5.0L MPI Motor blown up

[KirkDarch]

I will start of with the traditional… any help is very much appreciated statement! And sorry for being a tad long winded I am just trying to be detailed.

My first after the ice melted of the lake foray in the boat was Saturday (and obviously it did not go well). It appears that the marina the winterized and stored my boat might have missed a little bit of water in the raw water intake tubes (more specifically in the little globe like check valves in both hoses). So when the boat was started instead of the water circulating in the engine to cool it was pumped into the engine compartment… The bilge pump came on and while it was unable to keep up with the incoming water it kept the boat from sinking. The engine was shut off after less than 3-5 min of running when smoke started to billow out from under the engine cover.

My question is the engine massively overheated before being shut down but it does not appear that it ceased up… So from what I can see the only real damage is the check valves one is broken clean in half the other one is leaking, 1. Can I just take them out and go with a straight pipe? (I am not really sure what they do). I am going to change the oil (that was fresh before storage), and request a compression check on the engine (if the marina has the facility’s to do that). 2. But what else should I look for or do to the engine now after it has been overheated?

If it helps the Boat is a 2007 Baja Islander with a 5L MPI Merc Engine and an Alpha stern drive.

Two other questions… The temperature gauge did not indicate anything was wrong and we did not get an alarm? Is the temperature sensor in the coolant system or the oil or attached to the cylinder head (I am wondering why we didn’t get any alarms and if we could have dodged a bullet i.e. It might have been just steam?

 

[Don S]

Re: 5.0L MPI Motor blown up

Post the serial number for your engine if you would. What drain system is on your engine? Single, 3, Multi point, other?

This is why people should start the engine up on muffs and actually look at the engine and check to make sure everything is working before just sticking it in the water and taking off.

It may be that you have hoses off the exhaust system from winterization. If that is the case, it could be the engine cooled ok, just the hot exhaust burned the rubber hoses coming out of the exhaust elbows.

Pictures are always a good thing. Especially with what you called check valves.

 

[KirkDarch]

Re: 5.0L MPI Motor blown up

I don’t have access to the boat (it is still up at the cottage at the marina, but the attached picture shows what I referred to as the check valve’s) one is located at the bottom right rear of the engine and one is at the bottom front. And both of them are leaking water into the engine compartment.

 

[KirkDarch]

Re: 5.0L MPI Motor blown up

So I am not sure if the picture above is very clear but what I was referring to was the two round plastic globe like objects that are connected to what I believe are the water intake hoses. On the inside of the globe it looks like there is a one way valve (I can see inside them because one is completely open (possibly broken in half by water trapped inside it freezing), the second one is just leaking.

So does anyone know what they do and if they are required? And does anyone have any advice on what to do after a motor is overheated i.e. what should be replaced and what should be checked?

I will get the motors serial number and additional pictures this Saturday.

 

[Don S]

Re: 5.0L MPI Motor blown up

So I am not sure if the picture above is very clear but what I was referring to was the two round plastic globe like objects that are connected to what I believe are the water intake hoses. On the inside of the globe it looks like there is a one way valve (I can see inside them because one is completely open (possibly broken in half by water trapped inside it freezing), the second one is just leaking.

So does anyone know what they do and if they are required? And does anyone have any advice on what to do after a motor is overheated i.e. what should be replaced and what should be checked?

I will get the motors serial number and additional pictures this Saturday.

If they are broken, then they need replaced. The picture is just way to small to see anything, and too many variations by year and and cooling / exhaust system options to try to guess what you have.
Some have one check valve, but never seen one with two.

 

[KirkDarch]

Re: 5.0L MPI Motor blown up

Update… So I dropped by the Marina on Friday to hopefully pick up the boat and see what they replaced and the first thing I am told is “it is not good news”. It appears the marina did not winterize the boat before storage and even while it was in heated indoor storage over the winter (at the marina) the marina lost power for 3-4days over the winter.

The damage… The water intake lines are cracked the inline one way valves are cracked and the block is cracked.

Now the Marina that I have the boat at has been great and I would and have highly recommended them, and the owner appears to be a stand-up guy. He admits that it is there fault and he has informed me that he will take care of it… This is however a very small marina (I think they only have the owner and one part time employee working there).

So my question now is, what should I ask them to insure while they are working on it trying to fix the block and replacing the remainder of the parts?

I purchased the boat used two years ago and it was a very big purchase for me and I can not afford to buy another boat so I want to make sure it gets fixed the right way and not with shoestring and bubble gum…

 

[matt167]

Re: 5.0L MPI Motor blown up

Make sure they drop a new short block in, and not patch up the old one with epoxy( altho it may work, you did not go in with an epoxied block ). Having it welded would also be an option, but not usually viable as it requires the short block torn down. Ultimately, they most likely are under staffed and got behind, when the cold weather came, they took a gamble on the heating system being good enough and lost big time.

 

[emilsr]

Re: 5.0L MPI Motor blown up

Sorry about your boat and hope the marina makes it right. We really enjoyed ours:

 

[KirkDarch]

Re: 5.0L MPI Motor blown up

Quick Update… Well it has been 3 weeks and still no boat, I am told it should be finished this week however I am out of town for the next two weeks as of Friday so will not have a chance to pick it up until the 13th of July. It is almost half way thru or very short season here in Canada and while I should be livid (and I am to a degree) the marina has been great so far and they are replacing all the broken “stuff” with new and hopefully it runs as nice as it did last year after I pick it up.

When I get back and pick up the boat I will post an update on what in the end transpired and hopefully that it is back in the water and good as new.

Thanks for all your help and advice it was very much appreciated.

 

[Levinz11]

Re: 5.0L MPI Motor blown up

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