1978 898 Mercruiser issues

[jimbogoode]

Just bought this boat. It is taking on water in the engine compartment, last time on the water the prop just stopped turning no forward or reverse, not circulating water to cool engine, when I trim the unit up it wont stay up, it drifts back down (not leaking fluid externally). I need a good manual so I can do the work myself, can't afford a marine mechanic to turn wrenches. Any suggestions?

 

[dubs283]

Re: 1978 898 Mercruiser issues

either the engine coupler is toast or the upper drive gears are toast, either way the boat need to come out of the water and the drive removed for inspection

you have some type of trim system fluid leak, probably inside the boat if you don't see oil in the water

there are links to engine manual downloads in the must have sticky under mercruiser info

 

[cr2k]

Re: 1978 898 Mercruiser issues

Not necessarily an external leak. If the seals on the rams go bad they will leak down internally.

I agree you are no longer getting power to the bottom of your drive and it needs to come off.
Sounds like your shift and/or drive bellows could be leaking.

 

[jimbogoode]

Re: 1978 898 Mercruiser issues

Thanks for the input. I talked to a mechanic this morning and without even looking at the boat he diagnosed a cracked block and recommended a new $4,000 motor. That just aint gonna happen. If the block had been cracked wouldnt it have shown up the first 2 times on the water? It ran just fine except for taking on water in the engine compartment. Yes, the hydraulic leak has to be internal as the fluid level remains full, the rams just bleed back down slowly. I did order the Seloc repair manual, hopefully it is clear enough that I will be able to do alot of my own maintainance and repair work. I took the hose off the water pump on the motor and filled it with the water hose, I didn't see any water leaking out the sides of the motor, it looked like it was going out the lower unit.