Help! - Lower Bellows came off and after a hard reverse I had a serious loss of power

[bassmantweed]

I went to the dealer on Wednesday as I noticed that my lower bellow had come off. I was leaving for Lake Sunapee on Thursday and needed the boat but asked the dealer if i would do any damage if i took my boat out as is. He told me no it would just sound louder and I would not do any damage.

Fast forward to Saturday. I was running fine until i did a pretty hard reverse...... after that my boat would barely go above 8 mph....... I could push the throttle all the way forward but the rpm's would not go above 3000 and it was a very rough experience as it felt like the engine was about to die......

Now that being said if i put it in neutral and revved the engine it purred like a kitten....... I checked all my engine fluds and everything appeared normal with no signs of water in the engine.......

I plan to take it back to the dealer tomorrow but would appreciate any Thoughts or suggestions????

Its a mercury 3.0 sterndrive with a 2.0 lower unit.

 

[bassmantweed]

Re: Help! - Lower Bellows came off and after a hard reverse I had a serious loss of p

FYI - I just hooked up my flush kit and it seems to be ok.......... I rant it up to about 3200 rmp and it seemed much smoother. Granted it was not under load. I did not want to go much higher than that as I was afraid running it without a load might not be good for it.

 

[CharlieB]

Re: Help! - Lower Bellows came off and after a hard reverse I had a serious loss of p

IF water sloshed up the exhaust and back into the manifold it may have warped an exhaust valve.

Test compression, a low cyl may give cause for further testing such as a cyl leak down test, which can identify exactly where any leakage is, that should give you a better idea if and how much any repairs may be.

Also, this should have been posted in the MERCRUISER forum

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Please move this post to the Mercruiser forum

 

[bassmantweed]

Re: Help! - Lower Bellows came off and after a hard reverse I had a serious loss of p

Thanks & My apologies!!!!!

So what can i expect for a repair bill?

 

[bassmantweed]

Re: Help! - Lower Bellows came off and after a hard reverse I had a serious loss of p

i have read other posts that say maybe a clogged fuel filter.....

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Help! - Lower Bellows came off and after a hard reverse I had a serious loss of p

Normally you can run 'em without an exhaust bellows. Merc makes some Alpha I/Os with just an exhaust tube that is not waterproof. There are "exhaust flappers" that will usually keep any water out of the motor, via the exhaust pipe, when the motor is off. When the motor is running, the exhuast will normally keep any water out.

I say usually, because some boats do not have properly designed exhaust systems, and water can enter them. Take a compression test. If you have a bent valve, it will show on the test.

 

[bassmantweed]

Re: Help! - Lower Bellows came off and after a hard reverse I had a serious loss of p

took it to the dealer today and #2 spark plug wire had "become loose."