I'm so upset.

[VIP-Soto]

I purchased a 98 VIP. Had it tuned up and now its overheating. 4.3 Merc.

Mechanic says half the block is overheating. So he opened up the manifold to se what might be clogging it up. He said everything is clean. What gives?

Now he said the next step is to open op the heads.

I spoke with the owner and he said if I don't want the boat, I can return it. But he made it seem like the boat shouldn't have any issues and he is going to take it to his mechanic and if that mechanic feels that the problem was my fault, he's going to hold me responsible.

I purchased this boat on craigslist and his advert said it was ready to hit the lake.

Click on the link below and read the issues it gave me the first day on the lake.

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=345360

 

[VIP-Soto]

Re: I'm so upset.

Well that is what the mechanic tested today. He said the water flow and cleanliness looks good. He is thinking its a deeper issue.

He mentioned the hotter side was getting "too" hot.

 

[180shabah]

Re: I'm so upset.

Ditto - check waterflow first

Can we assume your next boat will not be purchased without a sea trial?

 

[VIP-Soto]

Re: I'm so upset.

Well he let me take it on my own and I did. It didn't run run as the boat had been setting up for a while. I thought it just needed a tune up and now I found out it needed more.

 

[Don S]

Re: I'm so upset.

Mechanic says half the block is overheating.

What the heck does that mean? Top have vs. bottom half? Left side or right side.
Is your mechanic a certified marine mechanic, or just a friend of a friend of a friend that once owned a boat and put spark plugs in it once.

Between the two theads, I see nothing that mentions overheat or impeller. Tuneups do NOT have anything thing to do with the cooling system, nor is looking for an over heat a part of a tuneup.
Did you ever run the engine without water hooked up on muffs?
Your $700 tuneup also included a problem with the shifting. How much was that and what was the problem.

 

[ziggy]

Re: I'm so upset.

As to overheating, when was the raw water pump last serviced?

i'd think that's a real good question for the overheat part. i've been lead to believe that the impeller is the first thing ya check for any overheat condition.
as for the tune up. from your other thread ya said ya only got 3k rpm out of it. have ya gone to the adults only sticky and checked out some of the causes of not being able to reach wot.... a tune up is one of the suggested things to do. got a book on it. i look at my book for a tune up and it's a 1975 plain and simple engine. bet your's ain't so plain and simple. tune up procedures will be in the book.... along with every other procedure necessary to service your engine...

i think i'd ditch yer mech. sounds like he wants to take your engine apart which may not be necessary.... diagnosis is the ticket prior to taking things apart.. gennerally..

 

[VIP-Soto]

Re: I'm so upset.

Mechanic is Holliday Marine out of Huffman Texas. I was referred to him. Seemed like an honest guy.

The tune up consisted of wires, plugs, cap, rotor, fluids, carb rebuild, etc. I didn't know the boat was overheating when I took it for test drive. I didn't do much since is wasn't reving high enough to have fun.

 

[Showtime22]

Re: I'm so upset.

I think the impeller is damaged in the outdrive. Run the engine on muffs. Breifly loosen a water hose on the engine and check to see if you are getting good flow. You could check more than one hose.

 

[VIP-Soto]

Re: I'm so upset.

Is that an expensive problem?

 

[Showtime22]

Re: I'm so upset.

The impeller costs like 48 bucks and goes in the lower unit. To replace it you remove the lower unit and remove a plastic housing. The impeller is rubber and only last so long. A shop may charge 300 bucks for the fix but it's something many people do on there own. Sitting for a few years could harden it and when the motor started again it could shred even if water was hooked to it, but they shred within 30 seconds if started with out earmuffs. The impeller could be partially torn too making the engine some what cool but not enough run cool.

 

[VIP-Soto]

Re: I'm so upset.

What does the impeller do?

 

[diehard]

Re: I'm so upset.

What does the impeller do?

it pumps water from the pond to your engine very important

 

[Showtime22]

Re: I'm so upset.

The impeller sucks in water thru the vents in the side of the lower unit. The water comes thru the transom and into the engine via black rubber hose connected with a hose clamp. There is probably a water pump that is similar to a cars water pump on the engine too that circulates the water. I'm not a 4.3 guy.

Here is a pic and another pic of the plastic housing.

 

[45Auto]

Re: I'm so upset.

Did they do a compression test on the engine? Do you have the compression numbers?

 

[VIP-Soto]

Re: I'm so upset.

He mentioned the compression was beautiful.

 

[Peter1950]

Re: I'm so upset.

With this symptom I can't believe the shop didn't check or change the impellor long before splitting the engine open. My 83 Bayliner with 4cyl overheated once after full throttle a while. Changed the impeller (was missing some blades and/or chewed up) and all has been good since. Moral of the story: Change the impeller!

 

[VIP-Soto]

Re: I'm so upset.

Okay I just asked the mechanic if this issue could be related to the impeller. He said not likely. He said the impeller will cause the motor to over heat BUT it wont cause just once side to over heat. He said the temps before he shut the motor down was 113 degrees on one side and 152 degrees (and steadily rising) on the overheating side.

 

[Dshow]

Re: I'm so upset.

Are you seeing any symptoms or is the mechanic just telling you it's overheating? Marine thermostats typically don't open up until 160F. One side of my engine coolant runs hotter that the other and it hasn't caused me any issues. One of the experts will weigh in on whether your temperature difference is to much.

 

[VIP-Soto]

Re: I'm so upset.

I'd like to know. Where are you experts!?

 

[erikgreen]

Re: I'm so upset.

Well, you're getting pretty good response to this thread, so just give it a day or so and you'll probably get an answer

From my limited knowledge, those temps could be in spec depending on exactly where he measured them... if he happened to measure at a hot spot on one side and cool on the other, there could be a big difference.

Whether the temp is too high is a separate issue... that depends on your thermostat and how much water you're sucking up from the lake, and again exactly where he measured. There's a spot near my carb that regularly reads near 200 degrees because there's no water cooling circ under it, and that's normal. 160 might not be too high, depending.

The impeller pump may be working funny, the engine circulating pump may be working funny, or the hoses that run all over may have some blockage. Even if it worked perfectly when it was parked, that sort of blockage can happen. See threads on "exhaust flappers" for example. You can even get things like insects building a nest in your lower unit's water pump where the impeller is.

If you don't know when the impeller was last changed, I'd recommend having the mechanic replace it anyway (not much more cost than just checking on it) since it's a critical item that you probably should change annually anyway. If you're going to keep the boat.

Good luck,
Erik