Augoose
Lieutenant Junior Grade
- Joined
- Mar 21, 2010
- Messages
- 1,222
Hey all,
I'm a newbie and looking at buying a project boat. I've recently restored a Jeep CJ7 from the frame up and now want to try my hand at a long time dream - being a boat owner. My budget is small but I have a handyman's intent for a fixer-uper, and I think I have found a potential candidate. After some lessons learned from buying my old jeep, I want to be a little smarter with my boat purchase.
I found a boat at a great price but it has a potentially big issue (go figure, right?) The owner said it blew a freeze plug (I know this is the incorrect term as well- sorry). An hour ago I didn't know what a freeze plug was but now after some searching, it seems they are a death sentence to engines. I asked the owner a couple more questions and this is the reply he gave - would someone be kind enough to interpret for me and tell me if this is something a shade tree mechanic can tackle or if I'm wasting my time and money? This boat has been in central georgia - not a real bad freeze area. All other components on the boat seem to be in great condition. Its a 1988 Ebbtide 17' with 2.3 liter 4 cyl ford motor.
Thanks all!
Here is his email - very nice guy:
The motor had been running for about 10 -15 minutes at idle and had very good water flow. I was running the motor and making some adjustments when I decided to idle the motor up to about 1100 rpms. When i idled it up is when i heard the plug blow and ping around on the fly wheel and water came rushing out of the housing. the motor actually never missed a beat but i immediately shut it down. You seem to know a lot more about these things than myself so you would know better what causes a freeze plug to pop out. I am wondering if, when i winterized the motor if i just did not get all of the water out and it had a little bit sitting in that area. I saw no signs of any cracked block anywhere and the water only came out of the fly wheel housing and no where else. After it happened, i pressured up the water line and forced water into the lower unit and the only place where water came out was from the housing where it met up with the back of the motor. I did call a good friend of mine who is very good with motors and told him just what i stated above and he felt that if a little water settled in around that freeze plug, that it could have worked it loose during a freeze and that he felt that the block should be fine.
I'm a newbie and looking at buying a project boat. I've recently restored a Jeep CJ7 from the frame up and now want to try my hand at a long time dream - being a boat owner. My budget is small but I have a handyman's intent for a fixer-uper, and I think I have found a potential candidate. After some lessons learned from buying my old jeep, I want to be a little smarter with my boat purchase.
I found a boat at a great price but it has a potentially big issue (go figure, right?) The owner said it blew a freeze plug (I know this is the incorrect term as well- sorry). An hour ago I didn't know what a freeze plug was but now after some searching, it seems they are a death sentence to engines. I asked the owner a couple more questions and this is the reply he gave - would someone be kind enough to interpret for me and tell me if this is something a shade tree mechanic can tackle or if I'm wasting my time and money? This boat has been in central georgia - not a real bad freeze area. All other components on the boat seem to be in great condition. Its a 1988 Ebbtide 17' with 2.3 liter 4 cyl ford motor.
Thanks all!
Here is his email - very nice guy:
The motor had been running for about 10 -15 minutes at idle and had very good water flow. I was running the motor and making some adjustments when I decided to idle the motor up to about 1100 rpms. When i idled it up is when i heard the plug blow and ping around on the fly wheel and water came rushing out of the housing. the motor actually never missed a beat but i immediately shut it down. You seem to know a lot more about these things than myself so you would know better what causes a freeze plug to pop out. I am wondering if, when i winterized the motor if i just did not get all of the water out and it had a little bit sitting in that area. I saw no signs of any cracked block anywhere and the water only came out of the fly wheel housing and no where else. After it happened, i pressured up the water line and forced water into the lower unit and the only place where water came out was from the housing where it met up with the back of the motor. I did call a good friend of mine who is very good with motors and told him just what i stated above and he felt that if a little water settled in around that freeze plug, that it could have worked it loose during a freeze and that he felt that the block should be fine.
