Head Gasket repacment mercruiser 165 (Torque specs)?

[mity0401]

last spring I pulled my 79 crestliner with a 165 mercruiser I/O out of the garage and discovered water in the oil? The oil looked like cappuccino. To investigate I took the head, exhaust manifold and oil pan off to look for cracks and found nothing. The only thing I discovered was a bad manifold gasket. Could this be the problem? I purchased a gasket kit and am now in the process of reassembling the engine. Does anyone have the torque specs for the head, and rocker arms (especially the rocker arms) . I was told that the head torques to 84 pounds. Is this right?

Also the boat was winterized well, had four gallons of antifreeze in it over the winter but it looked to me like the manifold was frost wedged away from the block, weird!!!!

 

[mity0401]

Water in Oil, Please help!!!!!!

Water in Oil, Please help!!!!!!

I posted a thread about torque specs for the head and valves of my 165 mercruiser! The main problem that I am having is water in the oil and my first thought was exhaust manifold but I took the head off to look for cracks and now I am not sure what to torque it back down to. Can anyone provide me with a plan of attack PLEASE!!!!!

 

[Don S]

Re: Water in Oil, Please help!!!!!!

Re: Water in Oil, Please help!!!!!!

I've put your posts together, since it's basically the same topic.
Be patient for answers.
If it's a raw water cooled engine and someone ran 4 gallons of antifreeze thru the drive, you have about a 50% chance it never got to the engine. We go thru this every year on this forum.
While you may not see the cracks in your engine, they are there or you wouldn't have water in your oil.
IF the engine was still together, I would say block off the exhaust manifold and pressure check the block. But with the head off, that is impossible.

 

[mity0401]

Re: Head Gasket repacment mercruiser 165 (Torque specs)?

If I put the head back on how would I go about blocking off the exhaust and pressure checking the block? What signs would I see or find if the block is cracked?

Thanks for your help even though the outlook seems grim.....

 

[crazylegs68]

Re: Head Gasket repacment mercruiser 165 (Torque specs)?

I just did this yesterday to a v6 4.3. On mine there is a line that supply's water coming from the thermostat housing over to the exhaust manifold. I unplugged it from the manifold and adapted it down to an air fitting. I then plugged off the power steering port which also came from the thermostat housing. and pressurized the block to 20 psi (I don't think I would go any higher than that).
this will not check the exhaust manifold but you can tell if your engine is good or not.
hope this helps.
Ben

 

[mity0401]

Re: Head Gasket repacment mercruiser 165 (Torque specs)?

Perfect.... I will try that out... Thanks a ton...