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Old 30-11-2015, 05:49   #46
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Re: Asleep at the wheel

A very common problem with gasoline inboards. Bet you dollars to donuts the exhaust manifolds are shot!
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Old 30-11-2015, 07:01   #47
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Re: Asleep at the wheel

Your forgetting he took it for a three hour ride with no problems before this happened. He has Merc outdrives that suck the raw water through the outdrive 'legs'. It would pay to look at the raw water impeller in the outdrive... LL
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Old 30-11-2015, 08:46   #48
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Re: Asleep at the wheel

I know it sounds counterintuitive, but the above mentioned boat I deliver to and from Seattle twice a year had this recurring problem for at least two years.
The problem never showed up during 20 miles at 23 knots with 2 V8 engines @4,000 RPM.
It showed up as soon as I was idling and again at 5 knots or less.
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Old 30-11-2015, 10:12   #49
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Re: Asleep at the wheel

Quote:
Originally Posted by MarkJ View Post
Mechanics always try to make the most money for. Each job generally by ripping you off. It suits them to rip off a few people than to do good jobs on many. Maybe they dont like the travel time?
No I don't like mechanics.

Get another one to have a look.

There may be a few shady operators, but most reputable marine service providers strive to assist their customers to obtain the maximum safety, performance, reliability, and resale value of their vessel.

Any "professional" mechanic whose goal it is too rip people off, won't stay in business long.

A responsible marine service provider, always has to evaluate whether it is better value to the customer, to leaves as is, test, repair, or replace a suspect defective part.

It is fairly common practice on a blind call (symptoms described by customer, site unseen by the service provider) to provide best case / worst case scenarios. This establishes the valid customer expectation early.

In the case of the OP, if the mechanic said, "Oh just replace your water pump impeller and you'll be fine" (50/50 chance it would be) and in fact, something else was wrong, that would be a complete disservice to the customer, and damaging to the service providers reputation.

All I can say is, if you try to get ripped of by a marine service provider (treat them like crap, or shop for them based solely on lowest price) you probably will.

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Old 30-11-2015, 10:21   #50
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Re: Asleep at the wheel

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Originally Posted by Klamathman View Post
I recently purchased a 1987 Sea Ray Sundowner 300. On my second excursion upon my 30 minute return to the marina at about 3000 rpm I idled down to moor it. Much to my surprise I saw quite a bit of white smoke (steam?) and looked at my temperature gauges. My starboard engine was showing a 270 degree reading. I immediately shut her down and limped in on one engine. Both engines have under 500 hrs on them... One of the reasons I bought it.

I called a highly rated mechanic in the California delta region and told him the previous owner replaced the thermostat. My guess was the water pump. His response to me was that if the gauge read 270 then I may have created problems with hoses (rated at 220) melting, blown head gaskets and other possibilities. He also stated that water pump was not necessarily the culprit, could be manifold. He recommended a compression check as well. Sound on the up and up?

I bought this boat for $10k and without a survey. The gentleman had poured $8k into it with electronics, windlass, outdrive service, recent bottom job and other work done on same starboard engine (thermostat, ignition and a couple things I don't immediately recall). He took us on an abbreviated test run and my first trip after buying the boat went flawlessly and we ran both engines for probably 3 hours. My question is would it be possible that the previous owner knew of this problem? He purchased the boat a year earlier for $12k, poured $8k into it and bailed quickly for $10k.


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If the engines ran for 3 hours previously then the chance of the previous owner knowing about some latent defect is pretty slim.

Your question is somewhat open ended without some more details. You need to run some diagnostics. Compression test, visual inspection of both cooling circuits, raw and fresh, on both engines would be a good start.

These days a cheap infra red temp gun is a must have. This way you can check differential temps around the cooling circuits. Also check oil temps. Oil temps will lag cooling.

What you describe could also be caused by running lean for example.

On my boat, a Liberty 458 with a diesel Perkins 4-236, i have logged all differential oil and water temps. This way i can quickly diagnose any issues.

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Old 30-11-2015, 13:23   #51
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Re: Asleep at the wheel

Klamathman

There has to be one competent, honest, marine mechanic in the Bay area. Ask a local US Power Squadron or USCG Aux. member for a referral. Once you find such a person, be with him when he works on your boat and ask lots of questions. You could have picked up a plastic bag on the starboard outdrive which shut off the water flow, or a water pump may have failed. Lots of moving parts in a marine engine and all subject to failure with much depending on the level of maintenance received over their life. I have a pair of 1996 Marine Power EFI 350's with 960 hours operating time. Just replaced the FWC system, exhaust manifolds and risers and the transmission oil cooler as much for preventive maintenance as anything else.
When I do get on the water I want to be reasonably certain that everything works particularly crossing the San Pedro channel to Catalina Island.
Lots of good information in this thread particularly developing a work plan and following it to address the problem. Good luck.


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Old 30-11-2015, 20:17   #52
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Re: Asleep at the wheel

Wow... Thanks for the input. The schematic was very helpful. I will get back out there in a week or two and let you know what I found. I live about 80 miles away so I can't just head out when I want. Especially during the holidays. Again...THANKS!


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Old 30-12-2015, 19:38   #53
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Re: Asleep at the wheel

An update: I got out to the boat yesterday. Met a mechanic out there... We checked the oil, not milky so no water, no gasket blown. Radiator water was very low. Checked impellers, pumps, hoses and heat exchangers... All good. Filled with water and engine ran fine with no overheating. Checked radiator cap... Cap was shot. Both were. Replaced them both, replaced thermostat as well as a precaution. Ran engine at 2500 rpm for 20 minutes. Temp held at 190. I think we solved it and I learned a lot. Thanks for all your advise and info.


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Old 01-01-2016, 12:39   #54
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Asleep at the wheel

Klamathman

All's well that ends well. A pair of radiator caps and thermostats plus a couple of hours with a mechanic and you are good to go.
Sure beats re-powering ..........
Happy New Year


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Old 02-01-2016, 07:22   #55
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Re: Asleep at the wheel

Glad it worked out and I was able to help. Have a nice day. hfc
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