How often does your aftercooler require maintenance?

[Storm]

According to Caterpillar, 3196 and C12 aftercoolers need to be removed, cleaned, tested, and reinstalled every 1,000 hours or about 10,800 gallons of fuel. Cat reps claim aftercooler core replacement is "no major intrusion of the engine or in most cases of the boat itself."

In March of 2000 Caterpillar replaced the aluminum aftercooler adapters on its 3196/C12 engines with bronze adapters because the aluminum adapters were corroding and seizing to the cooling tubes or to the core. In some instances, the aluminum adapters would crumble when removed.

I purchased my 3196 engine in February 2000. The aluminum adapters were left on my engine unchecked until October 2002 (almost three years). When asked about a proactive response to the problematic aluminum adapters, Cat rep Edgar Sandoval replied, "When we take care of the core, we will take care of the adapters. I would not want to go into these engines twice."

If aftercooler core replacement is "no major intrusion of the engine," why would a Cat rep suggest that he "would not want to go into the engine twice"? That seems to be a rather contradictory statement. Why did Cat wait almost three years to replace my defective aluminum adapters when the company was aware that failed adapters had the potential to cause catastrophic engine failure?

My question to forum members is, how often does your engine manufacturer require you, as part of your engine's routine maintenance, to remove and reinstall the aftercooler? The response I typically receive is never. I'd like to hear from anyone who is required to periodically service the aftercooler on their engine as scheduled maintenance.

I tried to ask this question on Caterpillar's marine forum. I see the reputable company has not only deleted my previous posts but also cancelled my account so that I can no longer post about my engine issues.

Storm