Merc 4.3 bilge question

[Slayer315]

Hi all. Recently sold my old boat, and upgraded. Got a ton of help and advice from this forum when I " remodeled" the old Bayliner. Looking for a little help again.
I bought a 2006 Rinker Captiva 192 with a 220 hp 4.3 MPI and alpha one. It has roughly 300 hrs now. I bought it from the second owner, who bought it with150 hrs. Second owner spent almost $10,000 rebuilding the motor and fixing some stuff( original owner let it freeze). Aesthetically it is in good condition. Mechanically it appears to run well and everything seems good. I have only been able to drive it on the test ride.
I hope this is in the correct thread. I am sure I will have many questions as we go, but here is one of my initial ones.
When we got done with test drive, the seller put boat on trailer and pulled out. He turned on the bilge pump and it pumped out close to a gallon of water. I questioned this and asked if there was a leak. I had looked in the bilge but didn't see any water earlier in the ride. The seller told me this,
" the bilge pump pulls water not only from the bilge area, but also from a storage tank of sorts. The impeller pulls up water, sends it to a small tank, then runs it through the motor. This is to help,in the possibility that the motor is ran out of water. When your done you turn on the pump and it will pull water out of the tank as well as bilge."
Is this true or make sense?
Any help would be appreciated.

 

[tpenfield]

" the bilge pump pulls water not only from the bilge area, but also from a storage tank of sorts. The impeller pulls up water, sends it to a small tank, then runs it through the motor. This is to help,in the possibility that the motor is ran out of water. When your done you turn on the pump and it will pull water out of the tank as well as bilge."
Is this true or make sense?
Any help would be appreciated.

No it does not make sense, but it is a creative explanation for something that may need a little more investigation. Clearly, you could verify that incredulous explanation by a quick look in the engine compartment and elsewhere.

 

[Bt Doctur]

a bilge pump is exactly what the name implies, it pumps water from the bilge if necessary.

 

[harleyman1975]

That Story ranks right up there with the one about "white lithium farm oil". dont' ask...

 

[Slayer315]

Yes it sounded a little strange to me also. This is my first i/o, so I had a small part of me that thought," oh ok, something unexpected, but maybe a neat feature."
I can see part of the fuel tank, but no other tank. Any suggestions on where else to look or any kind of test? I'm really thinking he just didn't know what he was talking about.

 

[Rick Stephens]

On a fresh water cooled 4.3L V6 the water comes from the outdrive and goes through the transom plate just above the drive shaft on the inside of the boat. The rubber water hose curves down under the engine on the port side, goes through a power steering oil cooler right behind the motor mount, and then up under the power steering pump to the thermostat housing. You should be able to trace that hose path from transom plate to thermostat housing. My guess is the boat is stock and you'll see everything is normal mercruiser.

If so, next step is run the motor on muffs and see if you have any leaks in the cooling system.

After that is splash the boat and see what leaks.

Best of luck. Bet it's something simple.

Rick

 

[tpenfield]

Yes it sounded a little strange to me also. . . . I'm really thinking he just didn't know what he was talking about.

Don't knock yourself out looking for any 'special tank'. you may be best served by running the engine on the muffs to see if there are any leaks, or better yet, put the boat in the water and see if it leaks.

 

[wahlejim]

My money is on the bellows! So often overlooked when major overhauls are done and so simple to do...

 

[Fun Times]

Second owner spent almost $10,000 rebuilding the motor and fixing some stuff( original owner let it freeze).
" the bilge pump pulls water not only from the bilge area, but also from a storage tank of sorts. The impeller pulls up water, sends it to a small tank, then runs it through the motor. This is to help,in the possibility that the motor is ran out of water. When your done you turn on the pump and it will pull water out of the tank as well as bilge."
Is this true or make sense?

With the time used on the boat and the money spent on the repairs, one would think the previous owner should know the workings of the boat inside and out.

Being the boat should be similar to this one ( http://www.boattest.com/review/nada/857 ?) it doesn't appear that it would have any water storage tanks or livewells that could drain into the bilge area but without looking, you may not know. Also bear in mind that some boats may offer an ice chest 'liner' with a drain for the melted ice water...But not much water should come from that if/when you use it.

