Water inside Exhaust Manifolds?

[greg82255]

Hello,

I have a 1986 Merc 260/Alpha One. I was planning to replace the risers this year. After I drained the antifreeze out of the manifold, I pulled the port side riser off and found a liquid inside the manifold. It was on the inside where the exhaust gases come out. I'm not sure if it was antifreeze or water, but I don't really think that matters - something got in there. I checked the oil to see if the liquid had gotten into a cylinder and slipped passed the rings, but there was no milkiness in the oil. Should I just replace the manifolds? or am I looking at possibly a bigger problem? The boat is still winterized - haven't started it yet for the summer. Should I try to start it or try to fix this problem first? Thanks in advance.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Water inside Exhaust Manifolds?

Hello,

I have a 1986 Merc 260/Alpha One. I was planning to replace the risers this year. After I drained the antifreeze out of the manifold, I pulled the port side riser off and found a liquid inside the manifold. It was on the inside where the exhaust gases come out. I'm not sure if it was antifreeze or water, but I don't really think that matters - something got in there. I checked the oil to see if the liquid had gotten into a cylinder and slipped passed the rings, but there was no milkiness in the oil. Should I just replace the manifolds? or am I looking at possibly a bigger problem? The boat is still winterized - haven't started it yet for the summer. Should I try to start it or try to fix this problem first? Thanks in advance.

Ayuh,.. It'll be a miracle if ya don't have a cylinder full of rust....

 

[Fishermark]

Re: Water inside Exhaust Manifolds?

Yeah - your oil won't turn milky till you run it. The water will settle out in the bottom of the oil pan. Not good news I'm afraid.

 

[greg82255]

Re: Water inside Exhaust Manifolds?

So what should I do for now? I assume replace the manifolds to start.. maybe pull the plugs and crank it over to try and get rid of anything thats in there? Then change the oil? What can be done if I have rust in a cylinder?

 

[Bondo]

Re: Water inside Exhaust Manifolds?

Ayuh,... Drop the oil from the base, Before ya spin it over....
No reason to pump water through the motor...

If the cylinder is rusted, it probably Won't spin over...
At that point, a tear-down is in order to see what needs to be done...

 

[greg82255]

Re: Water inside Exhaust Manifolds?

Alright, I'll start by draining the oil. I assume I should be putting in new oil before I try to turn it over? If by some random stroke of luck, the motor does turn over, am I most likely ok? or should I be checking for other problems? I can't get to it until next week, but I'll be sure to post what happens next weekend.

 

[ziggy]

Re: Water inside Exhaust Manifolds?

from what i understand. getting any water out of the engine is very important.. if ya got water in the engine oil... http://www.boatfix.com/merc/Bullet/01/01_13.pdf

 

[greg82255]

Re: Water inside Exhaust Manifolds?

Thank you for the link ziggy - it appears to be very helpful. I'll certainly go through the steps for water coming in through the exhaust manifolds.

 

[greg82255]

Re: Water inside Exhaust Manifolds?

Just thought I would update.. after a month I finally got to the engine this weekend. I replaced the exhaust manifolds and risers (they were overdue anyways), and pulled all the plugs and turned the engine over. Did a tune up, put everything back together and it started up first time, no problems. I also changed the oil and found nothing milky. I guess I got really lucky. Thanks everyone for the help.