Hi all,
I have a Mercruiser 5.0L MPI engine w/Bravo 3 outdrive that has mostly been running great once I got some of the major problems resolved (new distributor/wires/plugs, etc.).
I've taken it out or at least run it on the dock probably once a week for the last 3-4 months. During that time, it's started great, idled great, shifted great, no issues. I run it at least until it hits 170 degrees and I let it sit there for a while, if I don't actually take it out on the water.
Well, I took it out the other day and had problem after problem, and they all seem unrelated somehow. So first, I started it up to let it warm up. Seemed to idle great. Once it hit about 140 degrees or so, I pushed out of the dock with the plan to just kind of crawl along at idle for a while since the dock area is a no-wake zone. But the thing is, it wouldn't go into forward gear! I kept putting it into forward and it would just rev but not actually engage. After putting into neutral and forward a few times, it all of a sudden worked and I was able to drive it in forward. I figured, I should circle the dock and come back rather than trying to put it into reverse again in case it can't get back into forward (my dock area is tight maneuvering), so I started to circle the dock area at idle. All of a sudden, my engine temp alarm started going off. My engine was at like 220 degrees! Never had an overheating problem before. So I immediately turned the engine off and let it cool down. It cooled back down to 170 relatively quickly, but my that time I had drifted a little. So I turned the engine back on (it started right up) and it went into forward no problem. I kept a close eye on the temperature, but it hit 170 and then never again went over 170 despite me having to drive for probably 10 minutes to get back and circle the dock. So it's like the themostat just momentarily failed, or something?
Another weird thing is that, when the shifter was not working, I opened the doghouse just to see if the shifter was even moving properly at the engine, and I noticed a ton of water in my bilge that should not have been there. I get some water sometimes and have had leaks in the past, but I've fixed the leaks and so the bilge should have been dry (it's been dry for probably a month straight now despite being used regularly and slipped). When the engine started overheating, I worried that I had a leak in the cooling system. But as I ran the engine more, I did not see any kind of leak in the cooling system at all. And there was so much water in the bilge just over like 10 minutes, a leak would have been very noticeable. So not sure if that's related at all.
Second to last oddity. When I got back to the dock, I usually let the engine idle for a while and have never had a problem. This time, it idled for about 60 seconds after I docked and put it into neutral, and then it died. I let it sit for 5 mins and started it up again, and it fired right up, but I'm concerned that it died at idle for the first time in a long time.
Last weird thing. The very last time I started it up, just to test, I had the doghouse open. And as soon as I started it up, the oil filter (which is on top of the engine) started spraying oil EVERYWHERE. It looks like a cracked developed on the filter (filter was old and beat up). I checked the inside of the doghouse and there wasn't any oil, so I think it must have developed right as I started it up that time.
So... it kind of feels like I all of a sudden developed five unrelated issues. The shift issue, some weird water leak, the dying at idle, the oil filter breaking, and the overheating momentarily. But of course, the odds of developing five unrelated issues is basically zero, so I'm sure there's a common thread that I'm missing. And I'm sure that some of it can be explained by just my own dumb stuff and actually is unrelated. Like, I can kind of explain a lot of it... if I WERE to assume that they are all unrelated, the overheating behaved like I had some growth or something that got sucked into the intake, and when I stopped and turned the engine off, the unclogged and so worked fine after that. The oil filter could have been a coincidence, like this was the most time I spent clunking around in the engine bay for a while so maybe it was just old and me banging around in there finally cracked it. The water, maybe I just had a leak last time I flushed it or something. Not sure how to explain the dying at idle or the shift issue, those are the really scary ones.
Other info: I just had the bellows replaced like 6 months ago and all of the cables and everything. I had an issue with it not shifting into forward OR reverse around that time, but when that was happening, my shift cables weren't moving. I would move the throttle but the cable ends (the long black plastic parts that are supposed to move to engage the cable) were stuck. A bunch of oil down the cable seemed to have fixed that. Now, this time, the cable ends move. It goes into reverse great but not forward.
I'd really appreciate any thoughts on even where to start tracking this gremlin or gremlins down. Such a weird set of issues, I'd really be grateful for any advice from the experts.
Thanks!!
