I had a couple of bolts back off on the thermostat housing on my 3,0 today. The motor started to run bad, lost the alternator, temp gage showed 100 degrees after running all day. We got back to the marina and we were pumping a lot of water out of the bilge. When we had a chance to open the cover I noticed that the two blots holding the thermostat housing to the block had backed off and I was flooding the motor compartment. I just did a valve job n the motor and I'm not above thinking I might have snugged the bolts but not fully set them. The funny thing is that I started to think there are no lock washers or flat washers on most all of he bolts on marine motors. Is there a reason for this? Being familiar with automotive motors there are many lock and flat washers used. So should I add a washer or use some thread sealant or just set the bolts and call it good?
Mike
Mike