Salt Water in engine

[NASSAR]

Hello, i recently bought a 97 Bayliner Ciera 2858 command bridge with MerCruiser 7.4/V8 bravo and had only 150 hours on it, was running great since i bought it (Last Month) in Newport Beach, California

2 days ago i started the boat in the morning and took it to gas dock to fill it up then went back to my slip to pickup my friends, i turned it off untill all of them are here, once its time to leave, the engine didnt start, i kept trying untill i burned my starter, so i called my mechanic to replace the starter & he did but still no luck running the engine, so we thought its flooded from running the engine many times, then we decided to check the spark plugs and we found out that 3 spark plugs have saltwater on them, FYI i have a freshwater cooling system with anti-freeze in it and never had an overheating problem, i drained all the oil and found a little bit water, its not milky but definitely there is water.

my mechanic suggest doing a head gasket replacement & Bellows and wanna charge me $5,000 for the whole job (labor & Parts) with one year warranty

is this a fair price for such thing? (Newport Beach, California)

is there other solutions such as using a Head Gasket Sealer products like "Steel Seal"?

what do you think is the cause of this problem?

i will attach engine information below to help you understand what kind of engine i have.


looking forward to hear your opinions

Thank You

 

[Bt Doctur]

Get another mechanic. A fresh water cooled engine can only get WATER in the cylinders by a failed elbow. That the only place where WATER is present

 

[Scott Danforth]

As stated, get a new mechanic

Half system or full system?

With half, look at your manifolds and elbows and the mating surface between

With a full system, look at the elbow and the gasket

Also. How many people did you have on board? You may want to check the elbow height above SWL

In either case, do it today. Get that engine corrected today. Or plan on a rebuild if you leave saltwater in the cylinders for more than a few hours​​​​​

 

[Scott Danforth]

BTW, your mechanic is not only incorrect in how to fix your boat, he is taking you for a ride.

 

[NASSAR]

BTW, your mechanic is not only incorrect in how to fix your boat, he is taking you for a ride.

So i dont need a head gasket replacement?

 

[Lou C]

with freshwater cooling (closed cooling with antifreeze in the engine cooling system, cooled by a heat exchanger) if you had a blown head gasket you'd mostly likely have antifreeze in the cyls, not raw water. There are only ways you could get raw water in the cyls:
1) if your heat exchanger has a leak between the raw water and closed sides of it and raw water mixed in with the antifreeze, not too likely but possible
2) more likely, a rusted through exhaust elbow, if full closed cooled, or that + a rusted through manifold if half closed cooled. It could also be the gasket or block off plate in either case. Or as Scott noted above, the tops of the elbows may not be high enough above the static water line, and the engine sucked in raw water. That can be remedied by using risers (spacers) for the exhaust elbows.
I'd be looking at the exhaust system first since that's simpler to troubleshoot, but for sure get any raw water out of the engine ASAP! Or else severe corrosion damage will occur quickly. I had this happen due to blown HGs (see the other thread on here about water in the oil) and was able to save the short block by getting the water out quickly and multiple oil changes. Wound up doing a top end overhaul with remanufactured cyl heads.

Did the mechanic even do any tests to verify a blown HG? Small block Chevrolet head gaskets don't usually blow unless its been severely overheated, even then, they may not blow for a long time following the overheat. In my case the engine had a bad overheat in 2013, but it ran fine the rest of that season, all of '14, '15 and then at the end of the '16 season they blew, letting water in 2 cyls. Funny thing is right after the overheat in '13 happened, my mechanic said, don't be surprised if the HGs eventually blow and he was right. Got it all back together with a nice set of reman heads and Fel Pro marine head gaskets.

 

[Rick Stephens]

So i dont need a head gasket replacement?

Pretty much a 100% NO answer there. Get a new mechanic, your is either an idiot or a rippoff.

 

[NASSAR]

Pretty much a 100% NO answer there. Get a new mechanic, your is either an idiot or a rippoff.

I think you are right, where can i find a reliable mechanic in newport beach, anyone can help by sharing his contact?

thanks