mercruiser 470

kreteman

Recruit
Joined
Jul 16, 2020
Messages
2
im leaking coolant from water intake ports on my 1980 merc 470 . any suugestions on where to start?
 

achris

More fish than mountain goat
Joined
May 19, 2004
Messages
27,468
My first guess would be a heat exchanger leak. I would remove it and have it pressure tested. When was the last time it was out for cleaning?

Chris.......
 

kreteman

Recruit
Joined
Jul 16, 2020
Messages
2
Honestly I don’t know I just bought the boat 2 weeks ago . The previous owner told me he ran water only so I put coolant in it took it out to lake ran it for about an hour turned boat off and it didn’t want start after that . We got home it fired right up will deal with that issue also but I realize the coolant was empty. I put more coolant ran motor for 5 min turn off to work on something else and realized it was leaking coolant .
 

achris

More fish than mountain goat
Joined
May 19, 2004
Messages
27,468
You bought the boat without a test run?
 

Scott Danforth

Grumpy Vintage Moderator still playing with boats
Staff member
Joined
Jul 23, 2011
Messages
51,351
^+1....what he said

in addition........you bought a 470? much less one that didnt have glycol in the HX?

with any new to you boat, you must do all the maintenance and assume that the prior owner did none.

this includes drive maintenance (impeller, bellows, gimble, raw water pump, alighment)
engine maintenance (service the points, cap/rotor/wires/plugs, fuel filter, fluids change, etc.)
trailer maintenance (bearing service, brake service, coupler service

In addition to that, the 470 has some unique issues

first, its an open deck aluminum block with an iron head. any over-heat more than 10 degrees will guarantee you need a new head gasket
second, the cam snouts were never hardened, so the impeller used as a circulating pump tend to wear the cam snout and leak coolant into the oil
there was an upgraded heat exchanger that came out to try to help with the first issue.

since you bought a 470 that is leaking coolant somewhere, you need to find out where (before you ever think of using the boat again). you should drain the cooling system, then do a pressure test. you may need to get the HX repaired. you may need to replace the head gasket. you may have a lot more things to do.
 
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