engine fire... NEED HELP DESPERATELY

[wienermobile]

Ok first post, first time on forum, first inboard motor. I just purchased a 1982 sunrunner open bow. It has an OMC V6 original motor, 760 hours and seems to be in decent shape. The guy I bought it from says that he just had the gears in the outdrive propeller replaced by a licenced mechanic. Every time I put the boat in gear it would make a loud grinding noise. The noise is disturbingly loud when out of the water. The guy who sold it to me said to just start the boat in gear to avoid this. I dont really believe this to be good advice. the gears grind every time I have put it in drive or reverse.
**I always used "muffs" when running motor out of water**

I took it on the water for the first time today, started go0d and I let it idle in neutral for 5 min before putting it in reverse. I put it in reverse and heard no noise from the gears. I gave it gas and we went nowhere. I revved the engine almost to redline and the we just sat there motionless. I then turned the motor off, put it in reverse and started it again just like the guy told me to and nothing happened. After a minute the throttle was engaged in reverse slightly (maybe 2 or 3k rpms) and a very loud clank shook the entire boat and we started spinning wildly. I started it up again and it drove forward fine. we went out about a quarter mile and I noticed smoke coming from the engine. Lots of thick smoke and a small fire developed. The wires to my hydrualic tilt motor were melted because they were touching the engine. This didnt seem to be the only source of the smoke. There was smoke on both sides of the engine and smoke coming out of the brass wing-nut coolant drain under the motor. Please help me
Thanks in advance.

 

[Don S]

Re: engine fire... NEED HELP DESPERATELY

If you aren't mechanically inclined, and it doesn't sound like you are. You REALLY need to find a certified marine mechanic to look and see what has happened. Any buisness can be licensed, but that doesn't mean they have a clue what they are doing.
Just by your discription, it sounds like you had an overheat, (probably in the driveway with no muffs) and it was allowed to get so hot out on the water, that even wiring melted. You never opened the hatch to look or anything else, just start it an go, or try to go.

 

[Bondo]

Re: engine fire... NEED HELP DESPERATELY

I just purchased a 1982 sunrunner open bow. It has an OMC V6 original motor,

Ayuh,... Sorry to hear that,...

Unless you're ready to dump a few Grand into it,...
Parting it out might help recoup some of your money...

 

[84Monaco]

Re: engine fire... NEED HELP DESPERATELY

Sorry to hear that...

When you started the boat out of the water were you supplying it with water on the earmuffs to keep the engine from overheating?

If not it probably roasted the impeller so once you were at the lake there was no way for the engine to cool itself...

In any event it sounds like the engine overheated severely. I'll leave it to someone with more experience in these matters to comment on what might or might not be salvaged, but at very very least it sounds like you need an impeller.

What happened after you shut the boat down?

 

[Ridemywideglide]

Re: engine fire... NEED HELP DESPERATELY

Ayuh,... Sorry to hear that,...

Unless you're ready to dump a few Grand into it,...
Parting it out might help recoup some of your money...

Ahh what great advice from the master..


What you should do, claim buyers remorse, 3 business days. You were lied too and sold a lemon. Get your money back.
Then when you buy a better, running, boat, you could try for some advice.

 

[danond]

Re: engine fire... NEED HELP DESPERATELY

OMC, Merc, Volvo or otherwise, if you're not in the market to learn to maintain and repair an old boat yourself, you should be getting a loan and a warranty and looking at boats that say "2009" on the windshield at the dealer.

Your boat is probably fixable. Start with a service manual, and take some pictures then post them here. We'll do what we can. You have to initiate.

 

[Ridemywideglide]

Re: engine fire... NEED HELP DESPERATELY

OMC, Merc, Volvo or otherwise, if you're not in the market to learn to maintain and repair an old boat yourself, you should be getting a loan and a warranty and looking at boats that say "2009" on the windshield at the dealer.

Your boat is probably fixable. Start with a service manual, and take some pictures then post them here. We'll do what we can. You have to initiate.

Fixable maybe. Worth it? Maybe not... That's up to the OP. Should still be persuing some recourse.

 

[H8tank]

Re: engine fire... NEED HELP DESPERATELY

Ayuh,... Sorry to hear that,...

Unless you're ready to dump a few Grand into it,...
.

Bravo Sir! Excellent help! I hope others will take your lead and offer so much!

In regards to the thread author, did you start it in the driveway with no muffs?

How much was this boat?

 

[lowkee]

Re: engine fire... NEED HELP DESPERATELY

I'm with the others in saying.. Sorry to hear that!