With the money spent to repair the boat, maybe the previous owner added an inline sea strainers but it shouldn't necessarily be dumping into the bilge area. Here's some images of sea strainers for you just in case you find something different (other than stock) in your searches. http://www.bing.com/images/search?q...R&pq=sea strainers &sc=8-14&sp=2&qs=AS&sk=AS1

You'll definitely want to start looking for a water leak due to you'll need to know where, why and how much water is getting inside the boat as that isn't normal on most boat models. If you happen to see any type of water storage tanks, you may also want to check the tank's venting system for letting water out as that can/has happen on some boat models in the past.

If you see/find something you're unsure of, maybe posting a photo or video may help someone recognize something unusual the previous owner claims to be installed.

Good luck.

 

[thumpar]

Does it have closed cooling? That is my only guess on the "tank" (heat exchanger). With that amount of money spent I would think that he had someone else do the work so he may not understand engines.

 

[Slayer315]

Thanks guys. I am at work today, but I will try and follow the line tomorrow and see what I see.
As far as previous owner knowing about the boat, I didn't get the impression he was much of a hands on guy or a boat person as much as he had friends that hung out on boats on his local lake and he wanted to be at the party.
I just winterized the boat and didn't see any leaks, at least nothing obvious.
Wahlejim, I am new to I/o, bellows?

 

[Bt Doctur]

the main bellows is what protects the inputshaft and U joints of the drive. usually a 5-6 year item.
It is best to remove the drive for inspection and servicing the U joints and inputshaft, and checking engine alignment.
Does this have any livewells?

 

[Slayer315]

the main bellows is what protects the inputshaft and U joints of the drive. usually a 5-6 year item.
It is best to remove the drive for inspection and servicing the U joints and inputshaft, and checking engine alignment.
Does this have any livewells?

No live wells.
As far as the bellows, is that something I could see a problem, or is it something that you won't see? I look up bellows and looks like they are around $100. Is it easy to replace?

 

[Bt Doctur]

the rubber items are replacement items. the get old, soft, and tear. the main bellow will show a leak above or below the inputshaft. easily seen and heard .
the shift bellows will show leakage to the right and just below the inputshaft.. the exaust bellow/boot/ sleeve is a non issue concerning water leakage.
other leak points are the water inlet hose/bushing, and the exaust Y pipe from a corroded hole.
with a few tools bellows replacement is not hard.

 

[Rick Stephens]

There are a bunch pf good "mercruiser Alpha bellows" replacement videos on utube.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=mercruiser+alpha+bellows+replacement

And lots more information in the adults only section at the top.
http://forums.iboats.com/forum/engi...miscellaneous-mercruiser-information?t=329915

 

[Slayer315]

Well, this story continues. I am guessing this is not good news. When I winterized it( and ran straight water till the engine got warm) I did not notice anything. Well today I was tinkering and decided to open ski locker to see if it needed a good cleaning. There was pink water in there. It was not in there before I winterized. I didn't even think to look in there earlier( during or after winterization). One of the things I did for winterizing was run antifreeze.( The boat will be garaged most of the winter, but will probably go out a few days here and there when other projects come up.) when I ran it, it was in the driveway, and my driveway has a slight slope, making the boat tilt fwd.
So I am guessing since the antifreeze made its way into the ski locker, I have a leak somewhere. Would this be the bellows?
If I was to hooks up the water muffs and flowed water would I be pushing water into the engine if I didn't start it? My thought is that it may help me see if there is a leak( or even hear it) if the motor is not running, as well as not push out the antifreeze.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[thumpar]

That would not be the bellows. Water only comes out the exhaust bellows and those are technically not needed at all.

 

[tpenfield]

The boat's cooling system should not discharge any liquid into the bilge. So, you can assume that you have a leak in the cooling system. As mentioned, not the bellows, but it could be in the exhaust connections from the engine to the transom assembly. It could be the intake leading to the engine . . . or it could be the engine itself.

If you want to find it now, you may need to run the engine some more with water flowing via the 'muffs'. If you want to wait until spring, then your could leave as is so long that you are comfortable with the winterizing.

 

[alldodge]

I read you ran pink antifreeze though the engine but did not read anything about draining the block, exhaust, cooler, etc.

As others have mentioned, put the muffs back on it, turn the water on and start looking for leaks. If no leaks are found start the motor and continue to look.

I sure hope the PO wasn't trying to use smoke and mirrors to hide a cracked block

 

[Slayer315]

I am hoping it's not cracked block as well. Prior to running the antifreeze( with water from muffs) I opened the single point drain and water drained out. Is that what you are referring to?