Moving coolant recovery tank

[Wayne]

I'm thinking of moving my coolant recovery tank from the factory location in the port locker to inside the engine compartment.  It seems to me that  A: Its current location in the locker leaves it vulnerable to damage when the boat is rockin' and rollin' and B: It would be lots easier to do a quick oil-belt-coolant check when all are together.  Is there a reason I'm not thinking of for it being in the cockpit locker?  Any thoughts would be appreciated!

[Vic Suben]

I moved the recovery tank in my boat to the inside of the access door near the fuel filter (on the starboard side in the head compartment).  It works fine at that location.  The liquid level is readily visible and it's easy to add more coolant if and when it's needed.  Just make sure there's enough slack in the tubing to allow for opening the access door.

Vic  Suben
Surprise
Hull No. 453

[tonywright]

Actually I just (three weeks ago) had a survey done on the engine, and the Universal specialist said that the factory installation is out of spec, since it leaves various dips in the line. This was in response to the question on the initial general purchase survey: why is the coolant a bit low in the manifold?

The question is whether you can find a good location that is  higher than the manifold (per Universal requirements), and allows a straight run with no dips in the line. It seems that having it close to the fuel filter would be lower than the manifold? The locker seems to be the only logical choice to keep the expansion tank both higher than the engine and easily accessible. I still have to figure out how to correct the dips and loops in the line.

The same survey said that the factory vented loop on the exhaust was too close to the waterline. Has anyone else raised the vented loop? Is this generally recognized to be a problem?

[Ron Hill]

Wayne : There shouldn't be any reason that you can't move the coolant recovery tank to the engine compartment.  I've installed them on autos and on my M25XP that didn't have a factory installation.
 
Try to keep the recovery tank "about" the same level as the the top of the reservoir overflow.   On the boat my homemade  tank(qt. rubbermade container) is below that level, but it's worked for 18 years.  It will take a few times of expanding (heating) and contracting (cooling off) of the engine to clear all of the air out of the recovery line.  Keeps out the air - no air no rust!!
Then (like with your auto) do NOT open the fill cap to look at the coolant.   

[Craig Illman]

I agree with Ron. None of my cars have had the recovery tank above the radiator, so I don't see why it would be any different on the boat. The objective is to keep air (and oxygen) out of the coolant to minimize corrosion and any chance of foaming.

Craig

[Wayne]

Replying to Tony Wright regarding the exhaust loop
Yes, we had an adventure with that.  We were out on a particularly boisterous day on SF Bay this summer in our nearly new 34.  We were in a big hurry to get back to Alameda, so I was sailing really agressively in high winds (bashing through the waves, lots of heel), and then started up the engine and motored when the wind was down to where we weren't making hull speed.  My daughter, her friend, and a nephew (all about 20 years old) went below and napped while we motored back.  Tied up at the dock and went below and it reeked of exhaust.  Woke up the kids and got them up on deck.  Scared the crap out of us--carbon monoxide poisoning fears.  We contacted the dealer who had a mechanic check it out.  Turns out that the exhaust blower hose was mounted too low and had a big dip in it that had filled with sea water, blocking air flow.  The mechanic remounted the hose (much higher, he said) and all has been well since.

[Wayne]

Thanks to everyone for their replies!