I have a 1992 Bayliner 1950 classic with Mercruiser 3.0 and an Alpha One.
Boat ran fine for an entire weekend.. no problem at all.
Next weekend, started up just fine and got me 3 miles out into the lake before I ran into a problem.
Glanced at the temp gauge and noticed it was at 210 degrees F. The temperature gauge shows 100 (low end), 180 (mid point) and 260 (high end). So I assumed the boat was running a little hot and ignored it (yes, I know.....)
About 5 mins later I noticed white smoke/steam/something coming out of the blower vent on the side of the boat. I always run the blower, so it was picking up something from the outside of the engine.
I should mention that when I noticed this, the temp gauge was 250 degrees F, but the boat was running fine at 4000 rpm. It was going slower than it normally would and seemed to be running noisier than usual (obviously!). Seemed to be laboring very hard.
As soon as I saw this, I dropped it back to idle. It stalled about 1 second later. Blower kept pushing out white smoke.
Pulled off the cover and noticed two things smoking. a)the rocker cover had a thin coating of oil/grease/usual engine gunk and that was burning off. b)the rubber coupler in the exhaust (just after the big exhaust elbow) was smoking. Obviously the engine was really really hot.
Let the boat cool (to 180 degrees) but it never restarted. Perhaps I flooded it (this engine is a bit hard to start warm), or maybe the head gasket and/or head are messed up (more likely I think)
It's at the marina now which is 1.5hrs away from my house, so I haven't been back to see if it starts once it has cooled completely.
Called my boat tech and he suspected the following. I should point out that he is picking up the boat later in the week and has NOT yet looked at it. But he has been servicing Bayliners for 20+ yrs.
1. Certain: Impeller failed. This seems quite obvious to me. We have really sandy and shallow water (2ft deep in places, with lots of sandbars!) and the impeller has not been replaced in the 4.5 years I have owned the boat (I know....). Not sure if the previous owner replaced it ever.. for all I know, it could be the original 18yr old impeller.
2. Possible: head gasket failed from overheat
3. Possible: head cracked
He is quoting me all kinds of crazy prices as he doesn't seem to want to do just #1 above. He said that even if he replaces the impeller, the head gasket and/or head will fail in 2 weeks and I'll be upset with him. I'm not sure I want to spend the approx $2.5k he wants to do #2 and #3... he quoted $1600 for a replacement cylinder head alone (his prices are WAY up there but he's good at what he does...)
So here is my plan of attack.. does this make sense?
1. Have him replace the impeller (entire housing actually, since I'm sure it's melted). I know it's pretty easy to do, but I haven't done one before and don't want to end up with water in the drive lube, etc. He can do it pretty quick and I don't mind paying him the $200 or so including labor.
2. Go pick up the boat and change the head gasket myself. I do my own car work, and although I haven't done a cylinder head, I understand they are very easy on the 3.0L mercruiser. Plan to purchase the head gasket "set" (includes rocker cover gasket, etc.) and buy the intake/exhaust manifold gasket (comes separately). Will also take my bottle of Permatex #2 gasket sealer. Apparently on this engine you don't disturb the timing or anything.. just need to remove the intake manifold, carb, disconnect fuel lines and sensors, remove coil/ignition wires, etc....
3. If the head has a crack, I'll order one of the Sierra replacements for ~$500 and install it rather than the original one.
4. Will replace the rubber exhaust coupler. I am sure it's fine, but it was smoking and my boat guy says they fail from the inside out. I think they're about $20 so why not.
I figure I have an afternoon worth of work and maybe $100 worth of parts.
Am I missing something here? Boat guy is looking for close to $3000 , and I figure I can pay him the $250 for impeller + buy $100 parts + an afternoon of labor.
For reference, I do my own car work. Have done brakes on Mercedes/BMW/various American cars, replaced fuel injection manifolds, some light exhaust/suspension work (hate doing this stuff so haven't done much), radiators, water pumps, etc.
From the SELOC manual I have, this doesn't look like a job that is beyond my abilities or anything.
Is this really only 2-3 hours worth of my time to get the boat running properly? Just want to make sure as the "other half" says 'just pay the man the 3k so we can have a running boat'. Yeah right.. he needs 3-4 weeks to fix it if it needs a head, so I'm not sure it's going to take me any longer than him
Boat ran fine for an entire weekend.. no problem at all.
