New guy with a Mercruiser engine Question

[scopastang]

I just picked up a 1987 Regal Empress 200xl. It has a 4.3 mercruiser. Love the boat. Here is the problem, boat didn't have a carb when i got it. Took it home pulled the plastic off the carb hole and the motor is full of water. Question is how big of a problem is this, and how do i go about fixing it?

 

[ErieRon]

Re: New guy with a Mercruiser engine Question

Ooofah...

How long has it been like that? Any idea?

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: New guy with a Mercruiser engine Question

If it's been full of WATER for very long, the motor is going to be junk.

 

[steddy]

Re: New guy with a Mercruiser engine Question

If it's been full of WATER for very long, the motor is going to be junk.

Yep. However, look into it a little closer before condemming it. Until then, anything is just speculation.

 

[fuzzybob]

Re: New guy with a Mercruiser engine Question

Holy Hannah! I would get ahold of the person you got it from and see if they will make adjustments to the price or take it back. Going with a long block replacement will run 2 grand by the time you're done if you do the work yourself and are able to reuse most of bolt on stuff..... starter, manifolds and etc.

Welcome to iboats and I'm sorry to hear of your problems... best of luck.

 

[Bt Doctur]

Re: New guy with a Mercruiser engine Question

If more than a day or two, it`s junk

 

[Bondo]

Re: New guy with a Mercruiser engine Question

Here is the problem, boat didn't have a carb when i got it. Took it home pulled the plastic off the carb hole and the motor is full of water. Question is how big of a problem is this, and how do i go about fixing it?

Ayuh,... Obviously you need a new Carb....
I'd say you need a New motor to mount it on as well....

 

[scopastang]

Re: New guy with a Mercruiser engine Question

Thanks for the replies. I have talked to a few people around my home town and have heard everything from shouldn't be much of a problem, to time for a new motor. Wouldn't it be possible to rebuild? As for how long it has been in there I don't know. There is a powder like layer of rust under the water. How do i get the water out? Shop vac?

 

[45Auto]

Re: New guy with a Mercruiser engine Question

A shop vac will work to get most of the water out of the manifold. Any cylinders with open intake valves will also be full of water. Pull the spark plugs and try to crank the engine over to pump the water out. If the water has been in it for any length of time then some of the piston rings will be rusted to the cylinder walls. In that case the engine will be locked up and you will not be able to get the crankshaft to turn.

How badly the cylinders are rusted will determine whether you can rebuild the engine or not. If the cylinders are rusted bad enough you will not be able to bore the engine out far enough to clean them up. You will most likely also need to rebuild the heads.

 

[Fishermark]

Re: New guy with a Mercruiser engine Question

Pull the spark plugs and try to crank the engine over to pump the water out.

The only thing I would add is to NOT use the starter to try and turn the engine over. Do it by hand. I would be shocked if the engine isn't seized. No sense in doing further damage to the starter or flywheel.

If it is seized, then you can pull the heads and see how much damage has been caused. It would probably be rebuildable, but the only way to tell is too look and see.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: New guy with a Mercruiser engine Question

You didn't at least pull the dip stick to see if the engine had oil in it, or in this case water since you couldn't hear the engine run? I hope you got this thing cheap -- really cheap. Those who told you it shouldn't be much of a problem should no longer be listened to when offering mechanical advice. The engine must be removed anyway so don't bother with trying to get the water out. You need a new/rebuilt/used motor anyway so bite the bullet.

 

[Utahboatnut]

Re: New guy with a Mercruiser engine Question

If you can see rust in the manifold think of what the rest of the internals look like I would start stripping it down and hopefully you can reuse most of the boltons on the new one. When I was younger I had a dune buggy that quit on me out in the hills,pushed it off the road walked back to the truck couldn't get back to it for about 5 days due to mud and heavy rains. I didn't even think to cover the carb well 5 days worth of rain getting into it was enough to destroy the engine. Heads were shot, crank, bearings, etc was toast. I was shocked at how quickly the rust had eaten internals to the point of not reliable/risky. Vw engines use alot of magneisum and aluminum and are pretty tough little engines but not to water intrusion. Easy enough to replace and a 300-400 dollar fix but a boat is ten times the effort and expence. Good luck with your boat.