I have a 1978 Boston Whaler with an OMC package. Up until this week its ran great.
I took it out a couple weeks ago after having run in at my house for about 45 minutes at high RPMs. It ran perfect. Coolant levels were normal. Oil was fresh and still is. Temperature was low it hadnt been running long enough to get up too high. Everything was running great. I launched still no problem. We slowly worked away from the launch, and then I hit the gas. We got up on plane, and about 1 minute later the engine died. A slight hiss occurred as it died, as I though a coolant line may have split (it was that type of noise). I pulled the engine cover and everything looked clean. So, I tried to crank it, but it would only slowly turn (it acted as if my battery was about dead and it only had enough juice to make it crank, but not enough to actually turn over). I did this about 5 or 6 times before it stopped, permanently. Now I cant get the crank shaft to turn at all, even with an impact wrench. Its locked up.
I pulled the fuel pump out and felt the timing chain. Its really loose, so I have an outside hope that it jumped off the teeth and jammed the engine? That would be an easy fix. But, more than likely the thing probably seized? I pulled the push rods and tested the top side of the engine everything seems fine. Therefore, its something in the lower end and the whole thing will likely need to be rebuilt. Im a rookie with this stuff, but Ive been reading my manual and this seems to be the most likely situation?
Has anyone heard of a situation like this? Does it sound common? Assuming its toast, is the engine relatively easy to remove?
Id love to do the work myself to learn a bit more about the boat, but I dont want to get in over my head.
Thanks for the help!
Joe
I took it out a couple weeks ago after having run in at my house for about 45 minutes at high RPMs. It ran perfect. Coolant levels were normal. Oil was fresh and still is. Temperature was low it hadnt been running long enough to get up too high. Everything was running great. I launched still no problem. We slowly worked away from the launch, and then I hit the gas. We got up on plane, and about 1 minute later the engine died. A slight hiss occurred as it died, as I though a coolant line may have split (it was that type of noise). I pulled the engine cover and everything looked clean. So, I tried to crank it, but it would only slowly turn (it acted as if my battery was about dead and it only had enough juice to make it crank, but not enough to actually turn over). I did this about 5 or 6 times before it stopped, permanently. Now I cant get the crank shaft to turn at all, even with an impact wrench. Its locked up.
I pulled the fuel pump out and felt the timing chain. Its really loose, so I have an outside hope that it jumped off the teeth and jammed the engine? That would be an easy fix. But, more than likely the thing probably seized? I pulled the push rods and tested the top side of the engine everything seems fine. Therefore, its something in the lower end and the whole thing will likely need to be rebuilt. Im a rookie with this stuff, but Ive been reading my manual and this seems to be the most likely situation?
Has anyone heard of a situation like this? Does it sound common? Assuming its toast, is the engine relatively easy to remove?
Id love to do the work myself to learn a bit more about the boat, but I dont want to get in over my head.
Thanks for the help!
Joe
