Closed cooling system

do they make a closed cooling system that you can add to your existing boat? We have an x2 that is used in fresh water but i have moved and now the closest water to me is brackish. I was wondering if you could add a closed cooling system and how much would it cost?
Any thoughts on this are greatly appreciated. Also what else is the brackish water going to affect?

I have a closed cooling system on my x2. It's half so it cools the block but not the manifolds. I had the dealer put it on when I bought it and it cost me about $800. It is made by ORCA. Check out their website and give them a call.

Why does some one just get the half and not the full? I am just curious as to why people dont worry about the manifolds.

Manny-Thanks i will look it up

Originally Posted by brazosfreak05

Why does some one just get the half and not the full? I am just curious as to why people dont worry about the manifolds.

Manny-Thanks i will look it up

That's a good question. I wish my boat had a fully closed system as I've already replaced the manifolds once. There really is no off the shelf full system for these engines (that I know of). The problem is that the manifolds that are on the boat wouldn't work with a full system. When I replaced my manifolds with the new ones I actually tried to turn it in to a full system but the heat exchanger couldn't handle it so I had to go back to a half system.

If you are going to use the boat in salt you really should, at a minimum, get the half system. The salt really is terrible and the closed cooling will keep that engine brand new. After seeing what happened to my manifolds in 3 years, even constantly flushing with salt away, I wouldn't want salt anywhere near the block.

Originally Posted by mrm2083

After seeing what happened to my manifolds in 3 years, even constantly flushing with salt away, I wouldn't want salt anywhere near the block.

Like I said I haven't dealt specifically with an inboard in salt water. I'd assume you'd have to let the engine run long enough for the thermostat to open for the manifolds to be flushed though. Otherwise I think it would just be a minimal amount of water getting that far into the system. Do you let it run for like 15+ minutes when flushing?

Trust me I know everything when it comes to maintaining a wake boarding boat in salt. I've had my boat for 6 years and it is in great condition but salt water and manifolds are not friends. I could have definitely gotten another season from those manifolds but after 3 years and 300 hours they were extremely corroded on the inside and the joint was leaking. The problems with manifolds is that a failure can lead to salt water going into the engine and that would be very bad so you definitely need to be cautious.

As far as flushing. I flush the engine after every use for about 10-15 minutes (always making sure that the engine gets up to operating temp) even though technically that should't matter on a half system because the water is moving through the manifolds at all times. Plus I finish it off with about 30 seconds of salt away in the end that I allow to remain in the manifolds as it is is opposed to have some anti-corrosive properties.

If you are going to use your boat in the salt the only thing you really need to worry about is the engine compartment. Basically all engine components and the steering. The rest of the stuff on a Mastercraft is pretty much equivalent to any salt boat. Keep some boeshield T9 or woody wax on all the metal parts and always wash it down and you'll be fine. Oh and on the tower I recommend you remove all screws and put some anti seize on them. Since the scores are stainless and the tower is aluminum they will seize and it's a pain.

PCM manifolds retail for about 600 to 700, if they last ten years it's not that big of a deal for the salt guy

I may be way off here but I don't know that it's worth doing. You're going to take the salt water use hit on resale even with the closed loop system. With diligent flushing and use of products like Salt-Away I don't see your engine's water jackets being completely rusted through anytime soon. You will probably go through water circulating pumps faster than a fresh water boat but those aren't very expensive either. Worst case you may need a GM short block for like $1,500 a few hundred hours sooner than you would have needed it with fresh water use.

So, my opinion is unless it's like a 2010-2011 or newer just add a flush kit, run it as is is and always flush/wash the boat thoroughly immediately after use. I've never run an inboard in salt water but I have a fair amount of experience running/maintaining salt water PWCs, outboards, and I/Os (None being Salt Water Series, all with open loop cooling).

Your trailer will suffer the most. You could try to maintain it but it will still corrode and fail within a few years. The actual frame and finish of the trailer is a problem but also all of the moving parts will likely seize up (i.e. brakes, suspension, swing away tongue, etc.) since it gets completely submerged and there are all kinds of places for water to hide. A better option may be to sell your factory trailer for a few thousand while it still has value (Assuming it's in good shape now) and apply the proceeds an aluminum trailer with SS brakes from somebody like BoatMate that will last indefinitely with regular salt water exposure and proper maintenance. The way I look at is is you probably have a trailer worth $4-5,000 now that will be near worthless in 2-5 years or you could cash that in towards an $8,000 or so trailer that would maintain it's function/value today.

As far as other things to be concerned with a lot of miscellaneous hardware and gear will corrode pretty quickly in a salt water environment. Things like your gas springs for hatches probably are not the SS versions. Keep them lubricated but just plan on replacing them with stainless equivalents when they become unusable. Keep your engine sprayed down with an anti corrosive spray before you go out and after you clean up. Keep your aluminum waxed (Tower, speakers, dash billet, etc) or coated with some sort of protectant that's safe for anodized aluminum.

That's about all I can think of right now.

I also noticed you said brackish and not straight salt. At least around here in Louisiana there are often fresh water bayous and rivers that empty into the larger brackish bodies of water. If you could find a place to launch and pickup in such a location it will be a big help because your trailer will not be exposed to the brackish water and your boat's engine will be flushed by default right before you pickup.

That said "brackish" is a sliding scale but will be much less harsh on your equipment than true salt water. I'd be even more inclined to forgo the closed loop cooling in favor of a little more maintenance for brackish water.