Hi everyone. I've got a big problem and would sure appreciate any and all help. I have a 1997 Larson SEI186, 4.3ltr GL, 2 brl holley carb, Volvo SX Cobra out drive.<br /><br />I took the boat out of storage and ran in the driveway for 15-20 minutes with the motor muffs. No problems, started right up, idled fine and no obvious problems. Took it out for the first time, backed down the landing and when it started it missed and sputtered like crazy. Eventually after trying to start a number of times the motor would not turn over. Thought it was the battery so brought it home and discovered that was not the issue, but discovered a large amount of water in the #5 and #6 cylinders (both rear). Water poured out. Also had some in #6 (front right) just a trickle. Does not look like there is any water in the crankcase. The water that drained out was clean and did not look like river water. Also never been in salt water.<br /><br />So I pulled all the plugs, turned the engine over, sprayed fogging oil in all cylinders and repeated a number of times. Put new plugs in and tried to start just to make sure all was well. I pulled the tether cord thinking this would prevent the coil from burning out. Even though I'm not exactly sure where the water is coming from yet, just wanted to hear it run and circulate some oil. Now the motor will start, but then kills right away. It will continue to run if the key is held to run. I pulled the fuel filter and looked ok, as far as I can tell anyway. I ordered a new one and will pick it up today. Fuel looked ok and smelled like gas, so don't think there is water in the fuel. The water that came out of the cylinders did not smell of gas. I dumped the gas out of the filter and reinstalled. Could this have burned out the fuel pump if it ran dry while it was trying to re-prime?<br /><br />It was winterized properly as I have done over the past years. I live in MN so I make sure it's done correctly. When the oil was drained last season, there were no signs water.<br /><br />I've researched all the post with similar problems, but just wanted to make sure I've got it down. Since there was water on both sides, does the pretty much rule out heads, head gaskets, block? Suppose it could be intake gasket. Would not be likely that both sides went at the same time. But then does not seem likely that both risers and manifolds go bad at the same time either. Why both side at the same time?<br /><br />Should I start with a compression test, followed by removing the exhaust manifold and risers and having them pressure checked?<br /><br />Also what happened to keep the engine from running? Is some sensor grounding out the coil? Is the run side of the coil bad? Ignition switch? <br /><br />Why did everything happen at the same time? Is it possible to over fill the engine when running with motor muffs? The bow is always elevated higher than the stern. Would think the bow would have to be tilted way lower that the stern to get water into the exhaust ports. Doesn't even seem possible while on the trailer.<br /><br />Sorry for such a long post, just wanted to give all the info and questions that are running through my head. Sure appreciate any help. Thanks for reading.
