1993 Mercruiser 3.0 new to me, with major problems, Not Running, Water mixed with oil

[saltybutwet]

Re: 1993 Mercruiser 3.0 new to me, with major problems, Not Running, Water mixed with

With air you'll have to figure out a way to seal off where the riser bolts to the manifold, can be done, but not easy. With acetone, just fill'er up and watch for leaks. Acetone isn't that expensive, $15-20 for a gallon isn't too bad in the grand scheme of getting the engine running again. With that amount of water in the oil (looks pretty diluted to me) it may not be the manifold, but I'd rather verify if is/isn't the manifold. If not the manifold, you're looking at the head or block :faint2:

Re-torquing the head is suggested after the first head/cool cycle, and maybe that would seal up a leaky head gasket, worth a try I guess....

thanks for the info...

 

[saltybutwet]

Re: 1993 Mercruiser 3.0 new to me, with major problems, Not Running, Water mixed with

I thought I would run my own dye test today, on the water jackets of the head, and block...with manifold removed

I took a 32oz cup of water and added 1 full tube of Dark Green food coloring dye, mixed it up, and poured it into the t- stat hose. I then pressurized the system with 20 psi and after about 20 minutes, I drained the engine oil

here is what I found in the engine oil...now I have to figure out " Head or Block"

 

[aerobat]

Re: 1993 Mercruiser 3.0 new to me, with major problems, Not Running, Water mixed with

great testing !

like i wrote you some days ago you can exclude the manifold for the main reason on this engine since here the only way to intrude water inside the engine through the manifold would be via the cylinders - and its too much water in too short time for this.

you cannot say for sure if its the head or the block , my best guess : the head. if i were you and money is tight i would look for an used ( but verified ) head and retest. if it runs start a party , if you have water even with the new head you know its the block.

but even in this case you have some budget options :

-resell the head and look for an used longblock
-keep the head and look for a short block
-look for a raw shortblock and put your crankshaft, pistons, rods etc in. ( if you have serious knowledge )

what is confusing - you say you pressurized the system and it hold the air for a night , that statement does not fit your last test ...

good luck, keep on going !

 

[saltybutwet]

Re: 1993 Mercruiser 3.0 new to me, with major problems, Not Running, Water mixed with

great testing !

like i wrote you some days ago you can exclude the manifold for the main reason on this engine since here the only way to intrude water inside the engine through the manifold would be via the cylinders - and its too much water in too short time for this.

you cannot say for sure if its the head or the block , my best guess : the head. if i were you and money is tight i would look for an used ( but verified ) head and retest. if it runs start a party , if you have water even with the new head you know its the block.

but even in this case you have some budget options :

-resell the head and look for an used longblock
-keep the head and look for a short block
-look for a raw shortblock and put your crankshaft, pistons, rods etc in. ( if you have serious knowledge )

what is confusing - you say you pressurized the system and it hold the air for a night , that statement does not fit your last test ...

good luck, keep on going !

I know that statement was not correct, my gauge was broken, so i bought this certified psi gauge, soooo now i know pressure is being lost

I am still loosing pressure, somewhere, per the new gauge
And thanks for the info

 

[wrench 3]

Re: 1993 Mercruiser 3.0 new to me, with major problems, Not Running, Water mixed with

Way back when, it was common practice to pressure test cylinder heads (magnafluxing doesn't cover all the places you need to check for freeze damage). Maybe you could find a machine shop that still has the plates for checking the old Chevy 2 engines.

 

[saltybutwet]

Re: 1993 Mercruiser 3.0 new to me, with major problems, Not Running, Water mixed with

Way back when, it was common practice to pressure test cylinder heads (magnafluxing doesn't cover all the places you need to check for freeze damage). Maybe you could find a machine shop that still has the plates for checking the old Chevy 2 engines.

I have seen that magnafluxing being done on youtube, seams like pressure testing would do a better job at finding Crack!
Chevy 2 engines? they had this type of head?
I see some still running around

 

[wrench 3]

Re: 1993 Mercruiser 3.0 new to me, with major problems, Not Running, Water mixed with

Magnaflux is great for overheating damage were you're only worried about the bottom of the head. But it gets a little hard when checking the passages.
That engine started off as the 153 cid and 194 cid Chevy 2 engine in the mid 60s. They upped the displacement but I doubt that they changed the head bolt pattern. As far as I know the only version to make it into the 90s was the 153 as the 2.5L Teck 4.

 

[saltybutwet]

Re: 1993 Mercruiser 3.0 new to me, with major problems, Not Running, Water mixed with

Hi!
thought I would update this thread with my next test...I would appreciate your opinions on this testing method. I am not sure if it will work.... If it does, I will know if I have an internal cracked block? Then I will test the head, and have an idea for that...

I am testing the engine block water jackets. I hope this works...

