mercruiser 3.0 inline 4 has been under water

[saffi]

Recently bought a Glastron V177 that has been underwater. I have no clue how long. Since I got it for next to nothing and I like the looks I thought about rebuilding. First considered putting in a donor engine but since the floor of the boat is also rotting I want to spend as little as possible until I know what else needs to be done in time. Stringers appear to be good though...

So I removed most of the water and oil and want to pull the head. Got the power back on the instruments etc. Solenoid on the starter is clicking but engine won't turn over. Could also be the starter as it was in the water but I guess engine is stuck. Tried to get the head off. Since I'm working alone I want to seperate the Exhaust manifold (and intake right?) from the cylinder head. It seems impossible. Tried to wedge etc but it moves only an fraction on the front. Anybody any thoughts on how to get them separated? I ordered the manual but it takes 'till October 26th to arrive

Once the head is off, how can I free the pistons if they are frozen? Any other tips on how to go about cleaning and reviving the engine?

Engine s/n is 4512515

Thanks..

 

[saffi]

Re: mercruiser 3.0 inline 4 has been under water

Forgot to mention.... Boat is from 1974, engine also I guess...

 

[oops!]

Re: mercruiser 3.0 inline 4 has been under water

im guessing that you missed a bolt in the mainifold. even a rusted on one will fall off with a good whack

 

[tpenfield]

Re: mercruiser 3.0 inline 4 has been under water

Why would you buy a boat that has been under water?

You probably missed a bolt on the manifold, it is easy to do.

 

[saffi]

Re: mercruiser 3.0 inline 4 has been under water

Will have a look tonight. I thought I must have missed a bolt and really had a good look but obviously not good enough.

I bought it because it was unknown if there was any damage. Kind of a gamble. Besides, if I only sell the prop I could get my money back I also want to learn more about these engines. They seem quite straight foreward and easy to work on. It's a winter project for me, need something to do. I might move on if it doesn't work out. I like the shape of the boat though, nearly a classic On the other hand, I still have a Russian Volga 70 that needs work and since it's not in my back yard I can't seem to get to it...

 

[saffi]

Re: mercruiser 3.0 inline 4 has been under water

Missed a bolt indeed, came off easily, should have known.

So now I saw the head and cylinders. Number two (from the front) seems the worst. Does rust in a cylinder mean "forget it"? Also valves are rusty. The engine doesn't need to be perfect shape after getting it done with lowest effort possible. If I could get some 100 hours on it I'd be satisfied I guess. Hmmm, I guess I know the answer to the questions. I'm usually quite meticulous about my engines but with this one I just want to "see if it runs and for how long" with hardly any investments. Maybe I should trade it in for a donor...

I made some pics, don't know how to embed them so I'll post links:

http://www.bronco.nl/BILD0603.JPG
http://www.bronco.nl/BILD0604.JPG
http://www.bronco.nl/BILD0605.JPG
http://www.bronco.nl/BILD0606.JPG

 

[cavalier858]

Re: mercruiser 3.0 inline 4 has been under water

Scrap iron

 

[saffi]

Re: mercruiser 3.0 inline 4 has been under water

Scrap iron

that's what I want to hear....

 

[NetDoc]

Re: mercruiser 3.0 inline 4 has been under water

Let me know if you want to sell the harmonic balancer!!! I need one now.

 

[cr2k]

Re: mercruiser 3.0 inline 4 has been under water

The starter is toast also.

 

[sschefer]

Re: mercruiser 3.0 inline 4 has been under water

Scrap Iron??? No such thing.. Costing more to fix than you'd pay for a rebuilt long block is more like it. However, if you want to spread that cost out over a long period of time then yes, you can probably fix it. That head will clean up in a Sand Blast cabinet. The valves and seats will be replaced with hardened ones so you can run unleaded fuel. You can take their condition out of the problem picture. Get the head surfaced and if it comes out flat then it's a keeper.

Most of that cylinder rust will clean up with a brush hone but that's done just so you can run a bore gauge down it and find out how badly pitted it is. Check out www.wiseco.com to find out what size pistons you can go with, you don't have to use expensive wiseco pistons but they often carry a .040 over size that other companies won't have. The deepest pit cannot be anymore than 1/2 the oversize number. If you have a pit that is deeper then .020 take it to a good welder and have it (them) filled before you send it out for boring.

Whoever does your boring will clean your block for you as part of the deal. They have to in order to do the final finish hone so don't pay extra for that. A good shop will clean it at least three times. The guy that does mine is a clean freak and will send it through as many times as needed to get a white paper wipedown.

After that it's mostly just buying parts and assembly and you can stretch that out over the winter months and be ready to boat in the spring.

Just my .02 and probably what I'd do/have done.

 

[saffi]

Re: mercruiser 3.0 inline 4 has been under water

Thanks you guys. I decided to sell the boat. I really liked it but it will be too much work. We suddenly have very good weather but I know it will start raining and be very cold. I don't have storage or a shed or somthing like that. If I had I would have kept it. Even made a mild profit on her New owner will restore her.

So now I'm looking at a Boston Whaler Dauntles 15" jet boat with a big end problem.......

The story never ends, at least my Fiskars Buster with a 70's Johnson ouboard never fails me. Well, it does fail but nowadays I can rip it apart with my eyes closed

Happy boating!