How to Protect Marine Engines From Salt Water
Salt water can cause some serious complications when it comes to storing, restoring and just plain using your marine engine. If you do not defend your marine engine from this element, you will soon find that you have serious issues with corrosion and decay--even if your marine engine has been out of the salt water for some time. Take some simple--and not so simple--precautions to insure that your marine engine keeps running for years to come.
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Things You'll Need
- Zinc anodes
- De-greaser
- Cleaning rags
- Distilled water
- Plastic bath large enough to hold all metal parts of the engine
Instructions
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Replace your marine engine zinc anodes regularly. This is the most important thing you can do to defend your marine engine from salt water if you use it regularly. They are found in heat exchangers, oil coolers, shafts, props and rudders. Zinc anodes prevent corrosion in your engine because the zinc gets eaten away by the marine environment in place of your engine. You must replace these anodes inside the engine and out on a regular basis--as frequently as once a month if you use your boat regularly.
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Give your engine a thorough rinsing with distilled water. This keeps the salt water from sitting on the engine and corroding it. Some marinas have an area where you can run your engine in distilled or fresh water before removing it from the water. Otherwise, you may need to flush the engine manually once it is out of the water.
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Disassemble the engine for full submersion if you are dealing with a long-term storage issue. This will enable you to store the engine in a fully submerged environment that will prevent marine-related corrosion. Take out all metal parts of the engine. If you are not familiar with assembly and disassembly of your engine, have a professional do this.
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Clean all metal parts. They need to be free of oil and grease. You may need to use a de-greaser to get all of the parts completely free of engine grime.
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Submerge the parts in a distilled water bath. This will prevent corrosion. You can change the water weekly for the first two to three months, then switch to monthly changes.
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Tips & Warnings
A solution of soda 5 percent soda ash and distilled water may be used in long-term submersion storage as well, but this requires additional safety precautions and regular pH monitoring.
