water coming out the valve cover

[big_woo]

i just bought an 86 mercruiser 140 with an alpha 1 outdrive. the boat sat for two years and was winterized. i have done a full tune up, impeller/water pump, plugs, wires, coil, oil change, rebuilt carbuerator. i had the boat running yesterday without the flame arrestor on and everything was good at lower rpms, below 2k. when i went up in rpms water starting coming out the port where the flame arrestor connects. i immediately thought blown head gasket, but i see now in my manual that water goes through there. i will have to check the oil today to see if there is water in it. when i changed the oil it was a little milky, not real bad. i'm sure i probably need to change the manifold and riser, if i have that. this is my first boat i/o.

 

[Bondo]

Re: water coming out the valve cover

when i went up in rpms water starting coming out the port where the flame arrestor connects.

Ayuh,... What Port,..?? The valve cover vent,..??
If So,... It Wasn't properly Winterized,+ you have a Cracked block...

 

[big_woo]

Re: water coming out the valve cover

it is the crankcase ventalation hose. it is coming out only at higher rpm's. is there any other possibilities, should i take the intake off and have it checked for cracks, can you repair if it is cracked, or should i just get my money back...

 

[big_woo]

Re: water coming out the valve cover

by the way, i gave 1400 bucks for the boat. its someone i know and he said if it was to much to repair he would give me my money back.

 

[mkast]

Re: water coming out the valve cover

but i see now in my manual that water goes through there.

Explain.

 

[big_woo]

Re: water coming out the valve cover

looking at the cooling sys in clymers, for 140 3 L, standard cooling sys. it shows water coming from the circulating pump into the block and out head assembly. ( pic looks like a valve housing, my fault). so do yo guys think its definetly a cracked head or block. head gasget?????

 

[dmeals]

Re: water coming out the valve cover

Get your money back...the block is done!

 

[Don S]

Re: water coming out the valve cover

How much water are you talking about here? A drop or two of condensation? It the crankcase clear full of water and oil?

You said earlier that the oil was a little milky, but not to bad, please explain. Was the level of oil ok, or was it overful?

 

[big_woo]

Re: water coming out the valve cover

it was definetly dirty water, smelled like fuel as well. i was standing over the carbuerator witht the handle disconnected giving it gas. it shot a pint through the vent all over my shirt. i don't know if it was going to stop or continue, i backed off the gas and shut down. the motor sounds fine no knocks or anything. just very lound like open exhaust. when i drained the oil before i would say less than 4 oz was water, didn't look like much at all. the previous owner said he saw it once before, did 3 oil changes and it was good.

ok just ran it again. runs good up to 3200 rpms. then the water starts coming out. had muffs on. it looks like dirty water with a fuel smell. not sure if there's oil in it. i looked at the dipstick and didn't see water(not sure if i could). i'll drain the oil later today and look. oh and the heat went to 175. i didn't run no more than 8 min. slight warm up and check gauges and then power up. this time i did it with the controls in forward. seems like the rpms went higher today before spewing out. it is very loud as well, either my tach is not working right or something. i would be scared to take it to 4300 rpms or so.

 

[Don S]

Re: water coming out the valve cover

You need to do 3 tests. A compression test, a leakdown test, and pressure test the cooling side of the block.

 

[big_woo]

Re: water coming out the valve cover

talked to the guy and he said he would give me my money back or pay for a cracked head i'm figuring he'ld give back 600 bucks or so. i'm going to take it somewhere tomorrow and have them look at it and do a compression test. if i indeed do have bad compression does that mean the block is bad, warped, etc. basically it would be a block issue with bad compression??

 

[Don S]

Re: water coming out the valve cover

You need all three tests I mentioned, along with knowing how to interpret the results of all three to determine the problem.
Your bes bet is to get rid of it and get your money back.

talked to the guy and he said he would give me my money back or pay for a cracked head

VERY SELDOM is the problem a cracked head. Personally have never seen one causing your problems, and I do this for a living.

 

[big_woo]

Re: water coming out the valve cover

the person i bought the boat from is going to give me 600 bucks back and i'm going to keep the boat. my wife is pissed. here's the deal, when i start something like this it consumes me and my time. i found good deals on different possible causes on ebay, and hopefully i can do the compression test tomorrow and get moving. i know i can fix this, its all about time though for me. like most people i don't have any extra.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: water coming out the valve cover

my wife is pissed.

I don't blame her...smart woman.

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: water coming out the valve cover

I guess thats 600 bucks to put toward a new block...

 

[Don S]

Re: water coming out the valve cover

Originally Posted by big_woo
my wife is pissed.

You keep throwing money at it, and you ain't seen nuttin yet

 

[cooter2506]

Re: water coming out the valve cover

Been there, done that! Guess what she is far from done being pissed!!!!!! We have newer boat that (knock n wood) runs great and my wife still askes me how much we lost when we sold the old boat!!!

 

[big_woo]

Re: water coming out the valve cover

started reading different post this morning and i don't believe it was water that i saw now. i had just changed the oil (why i thought it looked like dirty water). the oil level in the motor is the same and if water had been getting in there i would think there would be a raise in fluid on the dipstick. maybe this is also why don has never seen water come from there. i see lots of people talking about blow by. now i put the recommended 4 qts in, but it only comes to half way on my dipstick. i would think blow by occurs when there's to much oil in the system. also drained some water from the block and it was clean. i will drain the oil after i do a compression check and see what it looks like.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: water coming out the valve cover

If there is water in the oil, you will know without draining. It will be milky.

 

[big_woo]

Re: water coming out the valve cover

if your talking about looking at the dipstick it looks fine there. i didn't know if i could see it milky on the dipstick. that being such a smaller portion of the oil.