Dante04SRT
Petty Officer 1st Class
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2007
- Messages
- 311
2007 4.3 Mercruiser 2bbl
Last Winter was a bit warmer here in TN than usual. I kept putting off winterizing all the way through December. I went out of town over New Year's and we finally got a hard freeze. Got back into town and checked my engine (hoping I could drain the water as usual) and found my exhaust manifolds had both cracked as a result of ice. I put a space heater in the engine compartment and about 8 hours later I was able to pull the ~5 drains and got the remaining water out.
The boat has sat all Summer long. I knew it wasn't going to be good and had so much else going on that I let it sit. Until today. I know what potential horrors await me but I'll remain optimistic until I see more damage. My hope was to JBWeld the manifolds closed and run the engine. Then I was going to check for external leaks and see how the oil looked after the boat ran on the hose. Welp, the crack in the starboard manifold is too large to fill so I'm now looking at replacing the manifolds before I can continue.
A couple questions - How can I identify which manifolds are the ones for my engine? What are some recommended places to buy these manifolds? Is a manifold replacement something a competent weekend warrior can tackle? What else might I need to swap the manifolds out (gaskets, bolts, misc)?
Like I said, I'm hoping that I caught it before the motor suffered any internal damage but I think swapping the manifolds is my first step.
I welcome any advice.
-Brian
Last Winter was a bit warmer here in TN than usual. I kept putting off winterizing all the way through December. I went out of town over New Year's and we finally got a hard freeze. Got back into town and checked my engine (hoping I could drain the water as usual) and found my exhaust manifolds had both cracked as a result of ice. I put a space heater in the engine compartment and about 8 hours later I was able to pull the ~5 drains and got the remaining water out.
The boat has sat all Summer long. I knew it wasn't going to be good and had so much else going on that I let it sit. Until today. I know what potential horrors await me but I'll remain optimistic until I see more damage. My hope was to JBWeld the manifolds closed and run the engine. Then I was going to check for external leaks and see how the oil looked after the boat ran on the hose. Welp, the crack in the starboard manifold is too large to fill so I'm now looking at replacing the manifolds before I can continue.
A couple questions - How can I identify which manifolds are the ones for my engine? What are some recommended places to buy these manifolds? Is a manifold replacement something a competent weekend warrior can tackle? What else might I need to swap the manifolds out (gaskets, bolts, misc)?
Like I said, I'm hoping that I caught it before the motor suffered any internal damage but I think swapping the manifolds is my first step.
I welcome any advice.
-Brian