I have a Mercruiser 5.0L MPI engine w/Bravo 3 outdrive that has mostly been running great once I got some of the major problems resolved (new distributor/wires/plugs, etc.).
I've taken it out or at least run it on the dock probably once a week for the last 3-4 months. During that time, it's started great, idled great, shifted great, no issues. I run it at least until it hits 170 degrees and I let it sit there for a while, if I don't actually take it out on the water.
Well, I took it out the other day and had problem after problem, and they all seem unrelated somehow. So first, I started it up to let it warm up. Seemed to idle great. Once it hit about 140 degrees or so, I pushed out of the dock with the plan to just kind of crawl along at idle for a while since the dock area is a no-wake zone. But the thing is, it wouldn't go into forward gear! I kept putting it into forward and it would just rev but not actually engage. After putting into neutral and forward a few times, it all of a sudden worked and I was able to drive it in forward. I figured, I should circle the dock and come back rather than trying to put it into reverse again in case it can't get back into forward (my dock area is tight maneuvering), so I started to circle the dock area at idle. All of a sudden, my engine temp alarm started going off. My engine was at like 220 degrees! Never had an overheating problem before. So I immediately turned the engine off and let it cool down. It cooled back down to 170 relatively quickly, but my that time I had drifted a little. So I turned the engine back on (it started right up) and it went into forward no problem. I kept a close eye on the temperature, but it hit 170 and then never again went over 170 despite me having to drive for probably 10 minutes to get back and circle the dock. So it's like the themostat just momentarily failed, or something?
Another weird thing is that, when the shifter was not working, I opened the doghouse just to see if the shifter was even moving properly at the engine, and I noticed a ton of water in my bilge that should not have been there. I get some water sometimes and have had leaks in the past, but I've fixed the leaks and so the bilge should have been dry (it's been dry for probably a month straight now despite being used regularly and slipped). When the engine started overheating, I worried that I had a leak in the cooling system. But as I ran the engine more, I did not see any kind of leak in the cooling system at all. And there was so much water in the bilge just over like 10 minutes, a leak would have been very noticeable. So not sure if that's related at all.
Second to last oddity. When I got back to the dock, I usually let the engine idle for a while and have never had a problem. This time, it idled for about 60 seconds after I docked and put it into neutral, and then it died. I let it sit for 5 mins and started it up again, and it fired right up, but I'm concerned that it died at idle for the first time in a long time.
Last weird thing. The very last time I started it up, just to test, I had the doghouse open. And as soon as I started it up, the oil filter (which is on top of the engine) started spraying oil EVERYWHERE. It looks like a cracked developed on the filter (filter was old and beat up). I checked the inside of the doghouse and there wasn't any oil, so I think it must have developed right as I started it up that time.
So... it kind of feels like I all of a sudden developed five unrelated issues. The shift issue, some weird water leak, the dying at idle, the oil filter breaking, and the overheating momentarily. But of course, the odds of developing five unrelated issues is basically zero, so I'm sure there's a common thread that I'm missing. And I'm sure that some of it can be explained by just my own dumb stuff and actually is unrelated. Like, I can kind of explain a lot of it... if I WERE to assume that they are all unrelated, the overheating behaved like I had some growth or something that got sucked into the intake, and when I stopped and turned the engine off, the unclogged and so worked fine after that. The oil filter could have been a coincidence, like this was the most time I spent clunking around in the engine bay for a while so maybe it was just old and me banging around in there finally cracked it. The water, maybe I just had a leak last time I flushed it or something. Not sure how to explain the dying at idle or the shift issue, those are the really scary ones.
Other info: I just had the bellows replaced like 6 months ago and all of the cables and everything. I had an issue with it not shifting into forward OR reverse around that time, but when that was happening, my shift cables weren't moving. I would move the throttle but the cable ends (the long black plastic parts that are supposed to move to engage the cable) were stuck. A bunch of oil down the cable seemed to have fixed that. Now, this time, the cable ends move. It goes into reverse great but not forward.
I'd really appreciate any thoughts on even where to start tracking this gremlin or gremlins down. Such a weird set of issues, I'd really be grateful for any advice from the experts.
Thanks!!
