New Boater, Possible water in Motor... PLEASE HELP

[ThePhoneGuy]

Hello,

I'm brand new to boating, I just purchased a 1986 Searay with a Mercruser 140 horse I/O motor about a month and a half ago. I've taken it out 6 times so far and everything has been great until today.

Before I left the dock I checked the oil and it looked perfect, so I go down the river about full throttle running at about 4,000 rpm as usual. Then I throttle down to fill up with gas and notice I'm running kinda rough (almost sounds like a fouled plug or something like that). On my way back in I start to lose power and notice I'm full throttle and running only about 3,000 rpm. Long story short I get back to the dock and notice all this tan colored milkshake looking water in the bilge and on the side of the motor. I check the oil again and notice I have the same stuff on my dip stick.

Am I screwed...? Did I blow something? I have no idea where to start.

Please Help

http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg127/thedeathofmemusic/Motor1.jpg
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg127/thedeathofmemusic/Motor2.jpg
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg127/thedeathofmemusic/Motor3.jpg
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg127/thedeathofmemusic/Motor4.jpg

EDIT: Turned HUGE pictures into links so it was easier to read posts. Don S.

 

[Bt Doctur]

Re: New Boater, Possible water in Motor... PLEASE HELP

Do some basics first,
Pull the plugs ,check color and for moisture
Compression test to rule out a hole in a piston
Change the oil and filter
Hook a hose to the water inlet at the therm housing and just let the water flow. If the oil level rises or comes out the dip stick, the block cracked

 

[ThePhoneGuy]

Re: New Boater, Possible water in Motor... PLEASE HELP

Thanks for responding.

I have a feeling I might have a failed riser that allowed water to enter the motor. If you look at one of my picks that shows the riser you can see the riser gasket looks blown out, and thats also the area that the tan colored water was coming from.

I will be going back to the marina later in the week to pull the riser, change the oil and check/change the plugs. Who knows... maybe I'll get lucky!

Do I need to do anything else special aside from change the oil to get rid of that tan water from the motor?

Just trying to stay positive.

 

[Maclin]

Re: New Boater, Possible water in Motor... PLEASE HELP

Do exactly what Boat Dr. suggests in that order first, then you will know if it is worth any more effort before pulling the engine.

A bad riser gasket will not get that much water into the oil. Riser/manifold problems will allow water to get into a cylinder thru an open exhaust valve when the engine shuts down, but not while it is running and certainly not directly into the crankcase in any kind of volume.

Draining the oil is one thing, but getting the engine flushed everywhere requires you to change the oil and oil filter and run it for a while and repeat with new oil and filter 2-3 times until the oil is clean. If your block is cracked and if you have water hooked up then water will get back in and you are thru anyway. If you run it without water you can get the engine flushed ok oil-wise but the impeller will be toast by then. And, if you fix that and water gets back in because the block is cracked, well more of the same.

Do what Boat Dr. suggests and report back.

 

[Apollo75]

Re: New Boater, Possible water in Motor... PLEASE HELP

Hello;

I would pull the plugs and check compression. Then I would pull the head and check head gasket for leak between oil passage and coolant passage, then check head and block for cracks.

Could just be blown gasket ---- always check block and head surface for flatness / if unsure get head magnafluxed and surfaced.

A hole in piston would cause some serious crankcase pressure and you would see that immediately.

I should add --- if you wait until the engine is fully warmed up before going to load ---- not just outside the no wake zone ---- your engine will last a lot longer from reduced wear

There are a lot of choices between idle and WOT ---- WOT does an engine no good


Best of luck

OFM

______________________________________
"If the boat is not sinking or on fire ---- Relax."

 

[ThePhoneGuy]

Re: New Boater, Possible water in Motor... PLEASE HELP

Exactly how would I go about checking the head and block for cracks? Is this something I should be able tho see clearly by naked eye?

I plan to pull the plugs, drain the oil, and run a compression test this weekend. Not to sure I can pull the head by myself. Not to mention the boat is still in the water.

Thanks

 

[bruceb58]

Re: New Boater, Possible water in Motor... PLEASE HELP

I would not pull the heads yet. You need to pressurize the cooling system and check for leaks first. Once the heads are off, you won't be able to do that test.

 

[Maclin]

Re: New Boater, Possible water in Motor... PLEASE HELP

Following BruceB's thoughts, do not tear it down yet>>-->definitely do some more testing with the engine together, and the last step from Bt Doctor is a quick and dirty cooling system test....

• Pull the plugs ,check color and for moisture
• Compression test to rule out a hole in a piston
• Change the oil and filter
• Hook a hose to the water inlet at the therm housing and just let the water flow. If the oil level rises or comes out the dip stick, the block cracked

Regarding if you can see the cracks or not if you take the engine apart, you may be able to see a head problem, but you would have to remove the pistons and rods and turn the block upside down to be able to visually check the block's passages...the ones that would dump coolant directly into the oil anyway.

