We started in today with tracing the water lines from the raw water filter. My system send the raw water to the transmission cooler first then to the water pump and then to the oil cooler. My transmission needs the coolest water it can get. Before it was plumbed this way, it would overheat and blow the seals. It's been this way for the last 8 years and works fine.
The transmission cooler had a good bit of junk in it since it's just down stream from the raw water strainer and I'd found it with a good bit of grass and weeds in it when I last checked it. I guess it's not such a great strainer so I ordered in a new one. The one I have is all steel so you can't see what's going on inside. We ripped out the trans cooler and cleaned it out and flushed water through both ways. Clean thru all the tubes.
Next on to the oil cooler. It's a tough bird to get to and to get all the lines off. It took a while but we finally got out. This is where the impeller pieces would go when they break off and yes, we did find four chunks of previous impellers in it. Not whole vanes but enough. It's now clean. When we were putting it back, we found that one of the lines from the oil filter to the oil cooler had lots of cracks in it's outer lining. Not a good thing so we made some calls, found a shop that makes them, launched Puff and took off. It was 1130 and he goes to lunch at 1200 so we had to hurry. We were in his door by 1145 and out by 1150 with a nice new hydraulic hose(and $44.00 poorer).
We stopped in at Subway and had a nice lunch before heading back to Zephyr.
Once back on board, we hooked up the new hose and the old one an put the oil cooler back. The bad thing is that Snowshoe, our nice white Persian cat was underfoot just as I took out the oil cooler and several drops of oil landed on his back and side. Tracy scooped him up and it was off to the galley for a nice shower. Not a happy kitty to say the least. Most of the oil came out but he's a bit messy now but getting better as his hair dries out.
In went the transmission cooler with it's hoses and water lines. Hose clamps were screwed down and we were done. We cleaned up our mess and made plans to pull up the anchor and go out for another test drive.
Up came the anchor at 1530 and we were off pushing Zephyr at 1550RPMs. The temp climbed on the gauge in the cockpit to above 190. Inside, I hit the tank with my infrared gun and it showed up as being under 180 but still climbing. Once the cockpit gauge hit about 210, I checked again and we were still hitting 193. Not bad since we haven't run it at that rpm in quite q while but still about 10 degrees hotter than it should be.
We're down to taking off the heat exchanger( like a boats radiator) and getting it professionally cleaned. We talked to Brian at American Diesel and he agreed it would be a good idea as we are quickly running out of things to inspect or change. They are all closed for the weekend so Monday will be the day. We're getting closer but still not there.

Here's the difference genetics makes. Working on the engine isn't the most fun, at least for me. I get nervous and doubt my ability to actually do the work. As I was growing up, if something went wrong, my father just took it to a mechanic. We had the first house in Pennsylvania that had circuit breakers in it. He hated changing fuses. I NEVER saw him under the hood of a car and God knows what tools he had were covered in rust stuck away in the back corner of the basement. Tracy, on the other hand has no fear of getting in there and just doing it. Here father was always playing and working on things around his house even after he came down with MS. The first time I met him, he was coming out from underneath a car in his garage. Not surprising, both his daughters came away with the ability and confidence to do just about anything. Linda, Tracy's sister, when she came out to Colorado to stay at our house started in fixing anything she saw that needed attention. Didn't matter what. Tracy is the same way. Not much phases her when it comes to doing some repairs. Me, on the other hand, not so much. All the work we've been doing has been with the two of us getting ourselves filthy in the engine room. Sure glad she's here.