Weird hole

[Dan14143]

Ok know this may be a odd question or a easy one. but i have 1991 Ebbtide Montery that i bought as a project last year I rebuilt the carb and re did much of the inside and I got to finnaly ut it in the lake last weekend. I had 2 problems, On is that the bilge pump switch lever doesnt seem to float.. as it should.. It is welded plastic so I suppose it may have water in it and there fore not float, the other is that there seems to be a 5/16 hole just forward of the starbord forward engine mount ( Mercruiser 350) it is into the water jacket. Is this a drain petcock missing or is there supposed to be some thing there that is missing? Please help
~Dan

 

[Bt Doctur]

Re: Weird hole

If your referring the the exaust manifold then there should be a plug there.

 

[Dan14143]

Re: Weird hole

if you see the 1st picture that is the bottom of the motor mount on the left you can see the one bolt head.. the plug is that 1/4 mpi?

 

[r.j.dawg]

Re: Weird hole

Bilge pumps are cheap enough, buy a new one. It's common for the float arms to quit floating after a bit. An engine serial number will help. BT is right, looks like a missing drain plug.

 

[Bt Doctur]

Re: Weird hole

That is definitely the engine block not a manifold. There is not supposed to be any holes in that area. block drains are behind the mounts not in front of them.

 

[SWD]

Re: Weird hole

Cant see any thread either!!!!!!

 

[Bt Doctur]

Re: Weird hole

 

[Dan14143]

Re: Weird hole

i thought that too... but a 5/16 coarse threaded loosely into it .. not sure what to make of it.. but it is definately drilled NOT a crack or malformity.. dunno what to make of it

 

[Bondo]

Re: Weird hole

i thought that too... but a 5/16 coarse threaded loosely into it .. not sure what to make of it.. but it is definately drilled NOT a crack or malformity.. dunno what to make of it

Ayuh,.... In yer pictures, the water seems to be comin' from Above that hole,...

 

[Dan14143]

Re: Weird hole

no it was splashiun everywhere while running, i stuck my head down there after shut down it was coming from the hole i know that for sure.. it spashes directly into the bilge wall.

 

[Don S]

Re: Weird hole

You have a hole in your block that shouldn't be there. Why it's there, I couldn't tell you.
May have been a casting defect that finally rusted through because the casting was thinner at that point.

 

[Dan14143]

Re: Weird hole

ok so does any one have a recommendation for a fix for this.. regardless of how it got there I need to make it go away.

 

[Bt Doctur]

Re: Weird hole

You could :
try drilling and tapping for a threaded plug but the area looks thin.
try grinding the area clean and jam a ball of JB Weld in the hole.

 

[Don S]

Re: Weird hole

I don't think it's even close to being thick enough to tap. JB weld maybe, but it's so thin I would have to believe it's going to rust through again real soon.
Like I said, the JB weld might get you a few days, maybe weeks, impossible to say from one picture. But what you need is a new block.

 

[Dan14143]

Re: Weird hole

that block has less than 200 hrs on it ..

 

[Don S]

Re: Weird hole

Doesn't matter how many running hours are on it? It's still cooled with water (not antifreeze) that causes rust and the engine is over 20 years old.