I see a fitting on the upper section of the manifold that shows a leak trail to the bottom section. If you can stop that leak it may help keeping the H/E full. Also to bleed the air out of the HE I like the Lisle radiator funnel. This works great at getting the air out without spilling AF all...
Look at as an opportunity to upgrade to a late model 4.3 with Vortec heads, 4 bbl carb & balance shaft.
BTW one thing I love about this engine is how economical it is with the 4 bbl Quadrajet carb. While the 4.3 is a bit underpowered in my heavy 20’ bow rider given the high cost of fuel now...
That boat has not been used in years obvious by the barnacles on the outdrive & all over the transom.
If you want a project that will require you to learn nearly every aspect of boat restoration then that’s one thing. If you want a boat to use within the next year or so forget it!
I've never checked temps on a Merc but on my OMC with the OMC/Volvo style stat housing & 160* stat, it reads closest to the dash gauge temp when I take a reading of the intake manifold right under the stat housing. The gauge will read 160-165 and the intake will read 145-150 or so. The stat...
The milkshake could be from blown head gaskets due to an overheat; you can air pressure the cooling passages to see if they hold pressure (15 psi). I had an overheat on mine then the head gaskets blew approx 3 seasons later. Wound up taking it apart & replaced the head gaskets & heads (cracked)...
There was so much fuel being discharged from the venturis you’d think the electric fuel pump was still running! To check to see if the needle valve holds flip the carb over and try blowing thru the intake port. If it’s holding you should not be able to blow thru it. If you can the float is...
I think you’re referring to the one piece unit that looks like it’s from an ‘80s Mustang correct? There was a guy on the www.ifourwinns.com board who did this, you might go over there & search around to see how they did it.
The true test is the manual gauge, electric gauges can fail due to electrical issues.
Only other thing I can think of is if the oil was never changed & there’s a bunch of sludge in the pan & the oil pump pick up is clogged…
If it’s a 1997 it should have a Vortec engine which requires the electric fuel pump & the oil pressure switch to power the pump after the engine starts. I might before pulling the engine pull the distributor to see if the distributor & cam gears are torn up since the distributor shaft is what...
Where I am in Long Island any oily discharge will get you a fine if it gets reported to the police or Coast Guard. Last year I had to pull my boat in Sept due to the leaky ps actuator putting ATF in the bilge water….you don’t want to be hitting the bilge pump switch and putting a strawberry...
Battery switch is a good start. The only thing that should be powered with it OFF is the auto bilge switch/pump. At the beginning of the season it is a good idea to make sure that the alternator is actually charging the batteries and also check for any parasitic draws, with older boats you never...
Well I can't say what happens in most cases but my block was fine when both my HGs blew and both heads had cracks. My overheat was BAD.... You can get the shop to check out your heads, if they are OK do a valve job at the same time. For the block if you're not wanting to pull it, I think there's...
Well it looks like you engine has the warm manifold set up where the manifolds don’t get cooling water till the thermostat opens; the elbows get cooling water all the time. They are fed by separate hoses.
In the diagram they show the cool manifolds set up where the manifolds & elbows are fed by...
For winter storage I keep mine down, when its on the mooring I keep it about half way up due to low water at low tide. I have found that keeping it down over winter makes the OE bellows last a long time. Last one went 11 years before I noticed small cracks in the folds meaning its time to...
I'd be concerned about all that white smoke! Did you have that before the overheat?
When you did the HGs did you have the cyl heads checked out by a machine shop?
I had a similar problem (overheat, followed by blown HGs a few seasons later) a few years back and the machine shop found that the...
Well
what I'd do is get the problem solved and AS SOON AS YOU DO, put it up for sale. Buy a boat with a Mercury, Yamaha or Suzuki outboard, and leave those problems behind you. There is no question despite their complexity that modern outboards are more reliable.
The ONLY reason why, I still...
I think it depends on your boating area, if you boat in a lot of shallow sandy water or muddy water then a back flush might be helpful because if you are running in like 3-4 feet of water you can suck up stuff that will cause problems. IIRC the SX drives actually had a flush out port you could...
