Anybody experience with salt away ?

[stingraymax]

I am looking to buy a new engine and was looking thru the parts pages of evinrude when I noticed a "salt water corrosion prevention kit"
The product in the kit is salt away that you use to fluch the engine to get most of the salt deposits out of the cooling system.

Does anybody have experience with this ??

http://parts.evinrude.com/PDF/scpkit.pdf

http://www.saltawayproducts.com/

[4str]

It is used pretty commonly here in the Pacific Northwest. My brother was shown the difference made using the stuff by a mechanic. There was absolutely no salt buildup in the engine maintained with Salt Away, pretty significant buildup without it. The claim the mechanic made was that the encrusted engine was also regulary flushed with fresh water. I don't think the mechanic had any reason to recommend it except that the marine center he worked at sold it. (Practically all do here.)

In practice you flush the engine normally with fresh water and just before shutting down, switch to a Salt Away solution with the mixing device provided with the kit. This leaves a solution in the little places that don't drain in the engine. It is very easy to do. I use the stuff almost every rinse. After the engine is shut down the mixing device is connected to my trailer brake wash out and then the remainder is used to rinse the trailer. The way the device works is that the chemical is continually being diluted as water flows through it so the brakes and trailer are getting a less concentrated solution.

Is it worth it? Probably, but sometimes I wonder. My dive gear only gets a fresh water bath and there is no salt buildup on it either. But I can't look inside my engine without a LOT of extra work, so I take the belt and suspenders approach.

Steve

[jyasaki]

Personally, I think the only advantage will be due to the stuff that stays in the system. Salt is pretty easily soluble in fresh water. A good flush as recommended by most manufacturers (10 to 15 minutes) should get rid of pretty much all the salt in the system. If you want to make sure, a bit of acid (white vinegar works well) added to the water will help cut the salt.

The mechanics comparison display thingie could easily be due to a number of other reasons. Improper flushing procedure or running with a weak impeller come to mind offhand, as does waiting long periods of time before flushing.

jky