1990 Johnson V-6 200 Repeat power head base gasket blow out. J200STLESE

[vistacruiser]

Hi friends, last season and now again this year, I've seen a failed base gasket my first time out with the boat. It's a '90 3 liter V-6 looper, GT200 Johnson I've had for 5 years. When the gasket blows, hot water spits out the starboard side into the lower cowl. I don't see exhaust or steam coming out, just heated cooling water. I replaced the blown gasket immediately last year, thoroughly cleaning the surfaces and torquing bolts, and did not see any reason for the failure at the time. After repairs, no further problems the rest of the season. Now it's happened again the first time out this year and I am a little concerned. I live in Wisconsin, and I'm reasonably sure the boat has seen nothing but fresh water. But my winter storage allows for freezing temps, and so I assume ice is whats pushing the gasket out of place. In the center of my photo you can see the gasket protruding from the base of the P/H allowing heated cooling water to spit out into the lower cowl.

So, if it is water freezing inside during storage, is there a way to prevent this in the future? Just below the gasket there is a small pipe plug, should I open it to drain out this water before storage? Maybe blow some compressed air in there to help get all the water out?

Please inform me if there is something I am missing here before I repeat this repair/fail over again.

 

[vistacruiser]

This year I still ran the motor after discovering the blown gasket, we were a long way from home and it didn't seem to hurt anything. Some water collects in the cowl before running out, but not high enough to get sucked into the carbs. Funny thing is, I always start it up on the hose and look for water and fuel leaks before going out the first trip of the season, nothing showed up until it was in the water, same as last year.

 

[vistacruiser]

Am I on track with the pipe plug to remove water before storage? I've never had to do this before.

 

[vistacruiser]

Chirp, chirp....
I'm going to fill the gap with J-B weld and run it. An historical OMC boating "first".