinc anode.

[rustie]

Any marine supply will have many different shapes of zinc anodes....and since it gets eaten away, any shape that you can bolt on will work.

But if used in fresh, you won't have nearly the erosion problem they originally had. I wish my engine had a closed system...like my Sea Doo (very trick actually). As long as the rest of the system is not compromised, it won't run any better after removal...and you can run antifreeze...which prevents internal corrosion that even fresh can cause (to say nothing of having that raw-water pump/impeller to worry about)....

[Schindawg]

Any marine supply will have many different shapes of zinc anodes....and since it gets eaten away, any shape that you can bolt on will work.

But if used in fresh, you won't have nearly the erosion problem they originally had. I wish my engine had a closed system...like my Sea Doo (very trick actually). As long as the rest of the system is not compromised, it won't run any better after removal...and you can run antifreeze...which prevents internal corrosion that even fresh can cause (to say nothing of having that raw-water pump/impeller to worry about)....

Thanks for the advice rustie. In the end, I decided to leave it on. Will also make winterization a bit easier. I drained everything this time since I didn't know the age of the coolant, but with fresh stuff good to -34, I won't need to blow out the heater core this fall; just empty the manifolds. Also good to have the anti corrosion attributes running through the block, as you mentioned.

[jgouveia3]

you can get the zincs for the orca at west marine online.

the biggest advantage of the closed cooling is it is a lot easier to winterize. also, you never have the low heat problem if you have a heater. you will find that the boat runs at a very consitent 160...

Edited June 17, 2009 by jgouveia3

[LS-One]

If you are leaving it on you may want to consider switching to magnesium annodes. My understanding is Zinc for salt magnesium for fresh. I had to swap them out on my houseboat outdrive Mercruiser comes stock with Zinc but I was told they had no effect in freshwater.

Edited June 17, 2009 by LS-One

[99response]

I'd leave it on for no other reason but to prevent a cracked block in the wintertime. It will also keep the engine internals nice and debris free.

[davemac]

If you are leaving it on you may want to consider switching to magnesium annodes. My understanding is Zinc for salt magnesium for fresh. I had to swap them out on my houseboat outdrive Mercruiser comes stock with Zinc but I was told they had no effect in freshwater.