Oil looks like milk. Yes, I read the Sticky.

[DaNinja]

Originally I thought it was just the trim oil that was contaminated but there was was milky puddles on the opposite side from the trim reservoir.

Checking the engine oil...I've seen darker latte's.

It probably happened during the lake test a couple of days ago. It ran pretty strong with the exception of dying once when going rapidly from WOT to idle. If I'm lucky that's where the water ingestion occured. I know my exhaust flappers aren't sealing like stock and the boat was submitted to an unusual amount of reverse (stern) flow the other day.

I'm thinking about changing out the oil and filter and running it on the muffs to see if there's a simple fix that I'm missing. $15 worth of oil and filter may be wasted, but it might payoff compared to a shop bill.

Any thoughts as I research the cost/benefit of repowering a '95 lil' Ray

ETA...I did find a nice stroked out 350 (they claim 400hp) but that would probably involve changing out the Alpha as well.

 

[ziggy]

Re: Oil looks like milk. Yes, I read the Sticky.

I'm thinking about changing out the oil and filter

that sounds like step one to me if you have water in the oil....
http://www.boatfix.com/merc/Bullet/01/01_13.pdf

the link from the sticky..

 

[DaNinja]

Re: Oil looks like milk. Yes, I read the Sticky.

that sounds like step one to me if you have water in the oil....
http://www.boatfix.com/merc/Bullet/01/01_13.pdf

the link from the sticky..

Yeah, H/T to Don S.
I guess I was just venting and looking for a little hope.
I'm sure his thread was made and stickied because of idiots like me
that start threads like this every Spring.:redface:

 

[ziggy]

Re: Oil looks like milk. Yes, I read the Sticky.

I guess I was just venting and looking for a little hope.

your just gonna have to go through the list.
i had water in my oil too. i did save the engine. all i did was read that sb and follow it. it led me to my problem. manifold in my case. but i think the sb spells it out pretty clear for a 1st step. ya gotta get the water out of it right away for any hope, and if ya don't...... then you can look at your best replacement engine...

 

[DaNinja]

Re: Oil looks like milk. Yes, I read the Sticky.

your just gonna have to go through the list.
i had water in my oil too. i did save the engine. all i did was read that sb and follow it. it led me to my problem. manifold in my case. but i think the sb spells it out pretty clear for a 1st step. ya gotta get the water out of it right away for any hope, and if ya don't...... then you can look at your best replacement engine...

I've already found a stroked 350, but the Alpha won't deal with that.
A regular 350 should drop right in if it comes down to that. I'm going to pull the oil and filter tomorrow when the rain stops. Someone on the Club SeaRay Board said it took a couple of oil changes to get it clear. I guess that is still better than a $3K repower in a '95 lil' Ray.

 

[ringmaster72]

Re: Oil looks like milk. Yes, I read the Sticky.

Dont worry about the Alpha, it can handle it just fine. Do a search on here, there are a handful of guys including myself near and above 400hp on Alphas.

Tim

 

[bomar76]

Re: Oil looks like milk. Yes, I read the Sticky.

Been putting way over 400HP via a 385 stroker through an Alpha GenII for 2 seasons and no problems.
Synthetic drive lube, no hammer down starts, quick on throttle when we catch air, idle adjusted right, run thru hulls when possible to keep drive temp down, run a drive shower.
Lots of advantages to running an Alpha...less parasitc HP, less HP to push through water, etc.

 

[DaNinja]

Re: Oil looks like milk. Yes, I read the Sticky.

Dont worry about the Alpha, it can handle it just fine. Do a search on here, there are a handful of guys including myself near and above 400hp on Alphas.

Tim

I guess I was selling my Alpha short.
Hopefully it's not serious enough to require a repower. We love the little Ray and the old girl was our first boat. The cost/benefit will be tough call to make given our current employment situation.

Now back to the oil changing and troubleshooting...

 

[ringmaster72]

Re: Oil looks like milk. Yes, I read the Sticky.

I have pretty much decided I will run my Alpha until it breaks and then buy the SEI Alpha. They give you a 3 year bulletproof warranty, so even if it breaks you are covered.

 

[DaNinja]

Re: Oil looks like milk. Yes, I read the Sticky.

Well, I cleaned up the engine bay pretty well after I jacked the port side up about four inches. (Ouch! painfull process).

I drained the oil, but I couldn't get the filter off before I had to close up shop.

Based on where I had to clean, I think I've lost an intake gasket. That's better than a block....although a stroked 350 was starting to sound fun.

 

[DaNinja]

Re: Oil looks like milk. Yes, I read the Sticky.

So I gather that this isn't normal.:redface:

I am soo screwed....

 

[DaNinja]

Re: Oil looks like milk. Yes, I read the Sticky.

Even though there was no external evidence after fresh oil, filter and and a good wipedown, the filter on the right doesn't look much better.

Maybe one more run before a trip to the shop.
I guess I've heard it could take five or six oil changes.

 

[DaNinja]

Re: Oil looks like milk. Yes, I read the Sticky.

I just dropped by the boat hospital to visit the lil' Ray. It's looking like the block is cracked. Now I'm trying to figure out whether to cough up $5K+ to repower the "Texas Belle" or try to do it myself. I have the time and ability, but logistically, I don't know where I can do it.

It would be a real shade tree operation.

 

[OldNBold51]

Re: Oil looks like milk. Yes, I read the Sticky.

I just had to rebuild my 7.4 for same problem. I had 7 gallons of the white stuff in your pic's.

I'll say this, if you've rebuilt an engine ( my last car motor was 20 yrs ago) before, this boat is slightly easier than a removing/installing into a car. it'll take a while as you'll need to proceed with caution, but my job was easier than I expected.