A couple of comments: Having replaced a number of elbows on both my boats and others, I have concluded that there is no one reason they self destruct or clog up. Salinity of the water, temperature of both exhaust and water, grade of cast iron, condition of the injectors and consequent soot content of the exhaust, average operating speeds, loading of the engine, fuel quality, water flow, and a host of other variables likely have some effect on the failure or clog rate. I have seen the sides of the elbow rust out with the consequent filling of the boat interior with soot, fumes and dirty water. Not pretty! Some have clogged up with carbon to the point the exhaust passage has been reduced to the size of a pencil and the engine simply won't run at anything much over a slow idle. Others seem to rust up internally and the water passage or exhaust passage is essentially blocked.
The one thing in common is that they all needed replacing. It's almost impossible to remove the built up crap inside with any confidence that the elbow will last before it either clogs again or develops a crack or hole in the side. I've tried die grinders and chisels. No cigar. Here In Halifax, the elbows can be obtained from Nova Automotive, the shop that rebuilt my engine this summer. http://www.novaautomotive.com. They sell them for $160 and they have them in stock. Nova apparently obtains them from Manifold Warehouse, a Vancouver BC company. http://www.manifoldwarehouse.com/mes/mgr?brch=mani&id=35. They advertise them on their website for $145 in the US and suggest Canadians phone them. They warrantee their products, but perhaps not some of the failures I have seen. As a final comment, I have not experienced any failures on boats equipped with stainless steel mixing elbows. This includes all sorts of engines on everything from fishing boats to large pleasure craft. I have seen the injection fitting get clogged with salt and other deposits, but the rest of the mixing elbow generally seems to be good. Maybe there is a market for a stainless replacement for our perennially failing Yanmar units. My .02! Rich Knowles INDIGO LF38 Halifax, NS.
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