Hello all,
I just bought this boat last summer. This is my first boat and first time posting. Although, I do read the post quite often and have found you all to be very helpful.
My boat is a 1986 Imperial V192. It has a Merc 170 with a closed cooling system. Overall it treated me very well last year.
When I winterized it last year I made a fatal mistake. I ran the engine for several minutes without using any water for the sterndrive. I did not realize that even though it is a closed system it still needed a raw water source. I did not find out about the damage I had done until a few days ago when I returned the boat to the lake. I completely smoked the impeller in the sterndrive. It took a while for me to discover this. In the mean time, I was troubleshooting other possibilities. Throughout that process I continued to overheat the engine. FYI... I know I am a DA and I don't mind you thinking so. Just don't say it out loud...lol
Well I replaced the impeller, bought a set of muffs, and a garden hose. I tested my work and all seems well. In fact, the motor is running so cold now that I cannot even get the temp gauge to move. Starting to think there may be a problem there too. Maybe a loose wire or bad sending unit. Also, I took out the thermostat and may have placed it in the wrong way?
I just changed the oil before getting the boat back in the water. Up until yesterday, the oil looked nice and clean. I drove the boat today hard for about 15 minutes trying the get the motor up to normal running temp. It never did heat up and the gauge never moved. A few hours later I went back out to clean the fuel filters. When I removed the mechanical fuel pump, I noticed I had water in the oil. I pulled the dip stick to confirm if there was water there. Indeed there was. Not a whole lot, but enough to where the oil needs to be changed again.
I also noticed some bubbles coming from the block to exhaust gasket. They stopped after just a few minutes of running the engine.
So here is my question.
What all could be wrong and where is the best and cheapest place to start?
I am thinking head gasket, intake gasket, or exhaust manifold gasket. Worst case scenario, cracked block or head.
If the head is cracked, is it worth fixing or should it be replaced? How much would a head cost? If the block is cracked can it be sealed with something or is it trashed?
I just bought this boat last summer. This is my first boat and first time posting. Although, I do read the post quite often and have found you all to be very helpful.
My boat is a 1986 Imperial V192. It has a Merc 170 with a closed cooling system. Overall it treated me very well last year.
When I winterized it last year I made a fatal mistake. I ran the engine for several minutes without using any water for the sterndrive. I did not realize that even though it is a closed system it still needed a raw water source. I did not find out about the damage I had done until a few days ago when I returned the boat to the lake. I completely smoked the impeller in the sterndrive. It took a while for me to discover this. In the mean time, I was troubleshooting other possibilities. Throughout that process I continued to overheat the engine. FYI... I know I am a DA and I don't mind you thinking so. Just don't say it out loud...lol
Well I replaced the impeller, bought a set of muffs, and a garden hose. I tested my work and all seems well. In fact, the motor is running so cold now that I cannot even get the temp gauge to move. Starting to think there may be a problem there too. Maybe a loose wire or bad sending unit. Also, I took out the thermostat and may have placed it in the wrong way?
I just changed the oil before getting the boat back in the water. Up until yesterday, the oil looked nice and clean. I drove the boat today hard for about 15 minutes trying the get the motor up to normal running temp. It never did heat up and the gauge never moved. A few hours later I went back out to clean the fuel filters. When I removed the mechanical fuel pump, I noticed I had water in the oil. I pulled the dip stick to confirm if there was water there. Indeed there was. Not a whole lot, but enough to where the oil needs to be changed again.
I also noticed some bubbles coming from the block to exhaust gasket. They stopped after just a few minutes of running the engine.
So here is my question.
What all could be wrong and where is the best and cheapest place to start?
I am thinking head gasket, intake gasket, or exhaust manifold gasket. Worst case scenario, cracked block or head.
If the head is cracked, is it worth fixing or should it be replaced? How much would a head cost? If the block is cracked can it be sealed with something or is it trashed?
