OMC knocking engine..help :(

[copes88]

I have had my boat for a couple months and have gone boating, skiing, fishing several times with no issues other than some minor carb tuning to get the idle set right. Today i had some family with me in the boat and we were letting the kids go tubing. With the extra weight of 4 adults and 4 kids (2yrs to 8yrs) the boat was a bit slower than normal. after about 2 hrs of tubing on and off the boat lost all power and the engine started knocking. Not a loud knock but it was definately a constant knocking sound. We let it sit fr a bit and we all swam, and then slowly drove back to the dock. the boat seemed to choke if i gave it too much acceleration, so we drove back at about 10mph and got it loaded up. Now i don't know where to start.

any ideas, guesses or comments welcome..please....

it is a 1989 16 foot forester boat, it has a 3.0L OMC stern drive engine.

 

[a70eliminator]

Re: OMC knocking engine..help

Check the oil would be a good start.

 

[copes88]

Re: OMC knocking engine..help

Check the oil would be a good start.

Checked the oil, while on the lake, still shows full. I didn't check the leg oil, but the knocking is coming from the engine. will be checking that shortly.

 

[a70eliminator]

Re: OMC knocking engine..help

Knocking sound from the engine internals is tough to diagnose without actually being there to hear it, on top of that a laboring engine unable to power up, almost sounds like it's on the verge of seizing up.