Mercruiser lower water hose came off

[stopher8]

Kinda new to boating, just bought a 1994 Bryant BBi180 with a 4.3 Mercruiser Alpha gen2 outdrive. Took it to the water for the first time this past Sunday and made it about a mile before smoke bellowed out of the engine compartment. It wasn't running five minutes. After we got the fire out I realized the engine wasn't getting water. The exhaust risers were sizzling hot. The smoke was from the rubber exhaust boots burning. After loading the boat I see the rubber hose behind the lower unit is off. It wasn't like that before. The clamp didn't seem very tight. Did this just slip off? Is there a problem further up the line that caused back pressure and the hose blew off? The previous owner said he'd just replaced the bellows so I'm thinking he didn't get this tight enough. I have ordered 2 upper and 2 lower exhaust boots. Everything else seems to be ok. I have reconnected the water hose and ran the engine for a few minutes after I got it home. Couldn't run it long due to the leaking exhaust boots spraying water everywhere. It is pumping water. The engine seems ok but I know it got HOT! What are some things I need to check for? Why didn't the high temp buzzer go off? I didn't notice a high water temp on the gauge but maybe its not working. This was my first trip in this boat so I know very little about it. Thank the lord for fire extinguishers and people on the lake willing to help out!

 

[JaCrispy]

Not sure what damage you may or may not have caused, but yes it seems like the p.o. forgot to tighten the hose while replacing the bellows. You could replace what you see is damaged then run it on muffs and check everything out, pray for the best. You should make sure your temp gauge is working properly. If it was you should have shut it down around 180 degrees or so and checked stuff out.

 

[stopher8]

Lesson learned!! I literally had just got up on plane and was watching for debris cause we were still close to the cove where we launched. It happened so fast I don't even remember looking at the temp gauge. It didn't struggle starting after we got it home and oil pressure was really good. After it cooled I pulled the plugs and they looked pretty good. I'm gonna install new plugs and run it some more in the driveway to see what else may be wrong.

 

[Alumarine]

Might want to check the other hose clamps in there as well as the ones in the engine compartment.

 

[NHGuy]

Yup,hopefully you dumped the oil that got hot too. If not do so. if you want to be completely proactive change the thermostat as well.

 

[rhillman75]

The same thing happened to me on my old 96 open bow a few years back. We launched the boat, went to grab a dock, meanwhile a medical emergency was happening on the dock in front of us. I took my eyes off the temp gauge until we were able to get out. When I was idling I looked down and my temp gauge was almost pegged. We pulled it from the water and upon looking, my hose was off and the clamp was gone. I ran the engine in idle for 30 minutes with no water going through it. The number one thing to do is change the oil. That oil is probably useless at this point. Change the oil, change the filter, and flush the cooling side of the system. I had a couple marine mechanics tell me to flush the manifolds. If anything got that hot on the manifold side and came loose due to heat, flush them out. This was my process over 2 days and I had the boat another 2 years without any issue. My only concern is the damage internally that you can't see.

 

[dozerII]

You will also need new exhaust shutters as they will be burnt as well.

 

[stopher8]

Changing the oil is definitely on the "to do" list before running it again. After I removed the burnt exhaust boots I did notice the exhaust shutter on the starboard side. Its a thin metal flap inside the exhaust tube right? It seemed fine but if it needs replaced I can do that. I didn't notice the one on the port side I'll have to take a closer look. I will check the other hose clamps as well. The clamp outside the boat against the transon wall (the other end of the hose that came off) is impossible to access without removing the hinge pins. Is there a way to get to it that I missed? Thanks for all the advice!!!

 

[Watermann]

To access the upper water hose connection you have to pull the OD and remove the bell housing. Make sure the water hose isn't kinked, if the PO didn't trim it to fit it could also be kinked restricting water flow.

 

[stopher8]

Starboard side shutter was in peices, I dug out what I could reach. The port side wasn't there at all. Looks like I'm pulling the lower unit to dig out all the pieces.

 

[Watermann]

Good plan right there, don't want those clogging things up and you can check into the upper water hose clamp while you're in there. Not to mention if the guy did a proper job on the bellows.

 

[stopher8]

Proper?? What should I look for besides tight clamps. I've seen bellows adhesive but I don't think he used any. I had to take the exhaust bellows loose to access the water hose and it had nothing on it. Is it really necessary though? After pulling the lower unit do I just remove the trim senders and hinge pins? What about the shift cable?

 

[stopher8]

I pulled the lower unit and removed the hinge pins. I didn't find any shutter pieces. I did find water in the driveshaft bellows. It looked sealed up pretty well so I just tightened the clamps. The outdrive gasket was torn pretty bad near the shift cable so I'm hoping that's how the water got in. New gaskets on the way.

 

[Watermann]

Yeah that's what I meant by a proper bellows job, I would definitely use the bellows adhesive or they will probably come off or leak. Be sure to grease the u joints on the driveshaft. Did any rust form on the gimbal bearing, u joints or drive shaft with that water in there?

You may have to use a water hose in the exhaust tube to flush the missing shutter pieces all the way out.

 

[stopher8]

I ran water through it and didn't find anything. The PO said the engine was just rebuilt in 2010. My guess is maybe the shutter peices were removed then. I put it all back together last night with new plugs and new exhaust boots and new shutters. Tried to start it and it just spun and spun. I pulled out #3 spark plug and its soaked with water. Heads gotta come off. Hopefully just blown head gaskets and not cracked. I'll get them both off and to the machine shop to be checked. The acronynm for boat (bust out another thousand) is holding true so far for me.

 

[JaCrispy]

IMO, if you're going that far you should just replace the engine. You still don't know if theres damage to the bottom end.

 

[stopher8]

If one or both of the heads are cracked then I'd have to pull the engine cause the block may be damaged too. But if the heads check ok and its just a blown gasket then the bottom end is probably ok.

 

[JaCrispy]

Not necessarily.

You could have scored pistons/cylinders.

 

[stopher8]

I'll see that when the heads come off.

 

[Watermann]

Good luck man, hope you're right. Keep us posted.