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  1. Lou C

    Buying a used boat anxiety-talk me down.

    No way I'd put 9 people on a 20' boat, that's going to take something like a pontoon boat to be comfortable. My 20' is bigger than modern "20'ers" but more than 5 people is too many in my opinion. As far as condition, and potential problems, if the boat has a carpeted plywood deck forget it...
  2. Lou C

    Nightmare

    Great glad you had a good outcome, I was not surprised by the low compression test results because when I looked back at your vid of the engine running with the fuel pressure and vacuum gauges hooked up, your idle vacuum reading was really low, like 12-10 inches of mecury, should be close to 18...
  3. Lou C

    Help with water in oil

    I changed my thermostat yesterday and drained the motor down enough to dry out & check the water passage in the intake manifold. It is surprisingly solid and this is the original intake reused when I replaced the heads 4 years ago. Now used in salt close to 20 years and never flushed during the...
  4. Lou C

    Impeller housing overheating

    I don’t think that fuel is old enough to cause a backfire. Backfires (thru the carb) can be caused by a lean fuel mix and perhaps an intake valve hanging open. Keep in mind these engines came with a Prestolite points distributor and Rochester 2 or 4 bbl carbs and both require maintenance for...
  5. Lou C

    2000 Four Winns H170 with Volvo 3.0 - Engine removal necessary?

    What you’re dealing with is very common, unfortunately boat builders don’t give a damn about engine access and in my opinion it’s gotten worse with later designs not better. To deal with your starter issue the rear seat has to come out. Then you’d probably had adequate access to the starter...
  6. Lou C

    Trailer Tires

    Another option is the LT used on delivery vans, these are made by European manufacturers and might be better quality than typical ST trailer tires
  7. Lou C

    Help with water in oil

    All that rust, is why if I ever replace the engine in this one it has to have closed cooling. I just hate the idea of running raw water through a nice new cast iron engine! Plus, sticky thermostats and cold running are a more or less chronic problem I've had with raw water cooling.
  8. Lou C

    Help with water in oil

    You can tell better after you get the old gaskets off and really clean it up. Looks like it was used in salt water. Here's mine. At this point it was used in salt about 15 seasons worth.
  9. Lou C

    fuel pump frustration

    The extra bolt hole trick doesn't work for the 4.3s, so I used the big glob of grease trick on mine, Evinrude triple guard to be exact. While this is not a "fun" job, I still prefer a mechanical pump to electric pumps at least for carbs, for reliability. Another thing that helps is to rotate the...
  10. Lou C

    Trailer Tires

    Where did you get this from? Just curious because based on bias ply construction it seems unlikely
  11. Lou C

    Head gasket? Cracked head?

    If the water left in the intake froze & cracked the intake and then leaked out during a thaw that water would go right into the cam valley under the intake manifold not into the cyls. Some water would wind up in the motor oil because of this but not in the cyls. Water gets in the cyls from a...
  12. Lou C

    Head gasket? Cracked head?

    I agree with doing the air pressure test at least because that the way you will be able to find out how the water got in the cyls. And that looks like rusty water not antifreeze. Based on how you said you winterized (drain and back fill), the only ways I can imagine that water got in the cyls...
  13. Lou C

    Engine upgrade

    Agreed the 4.3 is perfect for an 18 foot boat. These boats came with a points distributor that works fine but needs to be maintained. This includes replacing & adjusting the points and cap & rotor and also lubing the mechanical advance weights so they don’t seize up. Then there’s the fuel...
  14. Lou C

    5.7 Volvo Penta Overheating at Idle

    You're welcome! hope you can get at it without too much struggling.
  15. Lou C

    Can someone PLEASE tell me which bellows are which? taking on some water...

    Kermit Weeks
  16. Lou C

    5.7 Volvo Penta Overheating at Idle

    Here's a pic of the back side of the engine, you can see the PS cooler there, the hose runs from there to the transom mount, its a very tight spot, depends on how your boat is set up, I can get at it on my boat but I have to remove an access panel above the rear of the engine. In the second pic...
  17. Lou C

    Help with water in oil

    Well while you never know, I think cracked blocks are rare except from improper winterization. My boat suffered a bad overheat in 2013, it ran fine nearly 3 more seasons then blew both head gaskets in August of 2016. When I took it apart, I had the heads checked, they found cracks in 2 cyls...
  18. Lou C

    Are newer 4 cycles vastly improved?

    Same thing for me with the Cobra drive. Nothing wrong with it, now 33 years old. It’s held up great in a tough salt water environment. But most places can’t or won’t work on them. I have the factory manuals, shift cable set up tools, and a LOT of spare parts (complete transom mount, spare trim...
  19. Lou C

    Demise of Big Outboards Is Forecast

    Interesting. Now it’s completely reversed! However the criticism of large outboard fuel consumption could have been solved with larger built in fuel tanks. Certainly simpler than dealing with the designed in headaches of I/Os!
  20. Lou C

    1993 5.0 Cobra EFI Alternator/Electrical Question

    These older OMCs had some quirks in the wiring harness. I had 2 in mine: The alt had the separate excite & sense terminals. Issues: while volt meter indicated typical readings the voltage at certain rpms surged up and down. Eventually replaced the alt with an ARCO and learned from ARCO marine...
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