ENGINE & TRIM PUMP SHIELD
I spent a ton of money this season finally going through the Cooling System on my D4-260 after 2000 Hours of run time and Benson told me it would be a lot worse if I didn't find a way to keep the large amounts of Deck Wash Down Salt Water which sometimes overflows my scuppers off the top of my engine. The 2 main victims are my Turbo and Aftercooler; they are both big ticket items when the casings become corroded & shot. After giving it some thought I came up with a couple of pieces of 24 gauge Aluminum Sheet Metal; one starting from the deck hatch scupper reaching forward about half the engine length to make the water run off to either side of the motor, and a second cover in rear of the port side deck storage box where my trim pump is mounted directly under the deck drain. Engine overhead clearances are tight with the D4 so I put a 1/2" 90 degree bend in the end of the cover to keep water from rolling over the front of the engine; I will probably caulk the joint between the shield and the hatch rear scupper to seal the joint I'm just not sure yet whether I should use Silicone or 4200 in case I need to remove it for maintenance. I picked 24 gauge as it is easy to bend up out of the way when necessary for oil filter changes, etc. The Trim Pump Shield has 1/2" 90 degree bends on each side to form a pressure fit against the port side hull and engine compartment bulkhead; I ran 2-#10X1/2" Stainless SMS screws into the bulkhead forcing the front of the shield to angle downward so the water overflowing from the scupper drain would drain in front of the pump down into the bilge. I made a second smaller fill in piece to go around the drain pipe cutout with a tighter fit around the hose to keep water out and I used an adhesive caulk to attach them together. I hope it works and I'll be checking its effectiveness often and come up with mods as needed and keep you informed.
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