Water getting into engine?

[stilesn]

Ok, here goes. I have a 1996 115 rude, that has an idle problem, it will not stay running at idle but will run all day long at full/half throttle with no problems.

OK, so i took it in to have the problem looked at, the mechanic comes back and says that there seems to be a little water getting into the engine somehow. so he did a compression check on the cyclinders and they were off and looked to be a little warped, so he suggested to have them resurfaced and new gaskets installed. fine, ok do what you need to.

after having them reinstalled and new gaskets put on, he says that for some reason that didnt fix the problem and that water is still getting into the engine, and it wont stay idling at all when on a hose. he has checked the block for cracks, none.

he says that they only other thing it might be would be a crankshaft gasket leaking, causing water to come up through the crankshaft.

now let me say that this is only a little bit of water, as he says, you can tell from the small drops coming of the spark plug.

does this sound right to anyone or is he just screwing me over for labor.

thanks

 

[F_R]

Re: Water getting into engine?

I don't think he is screwing you for labor as you suggest. I'd rather suspect he just doesn't know and is grasping for straws. He probably is expecting to lose money, not work you over. Is that a looper or crossflow? I would suspect a problem in the exhaust area if a crossflow. Loopers, I plead ignorance.

 

[Dhadley]

Re: Water getting into engine?

If it has head gaskets it's a crossflow. Is the water in all 4 or just in one particular cylinder?

 

[boatmonkey82]

Re: Water getting into engine?

this may out of the way but drain a bit of gas from the carbs and see if it has any water in them , if not i could be from and exhaust issue , but i have had a rash of bad fuel coming in recently . and yes it will leave tiny drops of water on the plugs

 

[Dhadley]

Re: Water getting into engine?

If he has water in all 4 that very well may be the case. If it's in one or two cylinders only that's probably a dfifferent story. Once he clarifies his situation a little we'll know where to look.

 

[stilesn]

Re: Water getting into engine?

after asking a few more questions, he has given me more info.

after he reinstalled the cylinder heads and new gasket, he did a compression check and it went up to within specs.

he says there is still water getting into the lower left cylinder somehow and suggests that it could be coming from the crankshaft seal or the lower unit seal.

 

[Dhadley]

Re: Water getting into engine?

We'll assume he means #4 cylinder. If the lower crank seal is leaking you'll have water on the lower bearing and probably water on the top bearing thru the reflow system. The lower unit seal has nothing to do with the powerhead.

At this point, if I were doing it, I'd pull the powerhead and pressure check it. That will pinpoint any leak. With the powerhead off you can inspect the lower crank seal & housing. It'll also be easier to pull the exhaust plates.