Closed loop cooling and salt water
 

I now salt water is hell on boats but I do have closed loop cooling on my Nordic and I was wondering how bad it really is to run in salt water?

Afterwards I flush out the motor and launch it in a lake to rinse off the trailer and flush the boat out, the afterwards I wash it top to bottom at home. Is that over kill?

I know most people just flush the motor and call it good. I just don't want to risk any thing but it sucks driving 45 min to the lake just to get the trailer flushed and the boat cleared out
Can anyone give me some input on how they would do it?

Ive only ran it in salt water 3 times and everytime I go to the lake after for a flushing.
thanks guys

You am flush on a hose. What kind of trailer? I beam? You can squirt those off too. Then just wash. Mine stays on my lift. I put it down go run. Flush when back on te lift. Wash boat down. Done

Its a powder coated sealed beam road runner trailer. I have the ear muff flusher but I figured the lake is just as good
also its hard to get all the trailer brakes and hubs and all the nooks and crannys cleaned with a hose.

Just dipping in freshwater will not get all the salt off. Especially if its already dried on. The lake is just as good unless you don't want to drive the 45 minutes to the lake. Go home an flush on muffs.

100% in saltwater, if I had the ability to go 45 minutes to dip the entire unit in freshwater, I would do it everytime. It takes me at least 30 minutes to clean and flush my boat after running, and I'm quite sure I don't get into the trailer as well as I need to.

I had closed cooling installed on my Formula before we brought it down South, it sits on a 14K lb lift on the ICW, so it's ready to go anytime we are, as long as you keep everything clean and WD-40 up you should be fine, it's like anything else you'vej ust have to take care of it and clean it, flush the enigine good, I would be more worried about the trailer, the best kind are sealed trailers so the salt water doesn't get into the beams and the wiring, do whatever you can to keep it oiled and clean.

also just keeping your boat on a lift you may want to fog the engines a litle to keep the valves from rusting from the salt water breeze..my friend parked his foemuls on his lift in sarasots and flushed his engines and rinced off the boat after every use with fresh water...came back north for 6 months and when he went back down his engines were seized ....just sayin..

Could happen, we live here so I'm in my boat almost every other weekend or close to it.

Swap for an aluminum trailer. Problem solved.

Don't let all the panic pushers on this website scare you off salt water. Every boat we have ever owned has been used exclusively in salt water and we don't have to do full restorations every month like some on here would have you believe.

My boat, cars, and other toys all spend their life within a few feet of salt water and I don't have any rusted valves. There is more to that story than being told.

+1

seaford va?? when your chit in in the salt 24/7 and your sun is shining 80% of the time and your temps are above 36*F come and start a argument until then BACK OFF....Dont know the true story myself but they were seized,,weather the boat had high waves splash the back of the boat or what ever happened they were seized from salt water wash,,hell when i brought my boat back up from Florida and the boat sat for a month and the port motor was rebuilt it seized from the salt water ,,only takes a little bit of salt and heat and the salt starts sweating and it multiply and before you know it everything is all rusty...even after winter in my shop from the salt they use on the streets some of my equipment gets rusty from the salt so dont tell me its no big deal when it is.....

Wow....there is a decaf on the market that tastes just as good as the real thing....

I better go rush out and get my trailer and get my boat out of the nasty salt water and run it back up North so it won't RUST. :lolhit:

ya! you both do that and tell me how it works for you!:party-smiley-004: next smart azz!

Most people that bad mouth salt usually for whatever reason can't live or boat down in Florida, so if you can't enjoy it, BASH it, smart azz done, have a good day.

+1

I used my boat in Georgia for 3 years (fresh water) then came to South Florida. Salt requires slightly more maintenance and preservation. But, if you occasionally treat metal and maintain your engines you are OK. I stack my boat 60 feet from the intracoastal and run every 2-3 weeks... Never flush, however the guys spray my boat down. I have close cooled 496's and the only thing that happened once is the salt coagulated in one of my exhaust runners and I flushed it out. I also didnt use my boat for 7-8 months while stacked after my son was born. After that long period, I called, put the boat in, stated it and drove off. Ran the hell out of it.

The only thing I dont like is that it dulls the finish of my out drives. That cleans up OK but not like in fresh water. I also spray the engines every few months with the aerospace water inhibitor stuff.

Saltwater eats my XR gears though... It seems to weaken them. (Thats a joke)

God damn big time - I wasn't calling you a liar, just saying there was more to the story. Relax.

