water in engine signs?

[ericp501]

96 mercruiser 4.3.. Bought the boat not knowing the starter bolt mount was cracked and jb welded very poorly.. I cranked it over about 50 dif times before the jb weld finally gave up. I used a lot of kwik steel to get the bolt back in the right position and now need to put a starter brace on to stop it from torquing out of place again. Is it possible water is getting into my cylinders and making it hard for starter to turn over the motor and thats why the mount cracked? If I have someone push out the starter with a crowbar acting as a brace the engine will turn over in about 2 seconds, otherwise I hear a loud "clunk" sound and nothing, had a backfire once after the clunk.. Otherwise, once the motor turns over she runs pretty good for a long time.

Is there any way or signs I can check to see if water is leaking into my cylinders? Like pull the spark plugs, attach muffs and turn it over for a few seconds to see if water starts coming out? Would the oil look a certain way if water was getting in?

Or am I just over thinking all this, and all my problems are prob coming from that broken starter mount?

The first pic is of the missing chunk from the mount and a brace I tried making.. didn't work
the second pic is of the chunk fitted back on and a lot of kwik steel used to to get the starter in the right place again. (I haven't tried starting it like this yet, I'm giving it a week to completely cure before trying it.)

 

[Don S]

Re: water in engine signs?

While you are replacing the engine, check the exhaust manifolds and risers. Especially the manifold to riser gasket surfaces.
There is no fixing the block, buy you need to find out if there was water in the cylinders or not. rust in the manifolds, head, cylinders is all an indication of water intrusion.

 

[cr2k]

Re: water in engine signs?

If your block is good, and don't know your exhaust manifold could be rusted through or elbow/gasket leaking allowing water into through the exhaust. Look for rust on spark plugs. Do a compression check (bad head gasket or cracked head) and yes pull plugs put and turn over watching for water spray.

 

[ericp501]

Re: water in engine signs?

Okay, this weekend Im going to pull every plug, connect the muffs and turn her over to see if I get any water coming out.. Hopefully its nothing, or if it was something it was fixed by the previous owner after the starter mount cracked.
Also it sounds like its not a bad idea to pull off my exhaust risers and take a look.. seems pretty simple, is there step by step on how to do this? Maybe the adult section has something on this?

 

[Bondo]

Re: water in engine signs?

Also it sounds like its not a bad idea to pull off my exhaust risers and take a look..

Ayuh,.... Pull the sparkplugs, 'n Look for signs of water 1st....

 

[ericp501]

Re: water in engine signs?

pulled the plugs, no water.. turned on the muffs and tried it again, the engine spun about 5-6 times, no water coming out of the plug holes so thats a real good sign.. Everything seemed fine but I just coudln't get the engine to turn over with the plugs in.. Then it hit me! Like such and idiot.. what if the battery is low.. Hooked it up to the charger, sure enough its been charging for 5 hours now. I'm gonna hook it back up and try again tomorrow. I have a good feeling shes going to turn over with a fully charged battery. If not I honestly don't know what my next move is.