The overheat issue could have been caused by the impeller, as other have said. The shifting issue may simply be a shift cable misadjusted or going/gone bad. Whether or not the gears need replacing as a result is a question needing an answer, as it sounds like the PO (previous owner) did as little as possible to that boat.

As for the 'mechanic', I think it is safe to say no real marine mechanic would release an engine that didn't work in gear unless you started it that way. The PO was obviously either too dumb to know better or hiding a real issue.

OMC no longer exists, so parts will be very tough to come by and diagnosing your overheat/shift issues as well as repairing the damage done may be more expensive than simply parting out the boat and looking for a different one. You could also go the replacement engine+outdrive route if you can find a 'donor' boat at a junk yard or on craigslist. That decision depends on how much you like the boat you have and how much you can spend. It may be you just made a really bad purchase and had a life's lesson to always research what you are buying and read the manual prior to operating equipment.

So,

The best case scenario may include:
impeller - $40
shift cable - $120
new wires for trim pumps - $20
a good cleaning - free!

Worst case may include:
all of the above, plus..
outdrive gears (by a real mechanic, this time) - $500 if you can find them, likely a used complete outdrive will be the cheaper solution
trim pump relays - $60

Sorry it couldn't be better news.

 

[wienermobile]

Re: engine fire... NEED HELP DESPERATELY

Thank you everyone for your replies. Just to clear things up I always have used muffs when running the motor. I am competent and have most of a shop manual.
I wanted to post my questions before I get into the book. I thought that the guy who sold it to me said he replaced the impeller, but maybe I was wrong. Ive read that those can be painful to replace. So any other ideas of why it would overheat, I ran it a few times in my driveway (with muffs on it!!!) for several minutes and it never smoked or overheated and I could easily put it in gear it just made a grinding sound. It seems that the "jump" into gear caused these problems. Is it possible that the violent slam into gear caused the impeller to not operate? Or maybe something else? Boat cost $2,700 so lets figure out how to fix it because I'll never recover that money unless I fix it. Ill post pics soon. thanks guys

 

[Ridemywideglide]

Re: engine fire... NEED HELP DESPERATELY

Ok first post, first time on forum, first inboard motor. I just purchased a 1982 sunrunner open bow. It has an OMC V6 original motor, 760 hours and seems to be in decent shape. The guy I bought it from says that he just had the gears in the outdrive propeller replaced by a licenced mechanic. Every time I put the boat in gear it would make a loud grinding noise. The noise is disturbingly loud when out of the water. The guy who sold it to me said to just start the boat in gear to avoid this. I dont really believe this to be good advice. the gears grind every time I have put it in drive or reverse.

I took it on the water for the first time today, started go0d and I let it idle in neutral for 5 min before putting it in reverse. I put it in reverse and heard no noise from the gears. I gave it gas and we went nowhere. I revved the engine almost to redline and the we just sat there motionless. I then turned the motor off, put it in reverse and started it again just like the guy told me to and nothing happened. After a minute the throttle was engaged in reverse slightly (maybe 2 or 3k rpms) and a very loud clank shook the entire boat and we started spinning wildly. I started it up again and it drove forward fine. we went out about a quarter mile and I noticed smoke coming from the engine. Lots of thick smoke and a small fire developed. The wires to my hydrualic tilt motor were melted because they were touching the engine. This didnt seem to be the only source of the smoke. There was smoke on both sides of the engine and smoke coming out of the brass wing-nut thing under the motor. Please help me
Thanks in advance.

First of all, I'm new as well, so take anything I say with caution.
Your engine should not get hot enough to melt ANY wires that may be touching it. I'd bet you have a short somewhere in the supply wires for the tilt.
The shifting, I have no idea on. I do know, it SHOULD NOT start in any gear. (disclaimer: starting in gear could be hazardous) But if you know this, and it works, and your careful, and your careful, and your careful, go with it. I would try to figure out the problem and fix it tho as it could be more damaging in the long run. Plus I just don't like it when things don't work as they're supposed to.
Trailer lights are supposed to work underwater, carbed engines should idle all day long, and boats should not catch fire 1/4 mile from the dock..

 

[84Monaco]

Re: engine fire... NEED HELP DESPERATELY

*******OK I just read the chapter on the cooling system and think my problem might lie here. The guy said he winterized it and I witnessed the first start of the year. The book says to drain the cooling system for winter. I recall smoke and drips of fluid coming from the coolant drain valves. I think the valves are open. I need to check if there is any coolant in it at all. The gear problem is still a mystery.

What do you mean by coolant? Anything in there should be raw water.

If those petcock valves are open, the only result will be water pumping out of them and into your hull. It should not cause an overheat situation. If there's no water in there then your impeller is probably the problem. They do go bad eventually even under normal conditions.