 

[ThePhoneGuy]

Re: New Boater, Possible water in Motor... PLEASE HELP

Ok... So I finally made it down to the marina Saturday to work on the motor.

First thing I did was pull the plugs one at a time starting from front to back all looked fine except the 3rd one back was fouled, but with clean oil not the watery tan colored mix that showed up on the dip stick. Maybe a good sign...? Maybe not...?

Next I drained the oil put in new oil and filter. I haven't compression tested yet (don't have a test meter), but I'm pretty damn well sure at this point I'm looking at a blown head gasket or a cracked head. Either way the head needs to come off, so I guess that's my next task. I didn't want to run the motor again after replacing the oil because it's going to be a couple weeks before I can start to work on the head and I didn't want water laying in the motor in the mean time.

Would you guys say I'm on the right track? I figure I can pull the head myself and take it somewhere to be inspected, then replace it or reinstall it. Looking over the shop manual it dosen't seem that hard to do. Maybe I'm being optimistic and I'm going to get in way over my head? I really hope not.

Any pointers, advice, or comments are appreciated greatly.

Thanks

 

[Apollo75]

Re: New Boater, Possible water in Motor... PLEASE HELP

Well, without doing a compression test and I would recommend a leak down test ---- hard to do without a compressor or air tank. Hard to say what it is.

I thought you were all finished with testing earlier and the next step after diagnostics would be removing the heads for inspection.

Removing the oil / water was a real good thing

OFM

 

[ThePhoneGuy]

Re: New Boater, Possible water in Motor... PLEASE HELP

Apollo75...

I'm really limited on time to work on the boat as well as cash, and I live an hour away from where it's docked so my progression with the diagnostics and repair are very slow going. I was really hoping for some help with my above questions if possible.

Thank you

 

[Apollo75]

Re: New Boater, Possible water in Motor... PLEASE HELP

Would you guys say I'm on the right track? I figure I can pull the head myself and take it somewhere to be inspected, then replace it or reinstall it. Looking over the shop manual it dosen't seem that hard to do. Maybe I'm being optimistic and I'm going to get in way over my head? I really hope not.

Any pointers, advice, or comments are appreciated greatly.

Thanks

You are on the right tract --- it could well be just a head gasket -- heads usually crack inside the exhaust ports as they are the hottest areas --- sometimes you can see the cracks if they crack across the valve seat --- to really inspect the head the valves will need to be removed and the head magnafluxed.

Examine the head gasket for areas around the water jackets that may be leaking. If you find a blown gasket check the head surface for warping ---- use a long good straight edge and use a feeler gauge if you see something. If you find one gasket blown --- replace both while you are there.

Machine shops can surface one head --- up to .020 is okay to use --- more than that pull the other head and have it matched ---- then just replace both gaskets.

Let us know what you find

Good Luck

OFM

 

[arrkerr]

Re: New Boater, Possible water in Motor... PLEASE HELP

Except that its an inline 4cyl, so you only have one head Makes it easier. One head is better than two

 

[Apollo75]

Re: New Boater, Possible water in Motor... PLEASE HELP

My mind is always thinking about big Detroit iron, Sorry


OFM

 

[freeone]

Re: New Boater, Possible water in Motor... PLEASE HELP

you can rent a comp tester from a autopart store for free or cheap. do the comp test before teardown that will give you some baseline numbers to work with.

 

[ThePhoneGuy]

Re: New Boater, Possible water in Motor... PLEASE HELP

Thank you all very much for the help. I'm going to hopfully find some time to dig in and start working on it this weekend... we'll see how that goes.

I'll keep you posted on my findings

 

[ThePhoneGuy]

Re: New Boater, Possible water in Motor... PLEASE HELP

Hello again...

So I finally got the head off the motor and I was hoping to find visible evidence of a blown head gasket, but not the case. I did however find a pool of clean water (no oil) in one of my cylinders on top of the piston. I cleaned everything up as best I could and I'm going to be taking the head somewhere to be checked for a crack.

Any thoughts on the water sitting in the cylinder? Am I looking at a possible cracked block at this point?

Also, I'm curious how I'm supposed to winterize the motor with everything all apart?

-thanks

 

[Maclin]

Re: New Boater, Possible water in Motor... PLEASE HELP

Also, I'm curious how I'm supposed to winterize the motor with everything all apart?

Drain the block

 

[ThePhoneGuy]

Re: New Boater, Possible water in Motor... PLEASE HELP

already did that, thanks

 

[bigskiohio]

Re: New Boater, Possible water in Motor... PLEASE HELP

water in a cylinder could be from running water thru motor with it not running need that pressure to keep water out of cylinders, then it leaks down to crank case.