That being said you should get a map - it gets warm here and the Atlantic Ocean is rather salty. If people leave boats in all the time than certainly that will take its toll but responsible salt water use is no issue.

I'd never boat in salt water. Chit is like acid! I put the boat in once and it dissolved.

Got GPS coordinates for that spot? I have a few things that need a good bath!

Funny thing about this argument is that just about every high end powerboat has run in Florida salt water and they are amazingly still beautiful!

Included in the list:

All Apaches, all offshore raceboats, all FPC poker run participants, all Active Thunders/Powerplays, pretty sure all Cigarettes are water tested before delivery (the Lipships surely are). I suspect NorTech/OL do the same. That being said salt water isn't all gloom and doom! :D

So is that why Sunsations are so awesome? :D

Brian you know this but others may not:

Many of their boats do end up in salt water but being a Michigan based builder they obviously test in fresh water conditions because that is what is near the factory. The other boats listed (AT included) obviously test in salt because that is their local water. There are odd cases like my boat (bought from an Illinois dealer) as a new boat only to find out it was featured by Hot Boat in an article and the "testing" was done in FL salt water. So that boat got dipped before it even got sold. I didn't care but to someone who would be salt water adverse and bought a new boat in the Midwest it would be a concern! :D

All of the Sunsation F4's have been "salted" (even the newest one that stayed in Michigan I believe hit a FL poker run last year). With closed cooling it becomes less of a concern for the engines but you will never confuse a 10 year old salt water boat with a 10 year old freshwater boat (especially one that is only used 3-4 months a year then put into winter hibernation in a barn).

I know JS! Just kidding! :drink:

Eliminator: almost as awesome as Sunsation.
Wait, maybe Envision should be up there too. :drink: :drink:

Hey remember both Eliminator AND Sunsation have built multiple 43's.............AT "crickets" in that dept! :D

True, true. :party-smiley-004:

I would rather my boat fizz a little in salt water then have to boat in fresh water!

Boy I don't know about that. Grant it I'm overly anal retentive on the condition of the boat. Being a Michigan native we are spoiled on how easy freshwater is on our stuff. I've done the FPC Key West run many years ago and after seeing what 10 days of salt did to my friends 38 Cat I swore the closest mine would ever get to salt would be in a shaker at a restaurant. In comparison this picture is my old Bertram in Harbor Springs where it sat in the water for two weeks. I wiped the water line off with a wet micofiber towel. I feel for the boaters that battle the saltwater....man it is criminal what it can do to a boat. Try a weekend in the great lakes I think you will like not having to flush,wash and WD-40 everything after every ride.[ATTACH=CONFIG]504090[/ATTACH]

I boat 1-2 times a year in the salt. and enjoy every minute of it. it does get flushed, and ran in fresh water, and a full wash job when i get back. and have yet to see damage from it.

I hope to move to salt water for my place of resadence, may be more work, maybe have to replace more offten, but I LOVE the pretty water, and sandy beaches.

Something about saltwater boating. Key west, Bahamas, Miami, Catalina island, Tampa. Must be why there are NO boats around these places cause salt destroys em.

What kind of closed cooling did you put on? Any pictures?

To everyone saying they mist down with WD-40, what do you spray?

Agreed. There are some beautiful sights for sure. I guess everyone's level of tolerance for what looks great is different. I always fall in love with the price of salt boats when I'm looking for something to buy however in every case they have always been to rough for me.....However I must say I do love the cars down there! We do get salt in the winter here and it beats the sh*t out of our cars real bad.

All my boats have been exclusively salt water and maintenance is a simple as maintaining the recommended services. Beyond that I wash it after every use, hose down the trailer (Aluminum), and sometimes I even flush it. Jet ski's, same thing. I live about 800 feet from water/ Gulf of Mexico. Life is beautiful.

I have the same question on the WD 40. Where do you recommend spraying?

Wd40 if it is metal, painted,exposed to salt bottom 6 inches of bilge it can't hurt

I am in Tampa and I use Boeshield or CRC spray..... Coat the whole engine with a quick spray....... I also use salt away flush after every use and also use it on the out drive and actually a final spray over the whole boat...... Thisis on my raw water cooled cruiser..... My new to me Donzi 26ZX is getting a closed cooling 502 but even with stainless risers, I will flush the heat exchanger and use salt away after every use..... it costs about a dollar each flush but my marine mechanic uses it on his personal stuff and it is incredible how well his boats look...... Don't be afraid of salt water, it is well worth it to me to have access to such great boating on a year round basis! TBF