1988 Sea Ray - Heating and Idling Problems

[mrv1976]

Hi,

I'm a newbie to the boating world and just bought my first boat. It's a 1988 Sea Ray with a Mercruiser 350 V8 5.7 MCM I/O engine. To give a brief history, the boat was sitting for over 3 years. Also, the gas tank is a 45 gallon capacity and probably had about 30 gallons sitting in it. I filled up the remaining 15 gallons and put a gallon of gas treatment in it. I started the boat at home with the hose running on the engine and it started right up.

I was all excited and took the boat to the lake this weekend and here's the problems I ran into.

1. The boat started up after 5-6 attempts and immediately noticed when I was going at wake speed the oil temperature spiked to 225 degrees, all the way to the end. Then right after I go into open water and started going fast, it went back to normal and was at 145 degrees. The engine sounded really strong, it also had 199hrs total. Someone told me it could be the water pump, but looking for any advice someone suggests.

2. The next problem I was having is after it ran for a while, then I stopped the engine then tried starting it back up, it took probably 20 attempts to get the engine started again, it almost sounded like it was flooded. Also, when I was trolling and coming back into shore and real low speeds, it would keep dying on me.

I really appreciate any advice someone could give me.

Thanks,

 

[Bondo]

Re: 1988 Sea Ray - Heating and Idling Problems

the boat was sitting for over 3 years. Also, the gas tank is a 45 gallon capacity and probably had about 30 gallons sitting in it.

A Full Tune Up,+ probably a Carb Rebuild for the Motor,.....
And,........
That Gas is probably everything But gas,....... Check,+ Change the Fuel Filters,+ tell Us what you Find........

1. The boat started up after 5-6 attempts and immediately noticed when I was going at wake speed the oil temperature spiked to 225 degrees, all the way to the end.

It's no doubt Way Overdue for an Impeller,+ possibly the Housing.........

 

[Haut Medoc]

Re: 1988 Sea Ray - Heating and Idling Problems

Hi,

I'm a newbie to the boating world and just bought my first boat. It's a 1988 Sea Ray with a Mercruiser 350 V8 5.7 MCM I/O engine. To give a brief history, the boat was sitting for over 3 years. Also, the gas tank is a 45 gallon capacity and probably had about 30 gallons sitting in it. I filled up the remaining 15 gallons and put a gallon of gas treatment in it. I started the boat at home with the hose running on the engine and it started right up.

I was all excited and took the boat to the lake this weekend and here's the problems I ran into.

1. The boat started up after 5-6 attempts and immediately noticed when I was going at wake speed the oil temperature spiked to 225 degrees, all the way to the end. Then right after I go into open water and started going fast, it went back to normal and was at 145 degrees. The engine sounded really strong, it also had 199hrs total. Someone told me it could be the water pump, but looking for any advice someone suggests.
Change your raw water impeller.....

2. The next problem I was having is after it ran for a while, then I stopped the engine then tried starting it back up, it took probably 20 attempts to get the engine started again, it almost sounded like it was flooded. Also, when I was trolling and coming back into shore and real low speeds, it would keep dying on me.
Check to see if your choke is operating properly....
Change your water separating fuel filter, as I'm sure you have some condensation in your tank.....

I really appreciate any advice someone could give me.

Thanks,

Welcome to iboats......

 

[mrv1976]

Re: 1988 Sea Ray - Heating and Idling Problems

Thanks for the response. Should I remove all the gas in there? Also when you say a full tune, could you specify what that entails.

Thanks again.

 

[orion25]

Re: 1988 Sea Ray - Heating and Idling Problems

Thanks for the response. Should I remove all the gas in there? Also when you say a full tune, could you specify what that entails.

Thanks again.

pretty much like a car. Plugs, wires, oil change, replace fuel & oil filters, check/adjust timing, check/replace distributor, etc. You pretty much have a car engine in the boat but it takes a LOT more abuse than an engine in a car.

While you are at it, change the outdrive oil and the impeller. If you change most general replacement parts you will know when they were replaced and can set up a "schedule" for their replacement in the future...........

Oh, yeah, get that old gas out of there and put in a full tank of a name brand gasoline. I only say name brand because they usually have better detergents in them. I would add some Seafoam as well but there are those out there that would disagree with me.

 

[Haut Medoc]

Re: 1988 Sea Ray - Heating and Idling Problems

Thanks for the response. Should I remove all the gas in there? Also when you say a full tune, could you specify what that entails.

Thanks again.

If you have a safe, environmental way to get rid of it then do so....
That's alot of gas to get rid of......
What I have done is get some of the clear 5 gallon water bottles & put the boat on an angle so that everything would drain towards where the pick up is.....
Then I pulled the pick up & siphoned ten gallons at a time.......
The crap & water will sink.....
Then skim the good stuff off of the top....
Make sure what you are skimming is still good by smell....
I just added ten gallons of the siphoned stuff at a time to my '85 suburban which burns gas like a B-29.....
It was gone quick & I had less than a gallon of garbage to dispose of from 40 gallons.......