so, i think i figured out why my boat was cheap.

turbocorrado

Petty Officer 1st Class
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Aug 14, 2013
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251
paid 3400 for a 97 wellcraft eclipse 2000, interior is ripped, bellows were ripped, outdrive leaked gear oil, rear main leaks as well bought it 2 weeks ago exactly
2006 4.3tks engine, boat has closed cooling, with a seawater pump for the exhaust

i did
bellows
gimbal bearing
outdrive impeller
outdrive reseal
new shift cable
new fresh water pump impeller
new tensioner pulley
new exhaust flappers
new tach + coolant temp gauge

went to suck the oil out tonight....pretty sure a 4.3 takes 4.5quarts


i pulled out 7.75 quarts of milkshake :blue: when i bought it i heard it run, had good oil pressure, ran fine, dipstick looked good... when we sucked the oil out tonight, the dipstick looked good before we started pulling it out......im gonna do a oil change, do a short test run, then change the oil. then run it again then change the oil and run a cylinder leakdown test.

guy told me last time the boat was out, it was slipped till december with no electric and the battery died. so it took on some water and he had to replace the starter, im hoping somehow the water got into the engine that way. im really hoping if its a serious issue, that i can fix it without pulling the block... if the block has to come out it might end up with a v8 in it
 
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Rick Stephens

Admiral
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Aug 13, 2013
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6,118
That's not pretty. Pretty long list of things already done. Have to change the leg or reprop it significantly if you go up to a V8. Big job no matter what. Sorry to hear it.

Rick
 

tpenfield

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I thought that you had checked the engine out to a greater extent. :noidea: Bummer, . . . . I would try to do a cylinder leak test and a cooling system pressure test, since it is closed cooling. Was/is there antifreeze as the coolant in the closed system, or just water? Have you checked the exhaust riser/elbow gaskets yet?
 

turbocorrado

Petty Officer 1st Class
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I thought that you had checked the engine out to a greater extent. :noidea: Bummer, . . . . I would try to do a cylinder leak test and a cooling system pressure test, since it is closed cooling. Was/is there antifreeze as the coolant in the closed system, or just water? Have you checked the exhaust riser/elbow gaskets yet?

oil looked perfect on the dipstick every time i checked, even right before i sucked the oil out it looked perfect. coolant is full and shows no signs of oil, motor ran great good oil pressure, no signs of the milkshake in the motor.
 

500dollar744ti

Senior Chief Petty Officer
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Jul 23, 2012
Messages
691
Was it all milkshake or just a small part of it? Let us know what happens when you fill it back up. Remember you can get water in from a rusted intake or something dumb like that, it doesn't always mean your block is cracked.

Even if you do have to put a motor in, the laundry list of things you have already done shows you have the skills needed to swap a motor. You just pick up a 4.3 vortec from a chevy blazer at the junkyard, since it's freshwater cooled, put all your marine stuff on it and call it a day.

You can grab one of those motors at the pick a part for like $200.
 

turbocorrado

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its really weird actually, it was a full 7.5 quarts of thick milkshake. its been 2 full days, and it hasnt started to separate, it looks exactly like a chocolate milkshake, and i honestly dont think its going to sperate. im going to pull the risers tomorrow and look inside. was at my buddys boat yard yesterday and was informed that if its a salt water boat the risers rot out on the inside and water gets in, so im hoping thats what it is
 

500dollar744ti

Senior Chief Petty Officer
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Usually when the risers rust out the water gets into the combustion chamber through open exhaust valves, eventually the water would get to the oil but you would be having other issues.

The intake on my buddy's boat rusted out under the thermostat housing, then water was dripping directly into the valley and going right into the crankcase. Definitely check that. You can pull the thermostat housing and take out the thermostat to check for a problem there. It doesn't make much sense that it would happen on a closed cooling motor but hey anything is possible.

With closed cooling you should be loosing coolant on the fresh side if it's getting into the oil. Is there an oil cooler on that motor? The oil coolers can rust out and cause a mix to happen.
 
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turbocorrado

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Usually when the risers rust out the water gets into the combustion chamber through open exhaust valves, eventually the water would get to the oil but you would be having other issues.

The intake on my buddy's boat rusted out under the thermostat housing, then water was dripping directly into the valley and going right into the crankcase. Definitely check that. You can pull the thermostat housing and take out the thermostat to check for a problem there. It doesn't make much sense that it would happen on a closed cooling motor but hey anything is possible.

With closed cooling you should be loosing coolant on the fresh side if it's getting into the oil. Is there an oil cooler on that motor? The oil coolers can rust out and cause a mix to happen.

thats a possibilty, il look into it. i pulled one of the risers off and found no issues at all. gonna pull the other one off tomorrow and replace the gaskets


been spending the evening making a replacement section for my gauge cluster since its cracked and 2 gauges fell out the other day :wacko:
 

tpenfield

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the 4.3 doesnt run any sort of oil cooler does it??

