TwoBallScrewBall
Lieutenant Commander
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2003
- Messages
- 1,695
Hi all.<br /><br />Been boating all my life but just got my first boat. Up the street from me was for sale a 1988 Bayliner 1950 capri. "Runs Excellent" it says on the windshield. So I go look at it, vinyl is in bad shape up front but other than that it's looking good for an '88. Floor is solid, no cracks in glass, etc. So we start up the 3.0 I/O and it cranks right over and runs fine. I picked it up with the trailer for $1200. <br /><br />The heat exchanger for the closed loop cooling system leaked so i fixed it with some JB weld. I also had doubts about the impeller since when we test ran it there was no water, but I am seeing flow coming from the hose going to the mainfold so I figure it's fine.<br /><br />This Saturday was the maiden voyage. I drag it over to a local marina and drop it in no problem. Tie it up and let it idle for a while, seems OK so I head out up the creek. I get about 1000 feet and the temp is at 250 so I turn around and head back. 2 hours later I have a new impeller and water pump housing installed and am back in the water. A friend of mine shows up with his girl and comes along, so now it's the four of us including my wife. We start out again and now the temp is staying right at 160-180. Nice. <br /><br />We idle out through the creek no wake zone and it seems great. A few little gooses of the throttle show that the engine responds well. So we finally clear the no wake zone and I give it about 1/2 throttle to plane out. I'm hearing this slight knocking noise now. My brain is saying "rod knock, better go back in" but my hands are saying "first day out, already September, lets go". Everyone on board agrees. So I give it full throttle. There was not much of a difference in power going from 1/2 to full so I am getting more worried now. Still running along good though. Then the not-so-loud knock quickly and violently turns into the loudest most horrible engine noise I've ever heard. I throttle back and it's running rough now. Yup, the rod snapped. Time to head back. So we swing around and start putting back to the dock. Engine bay is still dry at this point. About 1/2 way in at 1500 rpm or so I decide to give it just a little more gas, and immediately hear something go "BANG KA CHING CLANG CLANG BANG" in the engine. Now she's really shaking. I mean bad, the side windows I was sure were going to just fall out. I set the throttle to hold just about 1200 rpm and make it back into the creek. <br /><br />At this point the engine temp is rising quick, so I'm sure I've punctured a water jacket or something, and the ehgine bay is starting to smoke. I take a quick look and there is oil everywhere. I mean everywhere. And I see some green swirlies in the mix as I suspected. Now the temp guage is at 250+ and the engine dies, we're floating in the channel. My buddy grabs the paddle and starts moving us along at about 0.5MPH. <br /><br />I wait about 5 minutes and try again, the engine roars to life. I slam her into forward and we continue along, a bit faster than we should be but still under 10mph. Any slower and she starts shaking and we're only about 1/4 mile from the ramp so I just want to make it back. At this point this little 4 cylinder is rumbling like a big block, and smoking like no engine should ever smoke. We make it back to the dock, I kill the engine about 200 feet out and drift up to the dock for fear that all this smoking oil and the off-the-guage engine temp will spark a huge fire. We make it back. I pull the boat and have a better look. There is a 4" wide hole on the port side of the block at the #4 journal. Peeking in the hole I can see the gauged-up crank journal, no rod, end cap or bearing anywhere to be found. <br /><br />The good news is that the boat didn't catch fire, floats, and the outdrive still works. Bad news is I now have a new winter project, find and replace the 3.0. <br /><br />Not so much a stupid human trick, but I figured this was the best place for the story. <br /><br />Check out these links for the pics of the aftermath:<br /><br />
<br /><br />
Since this started out not as a project boat and you have had it out boy will you have a bad case of the boating blues by time season rolls around again. Good Luck!