My boat doesn't have sea strainers. I recently ran through a debris field on the river and sucked up a bunch of wood chips which got stuck in the oil cooler inlet on the port engine. Does anyone have pics of their strainer installation on a 31SS? Do I want one with 1-1/4" fittings?

GO4BROKE installed sea strainers on his 31ss which is now owned by GoForBroke. One on each side the center stringer just forward of the engines. One of them should chime in shortly...

I still have those strainers (sorry Tony), haven't gotten around to installing them on the new boat. They are Stainless Marine Super Strainers, the largest size. Built well enough to stand on (I did frequently). Good memory Wally! I had 1 1/4 fittings. Don't want any restriction. Installed side by side on either side of the stringer with the same 6 bolts as Wally described. I have to dig on another computer to see if I can find pics.

Found an old thread with the pics

Don't forget shut offs on the inlets! Those are the yellow things in the pics.

Hey Chris, I remembered because I've been thinking I should install some strainers just like yours. I'm still waiting for the opportunity to clean my oil coolers just like plum did above ... or...I just didn't want to spend the money.

Plum, how did you know the oil cooler was plugged? Do you have oil temp gauges? Water temp go up? low water flow in which the engine should have gone into guardian mode?

GO4BROKE, thanks for the pics. Do you have any details about hose? I think I read that the strainers should be placed prior to the pump and that requires reinforced hose that won't collapse from the suction. Is that correct? What about making the turn back to the pump? Do I need a pre-formed hose?

Z06, I knew something was plugged because I had backflushed from the exchanger inlet to the pump outlet 4 different times and only got 5 or 6 pieces out each time. I would go out and test only to find the results a tiny bit better. If I went any faster than cruising speed, the water temp would creep up to 190 degrees and the engine would go into guardian mode. It would come back out within seconds once I idled and cooled things down again. Finally, I decided to trace the cooling line from the pump. First stop was the P/S cooler, but that is completely pass-thru. When I got the hose off the oil cooler, it was "Plum" full.

Make sure you get a strainer with a top you dont need tools to remove.

I run in the ocean and Im always cleaning crap out my strainer.

Uncle Dave

Yes to the reinforced hose. Make sure you have barbed fittings, not smooth. For the turns I just ran a long enough hose to keep them gradual.

x2 Uncle Daves advice.