Next weekend, started up just fine and got me 3 miles out into the lake before I ran into a problem.
Glanced at the temp gauge and noticed it was at 210 degrees F. The temperature gauge shows 100 (low end), 180 (mid point) and 260 (high end). So I assumed the boat was running a little hot and ignored it (yes, I know.....)
About 5 mins later I noticed white smoke/steam/something coming out of the blower vent on the side of the boat. I always run the blower, so it was picking up something from the outside of the engine.
I should mention that when I noticed this, the temp gauge was 250 degrees F, but the boat was running fine at 4000 rpm. It was going slower than it normally would and seemed to be running noisier than usual (obviously!). Seemed to be laboring very hard.
As soon as I saw this, I dropped it back to idle. It stalled about 1 second later. Blower kept pushing out white smoke.
Pulled off the cover and noticed two things smoking. a)the rocker cover had a thin coating of oil/grease/usual engine gunk and that was burning off. b)the rubber coupler in the exhaust (just after the big exhaust elbow) was smoking. Obviously the engine was really really hot.
Let the boat cool (to 180 degrees) but it never restarted. Perhaps I flooded it (this engine is a bit hard to start warm), or maybe the head gasket and/or head are messed up (more likely I think)
It's at the marina now which is 1.5hrs away from my house, so I haven't been back to see if it starts once it has cooled completely.
Called my boat tech and he suspected the following. I should point out that he is picking up the boat later in the week and has NOT yet looked at it. But he has been servicing Bayliners for 20+ yrs.
1. Certain: Impeller failed. This seems quite obvious to me. We have really sandy and shallow water (2ft deep in places, with lots of sandbars!) and the impeller has not been replaced in the 4.5 years I have owned the boat (I know....). Not sure if the previous owner replaced it ever.. for all I know, it could be the original 18yr old impeller.
2. Possible: head gasket failed from overheat
3. Possible: head cracked
He is quoting me all kinds of crazy prices as he doesn't seem to want to do just #1 above. He said that even if he replaces the impeller, the head gasket and/or head will fail in 2 weeks and I'll be upset with him. I'm not sure I want to spend the approx $2.5k he wants to do #2 and #3... he quoted $1600 for a replacement cylinder head alone (his prices are WAY up there but he's good at what he does...)
So here is my plan of attack.. does this make sense?
1. Have him replace the impeller (entire housing actually, since I'm sure it's melted). I know it's pretty easy to do, but I haven't done one before and don't want to end up with water in the drive lube, etc. He can do it pretty quick and I don't mind paying him the $200 or so including labor.
2. Go pick up the boat and change the head gasket myself. I do my own car work, and although I haven't done a cylinder head, I understand they are very easy on the 3.0L mercruiser. Plan to purchase the head gasket "set" (includes rocker cover gasket, etc.) and buy the intake/exhaust manifold gasket (comes separately). Will also take my bottle of Permatex #2 gasket sealer. Apparently on this engine you don't disturb the timing or anything.. just need to remove the intake manifold, carb, disconnect fuel lines and sensors, remove coil/ignition wires, etc....
3. If the head has a crack, I'll order one of the Sierra replacements for ~$500 and install it rather than the original one.
4. Will replace the rubber exhaust coupler. I am sure it's fine, but it was smoking and my boat guy says they fail from the inside out. I think they're about $20 so why not.
I figure I have an afternoon worth of work and maybe $100 worth of parts.
Am I missing something here? Boat guy is looking for close to $3000 , and I figure I can pay him the $250 for impeller + buy $100 parts + an afternoon of labor.
For reference, I do my own car work. Have done brakes on Mercedes/BMW/various American cars, replaced fuel injection manifolds, some light exhaust/suspension work (hate doing this stuff so haven't done much), radiators, water pumps, etc.
From the SELOC manual I have, this doesn't look like a job that is beyond my abilities or anything.
Is this really only 2-3 hours worth of my time to get the boat running properly? Just want to make sure as the "other half" says 'just pay the man the 3k so we can have a running boat'. Yeah right.. he needs 3-4 weeks to fix it if it needs a head, so I'm not sure it's going to take me any longer than him
