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Engine Zincs Cat 3412

Discussion in 'Engines' started by MikeElliston, Nov 21, 2006.

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  1. MikeElliston, Nov 21, 2006
    #1
    MikeElliston

    MikeElliston New Member

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    i just started on an 80' motor yacht with 3412 engines, while checking things over today i went to check the zincs, the first one i pulled the brass head unscrewed easily enough, however, the zinc fell down the exaust, and consequently i had to disassemble to remove the zinc, the remainder of my zincs are corroded onto the engine, i can remove the brass plug, but the zinc stays in place, not dropping, yet not coming out with the cap, is there any simple way to remove the zinc without pulling the exaust apart? and how could i prevent this from happening in the future ?
  2. K1W1, Nov 22, 2006
    #2
    K1W1

    K1W1 Senior Member

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    Hi,

    I don't know off the top of my head what size your anodes are can you see if you can grab the thread with long nose vice grips?

    If they fall into the outlet i.e. on the way to the water muffler I would not worry about them laying there they will not do any damage.
  3. airship, Nov 22, 2006
    #3
    airship

    airship Senior Member

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    Inspecting / replacing the zinc anodes more regularly?! Also, I've heard that some engineers smear a dollop of silicone on the area between the threaded part and the main body of the new zinc anode before screwing it into the brass plug. Just enough to "seal the thread" from water ingress mind you, whilst still maintaining electrical continuity...
  4. C4ENG, Nov 22, 2006
    #4
    C4ENG

    C4ENG Senior Member

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    Zincs in the exhuast?
    I don't know if I am behind the times but I can not recall ever seeing zincs in the exhuast systems. I can not imagine how zincs could work in a wet exhust system unless an area was completely sumerged under the water line and that would not be a CAT installed piece of equipment. I could appreciating some one telling me differently.
  5. MikeElliston, Nov 22, 2006
    #5
    MikeElliston

    MikeElliston New Member

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    K1W1, thank you for the advise, that is the same thing that my Caterpillar service tech told me, he also told me that with just a tad bit of the cap threaded onto the anode, you can wiggle it out, it just takes a while sometimes, and to prevent it from un-screwing from the cap, to tighten the anode on more than it comes from the factory,
    Airship, if you read my original post in its entirety, you would have read that i am new to this yacht, and therefore the fact that the maintance has been neglected is the major problem that i am encountering, i will most likely be asking more advise in the future, but i will be taking things one at a time.
  6. CaptTom, Nov 24, 2006
    #6
    CaptTom

    CaptTom Senior Member

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    Mike,
    I've changed zincs on the old 3208 Cat's and have had the same problem. First off, I don't use old plugs but use new plugs with new zincs (no corossion or dirt/salt buildup). Then I would snug the zinc to the plug by holding the zink with a pliers and a wrench on the plug. Just a little, don't overtighten or mess up the threads on the zinc. Add in the silicone that Airship mentioned and change regularly and that should help fix the problem. Next time you have the zincs out, look in the hole with a flashlight and make sure there are no old zincs or anything else inside to bind up against.
  7. capybob, Jul 12, 2009
    #7
    capybob

    capybob New Member

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    cat zincs

    I have had similar problems on 3116's and 3126's. Best to change more frequently to avoid this situation entirely. That said, I have had success removing broken off zinc pencils with a shop vac. ,needle nose pliers, and even by starting engine briefly to blow old zinc out with sea water pressure from raw pump tighten new zincs into the brass plug with pliers and wrench or vise grips and wrench, don't over do it as zincs break easily at the thinner threaded area. as for comments about zincs in exhaust systems, they do in fact have zincs in the wet elbows. The raw-wet system is not sealed as it is open to the exhaust at the wet elbow termination. The zincs are submersed as they are upstream of the termination of water to exhaust gas area. As for multi viscosity oils. cat recommends straight 30w or 40w with a Cf-4 rating. The aftercoolers did have problems while using 15w40. Much better results with the 30w Shell Rotella.