nphilbro
Petty Officer 1st Class
- Joined
- Dec 19, 2011
- Messages
- 304
Re:1978 Evinrude 200hp Model 200849R
First, some background, speculation, and a feeble excuse: In early August I was towing back from the launch (read: puget sound/saltwater) and drove over very large unnoticeable "dip" that launched the trailer wheels off the pavement (at <30mph) and boat came down so hard it broke one of the roller arms and bent/broke the trailer frame on both sides behind the axle frame. So we limped home and the boat sat on the trailer in the driveway, motor tilted up. Unfortunately I was so irritated and focused on the trailer I completely forgot to flush the motor. Meanwhile, salt water in the motor evaporated in 4 weeks of August sun.
Anyway, last weekend I took it back out and it would start, idle, fast idle, but not run in gear. Ran out on the kicker while trying to off and on to get it started. At the marina dock I pulled and cleaned the heavily oiled plugs and finally saw the timing advance linkage had popped loose, reconnected it at the dock and we were back in business. Crossing the bay it just didn't "feel" right. Not wrong, but not right. I was watching the tell-tale and it also seemed not quite right - steady but possibly not as strong. No buzzers going off. We set off for Dash Pt. and it sometimes had that great throttle kick and others, not so much. Cruised at about 4k rpms and 30mph (which is a bit slow for for the RPMs) for 10 minutes and the motor suddenly died. Steam coming out from many areas, I took off the cowl and it was VERY hot. Had my son grab a fire extinguisher just in case but never used it. I decided to let the motor cool slowly over the next hour+ and turned the flywheel by hand every 7-10 minutes to keep it from possibly seizing.
I'm guessing a combination of carbon build up from the timing arm problem and/or thermostat seized by salt caused a meltdown.
Here's what I found when I pulled the heads last night:
The number one cylinder (top starboard) and head completely pitted. Oddly, the cylinder is not scored at all. On the other hand the head and pistons on port look just fine except for a pretty deep score at the 5:00 position on the top two pistons yet very little scuffing. The bottom port cylinder looks fine and the bottom two stbd cylinders each look really good too. There isn't any unusual play and bearings behind the pistons don't seem to have failed as indicated when pressing them back toward the block just past the return stroke. Something else I noticed is that the head gaskets have several designed fail points and they were pressed out quite a bit but only had tiny holes in them.
I have a parts list that came up to about $850 when supplemented with parts I already have.
I don't want to start anything until I can clear the confusion on the right heads which leads to my reason for posting:
1. Can the head be fixed? (99% sure not, but will throw it out there anyway)
2. Where can I find the correct replacement STBD head? Does anyone stock either the 200 or 235 OEM heads?
OMC OEM P/N is 0323457 discontinued, replaced by 0325557
The OEM 235hp 0323873 head has also been replaced by the same 0325557 head according to many parts websites.
*I'm ok with installing the OEM 235 heads if I can find them and rejetting the carbs.
*Is the 032557 STBD head compatible with the stock 0323456 PRT Head?
Evinrude Parts Website for reference:
22 0323457 CYL. HEAD, Stbd., 150, 175, 200 HP 1 Not Available
22 0323873 CYLINDER HEAD, Stbd., 235 HP 1 Not Available
29 0323456 CYL. HEAD, Port, 150, 175, 200 HP 1 Not Available
29 0323872 CYLINDER HEAD, Port, 235 HP 1 Not Available
*There are various used heads available on Ebay but I don't want to mess the motor up if they throw different compressions.
3. Pistons:
*I will obviously replace piston #1 - If cylinder is clean, should I stay with 3.5" +0.00 and upsize rings?
*#3 and #5 appear really clean, if they are, just upsize the rings?
*#2,#4, deeply scored, will let shop measure for OS size needed.
*#6 very lightly scored, will let ship measure if OS size needed.
Cheers
NP
First, some background, speculation, and a feeble excuse: In early August I was towing back from the launch (read: puget sound/saltwater) and drove over very large unnoticeable "dip" that launched the trailer wheels off the pavement (at <30mph) and boat came down so hard it broke one of the roller arms and bent/broke the trailer frame on both sides behind the axle frame. So we limped home and the boat sat on the trailer in the driveway, motor tilted up. Unfortunately I was so irritated and focused on the trailer I completely forgot to flush the motor. Meanwhile, salt water in the motor evaporated in 4 weeks of August sun.
Anyway, last weekend I took it back out and it would start, idle, fast idle, but not run in gear. Ran out on the kicker while trying to off and on to get it started. At the marina dock I pulled and cleaned the heavily oiled plugs and finally saw the timing advance linkage had popped loose, reconnected it at the dock and we were back in business. Crossing the bay it just didn't "feel" right. Not wrong, but not right. I was watching the tell-tale and it also seemed not quite right - steady but possibly not as strong. No buzzers going off. We set off for Dash Pt. and it sometimes had that great throttle kick and others, not so much. Cruised at about 4k rpms and 30mph (which is a bit slow for for the RPMs) for 10 minutes and the motor suddenly died. Steam coming out from many areas, I took off the cowl and it was VERY hot. Had my son grab a fire extinguisher just in case but never used it. I decided to let the motor cool slowly over the next hour+ and turned the flywheel by hand every 7-10 minutes to keep it from possibly seizing.
I'm guessing a combination of carbon build up from the timing arm problem and/or thermostat seized by salt caused a meltdown.
Here's what I found when I pulled the heads last night:
The number one cylinder (top starboard) and head completely pitted. Oddly, the cylinder is not scored at all. On the other hand the head and pistons on port look just fine except for a pretty deep score at the 5:00 position on the top two pistons yet very little scuffing. The bottom port cylinder looks fine and the bottom two stbd cylinders each look really good too. There isn't any unusual play and bearings behind the pistons don't seem to have failed as indicated when pressing them back toward the block just past the return stroke. Something else I noticed is that the head gaskets have several designed fail points and they were pressed out quite a bit but only had tiny holes in them.
I have a parts list that came up to about $850 when supplemented with parts I already have.
I don't want to start anything until I can clear the confusion on the right heads which leads to my reason for posting:
1. Can the head be fixed? (99% sure not, but will throw it out there anyway)
2. Where can I find the correct replacement STBD head? Does anyone stock either the 200 or 235 OEM heads?
OMC OEM P/N is 0323457 discontinued, replaced by 0325557
The OEM 235hp 0323873 head has also been replaced by the same 0325557 head according to many parts websites.
*I'm ok with installing the OEM 235 heads if I can find them and rejetting the carbs.
*Is the 032557 STBD head compatible with the stock 0323456 PRT Head?
Evinrude Parts Website for reference:
22 0323457 CYL. HEAD, Stbd., 150, 175, 200 HP 1 Not Available
22 0323873 CYLINDER HEAD, Stbd., 235 HP 1 Not Available
29 0323456 CYL. HEAD, Port, 150, 175, 200 HP 1 Not Available
29 0323872 CYLINDER HEAD, Port, 235 HP 1 Not Available
*There are various used heads available on Ebay but I don't want to mess the motor up if they throw different compressions.
3. Pistons:
*I will obviously replace piston #1 - If cylinder is clean, should I stay with 3.5" +0.00 and upsize rings?
*#3 and #5 appear really clean, if they are, just upsize the rings?
*#2,#4, deeply scored, will let shop measure for OS size needed.
*#6 very lightly scored, will let ship measure if OS size needed.
Cheers
NP
