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  1. Lou C

    Water line runs to backing plate drum brakes ?

    Mine (salt water) has always had a flush system
  2. Lou C

    Mercruiser ECM replacement?

    Any water in the oil? What’s it look like under the valve covers? Clean oil or milky like mixed with water?
  3. Lou C

    Mercruiser ECM replacement?

    Yep not normal Possible causes: Engine not stored right, flame arrestor left off and rainwater gets in Internal engine failure like a blown head gasket can allow water in the intake (this happened to mine) Either one isn’t good…
  4. Lou C

    91 Seaswirl 4.3 OMC Cobra Shifter Lever Controls.

    Yes you can the idea is to get equal travel on either side of neutral
  5. Lou C

    Ideal tongue weight?

    Well I can see not fixing what ain’t broke but if you have to tow that over 30 mph, get it weighed and fix it. There is no way that a tongue weight of 172 lbs is safe for a boat that size. 3100 lbs? Well FW said the dry weight of mine was about 2600 lbs! I thought it was more more like 3500 but...
  6. Lou C

    VP 5.0GL-C Head Gasket FelPro Part Number

    And check the torque specs on those Vortec intake gasket they are much lower than the pre Vortec. The Vortec intake gaskets have locating pins that help hold them in place when lowering that heavy cast iron intake in place. Pre Vortec doesn’t so I used a bit of Permatex Aviation to hold ‘em...
  7. Lou C

    Ideal tongue weight?

    it should be a LOT more than that. My boat which is about the same size has 420 lbs of tongue weight. Trailer companies recommendations vary from 5-10% of total weight, mine's at about 8.8% or so, total weight is 5050 lbs, 4650 lbs on the axle. To increase tongue weight the boat has to come...
  8. Lou C

    4.3lx intake manifold question

    When discussing max rpm remember that the engine manufacturers give their ranges for the boat being loaded as typically used. That is if you are out testing all by yourself, you are lightly loaded, and in that case you should prop it to get closer to 5000 rpm to allow for increased loads in the...
  9. Lou C

    91 Seaswirl 4.3 OMC Cobra Shifter Lever Controls.

    Is the drive installed? If these are shifted with the engine off you can sometimes find that they get jammed in gear. Have someone try to spin the prop while you work the shifter (KEY OUT ENGINE OFF). If it’s really stuck you may have to remove the drive….
  10. Lou C

    Camshaft Replacement on Vortec 4.3L 262

    You can tell if your engine came off that line because the GM serial # in the front starboard side of the block will have a T for Tonawanda in the serial #… Mine did & definitely had the stainless head gaskets when I took it apart…
  11. Lou C

    4.3lx intake manifold question

    I think you’ve got something else going on there. I have a pre Vortec 4.3 with the standard cyl head design and with the 4bbl Quadrajet & a 15.5x15 prop (heavy 20’ boat) it easily pulls up to & slightly over 5,000 rpm.
  12. Lou C

    Camshaft Replacement on Vortec 4.3L 262

    Was going to add that, make sure the cam overlap won’t cause reversion. When they went to the Vortec heads in ‘96, the 4.3s were seen as more susceptible to reversion (not sure if it’s the head design or cam, Scott do you know?). V/P made a few changes to off set this, they added one way check...
  13. Lou C

    1995 5.0L Carb Replacement Options

    What???!!!! Is this a Mercarb 2 bbl? Why not remove the carb yourself & have it rebuilt at a classic car shop or do it yourself? I’d want to see the insides first… $1500 Highway robbery You can get brand new Holley or Edelbrock 4 bbls for less than that! As in, half as much
  14. Lou C

    Does this sound right? Mercruiser 4.3 Low Compression

    Agreed there is better advice here than anywhere. When I took the old 4.3 apart 5 years ago it was the first real engine repair I ever did, (even though I maintained all our vehicles since the 70s) lots of small skills to learn along the way…cleaning parts properly, cleaning out bolt hole...
  15. Lou C

    Four weens 1990 freedom throttle shifter

    Those old OMC shifters are probable NLA. I’d just get a modern one like a Teleflex (Seastar). I still have one on mine they were pretty good actually. The OMC or latter BRP ones may only work with their engines whereas the Seastar is adaptable to OMC Merc or Volvo
  16. Lou C

    Does this sound right? Mercruiser 4.3 Low Compression

    Do a leak down test, if your bottom end is good, you might be able to just do this.... Here in Long Island NY parts prices were about $750 for the reman heads, new gasket set and ARP cyl head bolts.
  17. Lou C

    SX-M Lower Gear Housing

    well, are you going to be able to set up the gears in the new housing yourself? if you've done differentials and have a Volvo manual and whatever tools you will need, maybe OK but for us typical do it yourselfers that's not practical if you want a good outcome. I would try to get a good rebuilt...
  18. Lou C

    Does this sound right? Mercruiser 4.3 Low Compression

    Agreed the shop didn't do enough diagnostic work to really say what's needed. All that might be needed is a valve job! Not that hard to do on those engines and parts are cheap.
  19. Lou C

    4.3 V6 leaks wet oil sump

    Agreed I'd want to take the time to really clean that up and try to see just where it is leaking from. May be the front cover. Ironically I have not had leaks from the old tin pan and timing cover on my ancient 1988 4.3. I've been spraying them every few years with Corrosion X to keep em from...
  20. Lou C

    Blew the coolant hose from thermostat housing to water circulator / starboard riser hotter than port side- Do I need a new riser or circulating pump?

    Make sure that you have no rust clogging the outlets in the stat housing that feed the manifolds, and that there are no impeller bits in the hoses that feed the manifolds, esp the one with the hot elbow (riser). You might try: clean the outlet ports in the stat housing, blow thru the hoses...
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