If there is, it will be in series with the hose that runs from the transom up to the thermostat housing. It will be a metal piece about twice the diameter of the hose. you can pressure test that fairly easily, if needed.

BTW - how is the Admiral (wife) holding up to this boat buying experience :noidea:
 
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turbocorrado

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If there is, it will be in series with the hose that runs from the transom up to the thermostat housing. It will be a metal piece about twice the diameter of the hose. you can pressure test that fairly easily, if needed.

BTW - how is the Admiral (wife) holding up to this boat buying experience :noidea:

when i put the new riser gaskets on il poke around and look for it.

well she has successfully done absolutely nothing to help out, she just wants to get it on the water.
doesnt seem to care about the water/whatever in the oil because "it ran fine when we bought it" even though ive tried to explain it to her.... she is just like her mom, stupid as hell... so im doing 3 or 4 oil change/flushes so that i have a clean crankcase to start out with. after a good full warmup run in the driveway if the oil looks good its getting dropped in the water. and we will see what happens. im half tempted to let it blow up so she starts taking stuff like this seriously
 

turbocorrado

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also, her father has wanted to go half on a boat with me for a few years... and well there isnt a chance in hell that will ever happen, which is why he was not notified about the purchase of this boat.... he wasnt happy about it. so now he is trying to buy all sorts of electronics for it and offering to buy a motor for it if it needs one so that he has some stock in this boat, and that is not happening either lol

its got a depth finder, and thats all i want

hes already picked out a gps/fishfinder/depthfinder with wifi and blue tooth and some control features you can tie into the whole boat to control everything at once, and he doesnt seem to understand what the word no means
 
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tpenfield

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when i put the new riser gaskets on il poke around and look for it.

well she has successfully done absolutely nothing to help out, she just wants to get it on the water.
doesn't seem to care about the water/whatever in the oil because "it ran fine when we bought it" even though I've tried to explain it to her.... she is just like her mom, stupid as hell... so I'm doing 3 or 4 oil change/flushes so that i have a clean crankcase to start out with. after a good full warmup run in the driveway if the oil looks good its getting dropped in the water. and we will see what happens. I'm half tempted to let it blow up so she starts taking stuff like this seriously

also, her father has wanted to go half on a boat with me for a few years... and well there isn't a chance in hell that will ever happen, which is why he was not notified about the purchase of this boat.... he wasn't happy about it.

Yup, a matter of expectation setting. The boat you bought was in pretty rough shape, at least the interior was, from the pictures you posted. So, it is a matter of setting the expectations among the 'crew' as to what would be ahead until you reach a 'steady state'.

I know that my 'Admiral' took a few years to understand the amount of maintenance (and expense) that can go into a boat. We are on our third boat, so I don't really need to explain to her anymore. :)

Multiple ownership is a tough game, so you are probably best to avoid it.
 

turbocorrado

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251
does anyone know how much volts are supposed to get to the fuel pump?

the little access panel right in front of the motor for the fuel tank... there is a hot and ground wire running to what i assume is the fuel pump. im trying to use the electric fuel pump to suck all the old gas out of it. im getting nothing right now, and when i check voltage at the 2 wires im only getting 6 volts
 

turbocorrado

Petty Officer 1st Class
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Aug 14, 2013
Messages
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Yup, a matter of expectation setting. The boat you bought was in pretty rough shape, at least the interior was, from the pictures you posted. So, it is a matter of setting the expectations among the 'crew' as to what would be ahead until you reach a 'steady state'.

I know that my 'Admiral' took a few years to understand the amount of maintenance (and expense) that can go into a boat. We are on our third boat, so I don't really need to explain to her anymore. :)

Multiple ownership is a tough game, so you are probably best to avoid it.

i need to get her mothers attitude about what needs to be repaired and what doesnt out of her head. she hasnt been worried about the money im spending, she just seems to refuse to accept the possible severity of the situation

i will never do the multiple ownership game. especially with him, he takes 2 days to do a 30 minute repair on a car. it drives me insane
 

500dollar744ti

Senior Chief Petty Officer
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Jul 23, 2012
Messages
691
I know people like that, I couldn't ever go in with other people on a boat purchase.

Has the milky oil reappeared?
 

turbocorrado

Petty Officer 1st Class
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Aug 14, 2013
Messages
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I know people like that, I couldn't ever go in with other people on a boat purchase.

Has the milky oil reappeared?

i wasnt able to suck it out 100% the first time. so im planning on running it for about 10 seconds, then sucking it out again. its ready to run, i just cant get the old fuel out
 
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