I removed the upper water pump hose from the t-stat housing "Red Arrow"
I then got approximately 1 3/4 gallons of water, dyed it " Dark Blue".

I then poured it into the engine block via the water pump hose, " Blue Arrow pointing to Blue Water I put In The Hose", until the hose filled within about 3'' from the top.

I then put the hose back on the t-stat housing, and barely tightened the clamp.

Now my theory is...with that amount of " Dark Blue" water, and the amount of pressure it has in the entire block, I should know if I have a cracked block, when I remove the oil drain plug....I hope I don't see any " Dark Blue" water pour out of that opening...keeping my fingers crossedXXXXXX on this one

 

[wrench 3]

Re: 1993 Mercruiser 3.0 new to me, with major problems, Not Running, Water mixed with

I assume your putting pressure on the system the same way as the air pressure test?

 

[saltybutwet]

Re: 1993 Mercruiser 3.0 new to me, with major problems, Not Running, Water mixed with

I assume your putting pressure on the system the same way as the air pressure test?

no pressure this time...if my calculations are correct I have 16.43 lbs of pressure inside the water jackets of the block

 

[wrench 3]

Re: 1993 Mercruiser 3.0 new to me, with major problems, Not Running, Water mixed with

You may have 16.43 lbs of weight but that is spread over the entire inside of the block and that decreases the higher up the block you get. Without applying pressure I don't believe the test will be very conclusive.

 

[saltybutwet]

Re: 1993 Mercruiser 3.0 new to me, with major problems, Not Running, Water mixed with

You may have 16.43 lbs of weight but that is spread over the entire inside of the block and that decreases the higher up the block you get. Without applying pressure I don't believe the test will be very conclusive.

Wrench3... you may be correct, and if I don't get results from my liquid pressure test. I will add " AIR PRESSURE" lol then we will see what she is made of..lol

 

[wrench 3]

Re: 1993 Mercruiser 3.0 new to me, with major problems, Not Running, Water mixed with

Good Luck

 

[saltybutwet]

Re: 1993 Mercruiser 3.0 new to me, with major problems, Not Running, Water mixed with

Good Luck

thank you! and as usual I appreciate your input. I hope you understand that I do things the way I do, because it is the only way I know. It may not be the way Professional mechanics do troubleshooting, but for me, by myself no one else in my family is interested in mechanics at all...so I go it alone...

thanks again

 

[saltybutwet]

Re: 1993 Mercruiser 3.0 new to me, with major problems, Not Running, Water mixed with

ok, gurus....I let the dark blue dyed water sit in the block for a couple of days. I finally got around to seeing if I had any amount of dyed water in the oil pan...I did not have any in the oil pan.

I then decided to remove the head, even though I just put a new head gasket on. I wanted to pressure test the head anyways, and while it is off, I can look at the new used gasket, maybe some clues there also....
Well, here are a few pics of what I saw...once I removed the head, nearly every threaded hole that the head bolts go into, was weeping, or even more than weeping. The gasket was really wet around those holes...all the areas the gasket that look like they are wet, well they are. I did use permatex Thread Sealant with PTFE...was that not correct to use for the head bolts, water is still in the block, not sure if you can see it in the threaded head bolt holes, but they are full to the top
I would like opinions please, and again thanks!

 

[wrench 3]

Re: 1993 Mercruiser 3.0 new to me, with major problems, Not Running, Water mixed with

It looks like the water level in the bolt holes and the water jacket are about the same. I would suspect that the water around the bolt holes came up with the bolts when they were removed.

 

[saltybutwet]

Re: 1993 Mercruiser 3.0 new to me, with major problems, Not Running, Water mixed with

It looks like the water level in the bolt holes and the water jacket are about the same. I would suspect that the water around the bolt holes came up with the bolts when they were removed.

that makes logical sense, now off to have the head checked by the machine shop....thanks again for your input

 

[saltybutwet]

Re: 1993 Mercruiser 3.0 new to me, with major problems, Not Running, Water mixed with

Well, it took me a long time....but I have just determined I have an internal crack in the block....I eliminated the head as the problem, pressure tested both separately

But on the other hand, I have learned a lot about this Mercruiser, thanks to all the input I have received from this forum.

I am going to relax, do some yard work, take the wife out to dinner, and work on other parts of the boat, while I same for an engine...

thanks to all for the help....I will close this thread now because I accomplished what I set out to do...

 

[wrench 3]

Re: 1993 Mercruiser 3.0 new to me, with major problems, Not Running, Water mixed with

We've been going so long on this thread that I feel like I should say good by. so, Good By and I hope you make out OK on another engine.

 

[saltybutwet]

Re: 1993 Mercruiser 3.0 new to me, with major problems, Not Running, Water mixed with

We've been going so long on this thread that I feel like I should say good by. so, Good By and I hope you make out OK on another engine.

me too...thanks for taking the time to respond