115 evinrude taking in water.

[misery]

Hi guys. I have a friend with a 1980 evinrude 115 thats taking water into the bottom port side cylinder. The head gasket is new and the head looks flat. There are some casting flaws in the exhaust ports, but I don't think they lead to water. Is there a way to test anything to check for a cracked block or bad gaskets without dismantling the motor? What are the common problems that could cause a cylinder to take in water? thanks for the help.

 

[boobie]

Common problem is the exhaust cover gaskets.

 

[misery]

hi Boobie. By exhaust cover gaskets do you mean the flat plates on the back of the motor? there is an external one which is completely flat and an internal on that has two raised swoopy looking bumps on the side facing the motor. If these are the ones you mean, somebody had it apart before and resealed it with black silicone on the gaskets. Is it possible that these plates are warped or something?

 

[emdsapmgr]

Those are the plates. Best to get two factory gaskets and use some caramel-colored gasket sealer. Similar to a Permatex product. Someone may have used the silicone, instead using factory gaskets....? Retorque these bolts after you run the engine through 2 or 3 heat/cool cylcles.

 

[misery]

Will do on the factory gaskets and sealer. If it was a cracked block could it be seen without a complete teardown? What other areas should i check for a possible leak? Is it possible to pressure test a powerhead? Thanks for all the help guys.

 

[emdsapmgr]

Pretty unlikely it's a cracked block. On the other hand, it's not unusual for the exhaust gaskets to leak. I'd start there first.

 

[misery]

Thanks for the input guys. I'm gonna get some gaskets and put it back together. It acted up twice in the brief sail that we had it out for, both times were after throttling back and attempting to take off again could water be coming back up the midsection and getting into the exhaust housing and then the cylinder through a bad exhaust gasket? Does anyone have a diagram of how water circulates from the waterpump to the exhaust outlet?

 

[misery]

update, the motor i'm working on is a 1980 evinrude 115 hp e115tlcsa. It has a flat back exhaust cover. Alot of the diagrams I have been looking at show a bubble back. which one should this motor have, and does it make any difference in terms of the water ingestion issue, or in terms of overall performance for that matter?

 

[Bosunsmate]

update, the motor i'm working on is a 1980 evinrude 115 hp e115tlcsa. It has a flat back exhaust cover. Alot of the diagrams I have been looking at show a bubble back. which one should this motor have, and does it make any difference in terms of the water ingestion issue, or in terms of overall performance for that matter?

Nope those flat back leak water too. Make sure you order the flatback gaskets as the others ones are a lot different.
Performance, i think it tunes the exhaust (whatever that means) but i doubt anyone would notice any performance difference unless they had a military grade gps

 

[emdsapmgr]

For some reason, the factory shows the bubble back exhaust covers on their parts diagrams. Most engines made were flatbacks-like yours, but the OMC guys like to depict/show the 135/140 exhaust for some reason. So, the consumer is left to interpret which parts on the parts list apply to their flatback engine. You should be able to figure it out from the parts listing on the right side of the drawing.

 

[Mumfort]

I am the owner of the motor in question. The crankcase is actually full of enough water that when I lowered the out drive and had number 4 on bdc, a significant amount of water ran out of the crankcase into the cylinder then on to the floor, because the head is removed. Possible cracked cylinder below the ports, where we can't see while the piston is in? We are in Canada and get cold winters here. Is it possible water can get trapped in the water jacket to cause the crack, from freezing? I bought this knowing it was taking in water, so I don't know the history of how it was stored, etc. thanks.

 

[Bosunsmate]

Yes possible but water normally finds its way out
You could drop the lu and hook a hose up to the intake and then with the heads back on ( old gasket will do) see if you can see where the waters coming in. Plug up the exhaust port etc until you narrow it down.
You will need to get on to this quick as if you dont get it running again soon with oil lubing the bearings and faces itl pit up

 

[emdsapmgr]

As soon as the outboard is taken out of the water, typically, all the powerhead water in the block will drain out of the lower unit. Including any water in the water passages by the cylinders. If there is water retained/trapped inside the cyl combustion chambers, it won't drain unless the intake/exhaust ports are open. If the flywheel were rotated by hand a few times last fall, likely most of the water would have exited the combustion chamber area.

 

[Mumfort]

Well, we tried without much success again tonight. Long story short, head and deck are both flat, installed new head gasket and exhaust gaskets. Used shlack on exhaust gaskets. It's still getting water in number 4 cylinder. I guess the next step is to remove the motor and tear it down. I've thought about trying water glass, I've used it on automotive blocks before and had success. Has anyone ever tried circulating that through an outboard to seal a leak?

 

[emdsapmgr]

Before you go to the effort of removing the powerhead: take the inner exhaust manifold off again. Check it for possible porosity holes in the casting. I've seen them have pinholes which leak water through that cover-into the exhaust chest and cause the problems you are having. You can also lay the inner cover flat on a table, then layer some water on top of it-see if any leaks thru to the other side. Or shine a light on the back of the cover and see if you can see light thru it. Any shop that weld aluminum can weld any hole up for cheap.

 

[Mumfort]

I've checked that numerous times thinking I missed something. There's not a pit, pour, or scratch on it.

 

[Mumfort]

No Title

Well, I got to the bottom of it. The block is cracked. I guess I'm on the market for another block. The crack in the pic carries no water, but the other end of it is allowing water into the bolt hole for the crankcase bolt, and there is a tiny crack in the block below the sleeve in number 4 cylinder. I filled the block and pressurized it to find it. I tried to upload a video, but it won't let me.

 

[emdsapmgr]

A very, very unusual failure. Possible freeze damage during winter storage.