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  1. Lou C

    Alternator Overcharging

    You need to get a Merc wiring schematic for your engine and find out where the S (sense, which reads system voltage) terminal on the alternator connects to the harness. If that connection is corroded or loose, the alt won't properly sense battery voltage and it will tend to overcharge. If it is...
  2. Lou C

    Power Steering Actuator Part

    ah you have my sympathy, my bolts didn't have locktite, in fact I coated them with OMC triple guard grease, just in case I have to do that hateful job again. can't say about the reversed fittings, have you looked at Volvo parts diagrams for your engine model #? might be one way to tell....
  3. Lou C

    Ethanol free gas for Mercruiser

    I use what we can get here in NY which is E10, but I use at least 89 octane and at gas docks they sell only 93. Have not had a lot of problems with it over the years in the boat but I do use stabilizer. The E10 is more of a problem in small engines and on those I drain the carb bowls at the end...
  4. Lou C

    Engine Flushing - When Boat is in the water

    I’ve had a boat on salt water mooring for close to 20 years and it’s never been flushed during the season. Flushing would help but it’s just not practical. I have replaced the exhaust every 5-7 seasons and I’m not sure that flushing would change that much. The other thing with raw water cooled...
  5. Lou C

    saltwater 5.0 weak points

    I would evaluate what you have depending on budget. I’ve had the experience of running a raw water cooled cast iron GM marine engine for 15+ years in salt & what you’ll see is the exhaust is the first place to suffer corrosion. Beyond that the intakes can rust through under the stat housing, and...
  6. Lou C

    Gear Oil In My Bilge

    Your drive could be sucking in water when it cools which will force gear lube out at the weakest part of the system, which may be the hose to the lube monitor bottle. Also you need to use a mirror or inspection camera to find out where the water leak is coming from, it could be from the elbow to...
  7. Lou C

    Mercruiser 4.3 L Manifolds

    That is true, one thing that people should do is always measure static water line vs manufacturers specs. If you add weight to the stern because you added a bigger swim platform, or went from a V6 to a V8 your elbows could wind up too low. Merc makes spacers for this problem and Volvo makes...
  8. Lou C

    Mercruiser 4.3 L Manifolds

    That’s the problem without some advanced visual imaging techniques you can’t tell if the casting is too thin or not. FWIW, I had 3 sets of the OMC version of the same thing over 15 years in salt water & never had a failure. But, that was replacing them proactively due to salt water use. All you...
  9. Lou C

    Another gear oil thread... 80w-90 vs. 90

    I have used Merc/Quicksilver High Performance gear oil in my Cobra on my previous mechanic’s recommendation and it has kept it shifting like new for 20 years, all salt water use.
  10. Lou C

    Mercruiser 4.3 L Manifolds

    PS that conversion kit I think is about $1200 from Barr. Check out Lighthouse Marine (Partsman) in Riverhead Long Island they do stock them & will ship to you. They are local to me so I just drive out there & save on shipping…
  11. Lou C

    Mercruiser 4.3 L Manifolds

    Barr Marine makes a nice conversion kit for the batwings and is a good deal cheaper than Merc OEM. The key to it is the down pipe adapters that allow you to use the same Y pipe. I did I similar conversion on my OMC 4.3 with the OMC batwings. I used standard OMC/Volvo manifolds & elbows and...
  12. Lou C

    Mercruiser 5.7 EFI Water in Oil

  13. Lou C

    Mercruiser 5.7 EFI Water in Oil

    It’s water passages but only some of them however I’d just put sealer on all the bolts. Pretty much a small block Chevy thing but other engines are like that too. The thing that messed up a lot of engines was confusion when the Vortec engines came out. The torque spec for the intake was like...
  14. Lou C

    Does anyone remember when car & boat engines only had.

    I refuse to: Get rid of my boat with a carb & no electronics Get rid of my 2 stroke yard equipment. I have a bunch: 1998 Toro 2 stroke Suzuki 5 hp snow blower Echo trimmer Echo blower Echo hedge trimmer Husqvarna chain saw All the Echo machines are about 20 years old, excellent machines good...
  15. Lou C

    Another gear oil thread... 80w-90 vs. 90

    Living on an “island” we have plenty of boat supply stores so don’t ever have to go to Walmart lol.
  16. Lou C

    Mercruiser 5.7 EFI Water in Oil

    Do both sides, take heads to a machine shop to check for cracks & maybe do a valve job at the same time. Mine both had cracks from a bad overheat but amusingly it ran fine with normal compression until I started getting water in the oil & a bit of water in 1 cyl, just a trace of water in the...
  17. Lou C

    Mercruiser 5.7 EFI Water in Oil

    This can be tricky to figure out. A leaky intake gasket will put water in the oil vis the cam valley but not in the cylinders. A leaky head gasket can put oil in both. To further complicate things a bad HG doesn’t always show up on a compression test. Mine didn’t! I did the clear hose test...
  18. Lou C

    Tips On Replacing Starter

    The new style PMGR starters are so light that you can hold it up one handed & get the bolts started
  19. Lou C

    Starter install help.

    Try to get down by the starter and take a pic of the wiring on the solenoid. There is a wire that you didn’t mention that goes from the solenoid positive terminal up to the alternator B+ (output) terminal. Is this in place?
  20. Lou C

    Major engine malfunction today and could use advice on next steps

    The wiring issue might be a result of the overheated exhaust manifold melting wires or connections. If the impeller was intact you should really consider inspecting the exhaust system; in salt water it is a regular maintenance item that may require replacement every 5-7 seasons. Sometimes you...
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