freshwater coolant drop

[saildog2]

New owner of a '86 C-34, and am just starting the familiarization process.  It appears that I am losing f/w coolant - as evidenced by increase in enging temp at idle and visible coolant level drop.  No notice of any leaking in the boat.  I am unable to find records to show the HX has been recently serviced (475 hrs on the M25) I am suspecting there may be leak inside the heat exchanger - does this sound like a reasonable possibliity?  Anything else suspect?
Thanks in advance for your input.

[Howard Armstrong]

i had that happen to me on a 1988 model. you could remover the cap and watch the coolant level go down. they are not repairable, for the most part. i removed mine and and put air pressure on it to test.
if you need another, search the web, you can save a lot of money.

[Ken Juul]

There are lots of places to loose coolant.  Many times if the engine is warm, the leak will evaporate before being noticed.  If you live in an area that has "Auto Zone" auto part stores they have a great tool loaner program.  Borrow a cooling system pressure tester and see if the system will hold pressure.  Do it on a cold engine so you can easily check all connections without getting burned.  Don't forget the hoses that run to the hot water heater.  If the boat has been properly maintained, it is probably a loose clamp or rotten hose rather than the HX.  But if the engine zinc hasn't been changed the HX would suffer the damage.  If Auto Zone isn't in your area, check the local auto parts stores, many of the chains have similiar setups.

[Stu Jackson]

saildog2

Welcome, we've all been there, and good luck with your familiarization process.  Please check out this identification suggestion: http://c34.org/bbs/index.php?topic=1506.0, I'm sure you must have a first name.

I recommend a search on the word "coolant."  Just type it in the box and hit the search button.   There was a recent thread about this and you may want to check it out.  Familiarization with this website seems to be part of the boat familiarization process, too. 

All the best, we're here to help.

[saildog2]

Thanks Stu - see updated profile info. Looks like a great site for info; it will help me out alot