Advise on starting a engine that has been sitting for unknown amount of time

[Blentz17]

Alright guys I needs some advice, I recently acquired a boat with a Mercruiser 488 that has sat up for an unknown amount of time, the engine itself looks pretty good, however, it is dry, no coolant or no power steering fluid. The did stick shows a little milk which I’m hoping is nothing more than condensation from sitting outside for years.

I pulled the plugs a couple of days ago and pumped some Marval into the cylinders, I’m going to change the spark plugs today, but aside from that what would be the proper procedure for starting this motor. Should I fill the coolant, power steering fluid and then attempt to change the oil prior to starting the boat or should I let it run for a bit with the milk to heat it up and then change it?

I was thinking of running motor flush through the motor before doing the initial oil change..

Thoughts on this

 

[Scott Danforth]

I moved your thread to the proper Mercruiser forum

Alright guys I needs some advice, I recently acquired a boat with a Mercruiser 488 that has sat up for an unknown amount of time, the engine itself looks pretty good, however, it is dry, no coolant or no power steering fluid. The did stick shows a little milk which I’m hoping is nothing more than condensation from sitting outside for years.

I pulled the plugs a couple of days ago and pumped some Marval into the cylinders,

Is it stuck? Lack of coolant is concerning

With the 3.7 488 motor, you have a bit of work if it's been sitting before you attempt to stat

Pressure test water jacket (do this first)
Change oil
Pull drive
New impeller
Check alignment
Check gimbal bearing
Check u-joints
Service points
Inspect/clean/replace plugs
Clean fuel tank
Clean /rebuild carb
Replace fuel filter
Test anti siphon valve
Fill fluids

Then go about starting it

You can run it from a remote tank initially and clean the tank after you get everything else sorted

 

[alldodge]

I think what your doing is good, don't know if the motor is rusted up or anything else

With plugs out see if the starter will crank it over

If it will crank over then see if it will start using a gas can.

If it starts and runs do the complete run thru as Scott mentioned