jetpilot500
Recruit
- Joined
- Nov 22, 2013
- Messages
- 1
I'll start by saying that I'm new to boats so please forgive any technical errors...
I bought my first boat, a 2000 Four Winns, after labor day last year and ran it for 5 or 6 hours before winterizing the engine. This spring I pulled it out, change the oil, spark plugs, impeller, etc... before putting it in the water the first time. I fired it up at the dock, leak checked everything as it warmed up and once satisfied I pushed off. Well, not too long after getting going I noticed my water temp starting to climb up. As it climbed to about 200 I shut down the engine. Do note that when I did this the water temp was climbing but the gauge was not pegged. I opened up the hatch and noticed that the water hose going from my impeller up to my water pump had come off. This is totally my fault as it appears I didn't get this clamp tight enough and it wiggled off once under way. I noticed the paint on the exhaust pipe aft of the exhaust elbow was blistered and smoldering a bit. Took a tow into the dock and put it on the trailer.
Got it to the house and inspected everything visually with no defects noted (other than paint blister). Hooked up the water line, ran fresh water to the outdrive and fired it up. It ran great; everything nice and cool. Being relatively naive, I figured that everything would be fine and I just dodged a bullet. Waited one week, put it in the water and it wouldn't turn over. Back on the trailer and made the trip home.
I pulled once spark plug and a bunch of water came out. Pulled the rest of the plugs and only small amounts or traces of water was found on the spark plugs. Used a breaker bar and turned the engine over by hand with all plugs out. I had no rotation issues and water would squirt out of spark plug holes one at a time. So I'm thinking that my exhaust manifold filled up with water and the once cylinder that had water in it was the one with the exhaust valve open. As I turned the engine over by hand, water comes out of each spark plug hole as the respective exhaust valve opens up.
Next step was to pull the exhaust on the port side. Started by removing the exhaust elbow. The gasket between the exhaust elbow and the exhaust manifold was toast. It was clear to me that water could move between the water jackets and the exhaust port. In addition, water removed from that manifold was dark, telling me that it had been exposed to combustion/exhaust. When I drained water out of the starboard side it looked fine. I then pulled the exhaust manifold from the block. The gasket between block and manifold looks great; I see no reason to believe that there was any heat problems with the block that could give head gasket issues... Identical condition of gaskets and the starboard exhaust. Oil looks great, no water on the dipstick. Additionally, with the manifold off, I can see inside the exhaust port and see water standing on top of the exhaust valve. So, I'm pretty confident that all water in the cylinders came from exhaust.
I believe that I would've been fine had I immediately taken the exhaust apart and replaced gaskets, etc... I do believe that running the engine at home introduced water back to the exhaust and ultimately drained into a cylinder. Lesson learned...
Here's where I'm at now: I used compressed air and blew out water from spark plug holes and exhaust ports. I sprayed WD40 into the cylinders and exhaust ports to help displace water and prevent corrosion. I'm ready to order parts. What makes sense to me is to clean up my exhaust manifolds, exhaust elbows and install new gaskets and exhaust hoses. While I have everything open I'm going to do plug wires, plugs, etc... I think I'll just go ahead and replace the water hoses, thermostat and impeller while I'm at it. Being new to the boat I'd rather be confident in the condition of those items then to wait for later. They're cheap anyway.
After all the work is done, I think I'll hook up water to the outdrive and run it for 15 to 20 minutes in my driveway. I'll probably change the oil again.
I'm curious to what the more savvy boaters think about my strategy. Thanks in advance for any help.
I bought my first boat, a 2000 Four Winns, after labor day last year and ran it for 5 or 6 hours before winterizing the engine. This spring I pulled it out, change the oil, spark plugs, impeller, etc... before putting it in the water the first time. I fired it up at the dock, leak checked everything as it warmed up and once satisfied I pushed off. Well, not too long after getting going I noticed my water temp starting to climb up. As it climbed to about 200 I shut down the engine. Do note that when I did this the water temp was climbing but the gauge was not pegged. I opened up the hatch and noticed that the water hose going from my impeller up to my water pump had come off. This is totally my fault as it appears I didn't get this clamp tight enough and it wiggled off once under way. I noticed the paint on the exhaust pipe aft of the exhaust elbow was blistered and smoldering a bit. Took a tow into the dock and put it on the trailer.
Got it to the house and inspected everything visually with no defects noted (other than paint blister). Hooked up the water line, ran fresh water to the outdrive and fired it up. It ran great; everything nice and cool. Being relatively naive, I figured that everything would be fine and I just dodged a bullet. Waited one week, put it in the water and it wouldn't turn over. Back on the trailer and made the trip home.
I pulled once spark plug and a bunch of water came out. Pulled the rest of the plugs and only small amounts or traces of water was found on the spark plugs. Used a breaker bar and turned the engine over by hand with all plugs out. I had no rotation issues and water would squirt out of spark plug holes one at a time. So I'm thinking that my exhaust manifold filled up with water and the once cylinder that had water in it was the one with the exhaust valve open. As I turned the engine over by hand, water comes out of each spark plug hole as the respective exhaust valve opens up.
Next step was to pull the exhaust on the port side. Started by removing the exhaust elbow. The gasket between the exhaust elbow and the exhaust manifold was toast. It was clear to me that water could move between the water jackets and the exhaust port. In addition, water removed from that manifold was dark, telling me that it had been exposed to combustion/exhaust. When I drained water out of the starboard side it looked fine. I then pulled the exhaust manifold from the block. The gasket between block and manifold looks great; I see no reason to believe that there was any heat problems with the block that could give head gasket issues... Identical condition of gaskets and the starboard exhaust. Oil looks great, no water on the dipstick. Additionally, with the manifold off, I can see inside the exhaust port and see water standing on top of the exhaust valve. So, I'm pretty confident that all water in the cylinders came from exhaust.
I believe that I would've been fine had I immediately taken the exhaust apart and replaced gaskets, etc... I do believe that running the engine at home introduced water back to the exhaust and ultimately drained into a cylinder. Lesson learned...
Here's where I'm at now: I used compressed air and blew out water from spark plug holes and exhaust ports. I sprayed WD40 into the cylinders and exhaust ports to help displace water and prevent corrosion. I'm ready to order parts. What makes sense to me is to clean up my exhaust manifolds, exhaust elbows and install new gaskets and exhaust hoses. While I have everything open I'm going to do plug wires, plugs, etc... I think I'll just go ahead and replace the water hoses, thermostat and impeller while I'm at it. Being new to the boat I'd rather be confident in the condition of those items then to wait for later. They're cheap anyway.
After all the work is done, I think I'll hook up water to the outdrive and run it for 15 to 20 minutes in my driveway. I'll probably change the oil again.
I'm curious to what the more savvy boaters think about my strategy. Thanks in advance for any help.