Water Leaking when 165 Mercruiser is running. Trying to buy this boat but idk

[JNormV163]

Went to check out this 1978 Glastron SSV 177 with a mercruiser 165 I/O. I know outboards but I'm not very familiar with I/O. The boat is awesome and the price is awesome. The guy told me he had not started it for months and when I went to check it out it fired right up after a jump and seemed to be running great even when I gave it a little gas. I LOVE the boat and would love to buy it and the price is more than fair. My concern is the water pouring out of the motor where the arrow is pointing in the pic. IDK if maybe he didnt winterize the motor but I feel like the water wouldn't be coming out that excessive if the block was cracked because the water was pouring out fairly quickly. Im open to opinions. I wanted to drive it home but was timid. Im mechanically inclined so if its an easy fix I can do it but if the motor is trashed then I'm not gonna buy it. Thanks.

Oh and if you look you can see where the water had leaked before. Any idea of what the top speed of this motor be on a 17' fiberglass boat?

 

[ziggy]

Re: Water Leaking when 165 Mercruiser is running. Trying to buy this boat but idk

don't look good to me.
looks like rust stains coming down from under the manifold. i think that's about where the freeze damage crack usually appears.
the attachment is from s/m 2 regarding a mid 70'a L6.

 

[Bt Doctur]

Re: Water Leaking when 165 Mercruiser is running. Trying to buy this boat but idk

You would have to pull the manifold to find the problem. the rust stains might point to leakage from a head gasket (slow leak) but a lot of running water is indicative of a cracked block.

 

[Grub54891]

Re: Water Leaking when 165 Mercruiser is running. Trying to buy this boat but idk

Went to check out this 1978 Glastron SSV 177 with a mercruiser 165 I/O. I know outboards but I'm not very familiar with I/O. The boat is awesome and the price is awesome. The guy told me he had not started it for months and when I went to check it out it fired right up after a jump and seemed to be running great even when I gave it a little gas. I LOVE the boat and would love to buy it and the price is more than fair. My concern is the water pouring out of the motor where the arrow is pointing in the pic. IDK if maybe he didnt winterize the motor but I feel like the water wouldn't be coming out that excessive if the block was cracked because the water was pouring out fairly quickly. Im open to opinions. I wanted to drive it home but was timid. Im mechanically inclined so if its an easy fix I can do it but if the motor is trashed then I'm not gonna buy it. Thanks.

Oh and if you look you can see where the water had leaked before. Any idea of what the top speed of this motor be on a 17' fiberglass boat?

View attachment 221671

I'm not impressed with what I see there,agreed,could be the block,or manifold. But what peak's my interst is,why is there an electric fan rednecked in the engine bay next to the manifold? Walk away please! Something is more wrong that a leak.
Grub

 

[dingdongs]

Re: Water Leaking when 165 Mercruiser is running. Trying to buy this boat but idk

cracked block is very likely and even if it was a manifold the expense may be more than the boat cost.
I would start walking (briskly) and don't look back as there's plenty of vessels to choose from.

 

[Will Fish]

Re: Water Leaking when 165 Mercruiser is running. Trying to buy this boat but idk

I agree. Block looks cracked. If you are in love with the boat that much plan on new motor.