merc exhaust plate failure

[izuizme]

1986 Brown Band inline 6 115hp. Local marine reports the exhaust plate often fails on these motor's. @ 10 hours labor to correct it.

Does this make sense to you more experienced members......

 

[matt9923]

Re: merc exhaust plate failure

not to rare on boats and cars. It does suck if and when it happens. You could fix it or have them fix it for a few K. Don't worry about it until it happens it may never.
Matt

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: merc exhaust plate failure

the baffle in the exhaust housing, get a hole in it, then you get water into the cylinders. i did one on a 50 inline 4, never again. yes it is very time consuming.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: merc exhaust plate failure

As TD said, the baffle, inner water jacket cover and outer water jacket covers can get holes, warp or the gaskets simply fail. They will allow water to get into the cylinders. If you have water in the bottom one or two cylinders, it could also be the lower crank seals.

The repair is not hard, unless the bolts are corroded into the block, like they usually are. Then they break and the fight starts....

 

[matt9923]

Re: merc exhaust plate failure

..... breaking bolts...... I hate it..
Everything should be SS and unbreakable. I just worked for 3 hours replacing my flywheel gear on the mower... Everything was breaking.
Matt

 

[Starppy]

Re: merc exhaust plate failure

Are you sure you are all talking about the same thing? There is an exhaust cover which is on the side of the block and there is an exhaust plate which is located under the powerhead and on top of the driveshaft housing. The exhaust tube and water tube connect to it.

There were always issues with the exhaust plates. There was usually 2 or 3 supercedences on each engine type through the 70's and 80's. Problem was having an exhaust plate fail was akin to a water pump failure so there was risk. I would say that if it isn't leaking and you don't have cooling problems just keep an eye on it.