Terrible First Day

[Matt'sRegal]

Ok here it is, last night I bought a very nice looking 88 regal 210 with a 5.7 mercruiser. The boat sat 2 years with almost no use. Today I checked the fluids and tinkered with the boat before putting it in the water.

I mistaked the engine exausting into the water for water pump movement. I was watching the gagues as we left no wake the engine came to temperature and we moved up to travel speed. I kept my eye on the gagues and the temp came to 3/4 and I decide to turn around and move back to no wake. Well as I edged toward redline I killed the engine. My concern was there was smoke and a strange pinging sound almost like a high pitch tink tink but definately not a lifter or rod type of tapping.

I took the boat to a service station and they said that the water pump was out. They are going to replace the water pump. When we put the muffs on it 30 minutes later the engine was difficult to start.

With only a few minutes without water did I just destroy my baby. This reccomended service station does not rebuild engines and say it will take 5,000 to replace. I just cannot afford that but I absolutly love the boat.

Tell me where to start. This is my first boat.

Many thanks,
Matt

 

[freeone]

Re: Terrible First Day

what outdrive and cooling system do you have? fresh water cooled or raw water. where was the boat located for 2yrs no use. was it winterized?

 

[TahoeQ4Pilot]

Re: Terrible First Day

Man, sorry to hear a first post like that.

Maybe impeller?

 

[TowRoper]

Re: Terrible First Day

5k!!! can you do the work your self? that will be like 1500kish + - some
good god 5k makes me sick maybe you will get lucky and not have to rebuild !

 

[Matt'sRegal]

Re: Terrible First Day

Its a freshwater boat that was on a lift and winterized regularly. 310 hours.

It was trailered with a cover when we bought it. The hull is oxidized but smooth as glass, the interior is complete without cracking, rips or tears.

I am not sure what type of outdrive. I think that it said mercruiser also.

At this point I don't know if a rebuild will be necessary, frankly I am glad that a rebuild is even possible. I probably won't until the shop gets the water pump in and does a compression test and that will be next week. I'm sure I will ask more questions when I get more information.

Many thanks,

Matt

 

[lrlima]

Re: Terrible First Day

That really is a bummer. I had to replace the engine in my first boat too...cause the owner sold it with a cracked block and I learned the hard way about surveys. I did the work myself and learned a ton along the way. good luck...

 

[Apollo75]

Re: Terrible First Day

I hope you didn't have ZERO water flow. If there was some water flow I doubt you did major damage as any engine built well can run at 240-degrees all day if on a closed water system with sufficient antifreeze without damage.
This is not recommended

If it is a raw water cooled engine --- water boils at 212 and makes steam so anything is possible.

If the engine gets hot ---- WAIT --- do not try to cool it with cold water --- this is when things crack --- steam will create a lot of pressure and blow gaskets also.

Check everything in your exhaust system --- rubber connectors, flappers, bellows.

I don't just take my boat to the mechanic every year for a new raw water pump -- I pull it out of storage and test it on muffs ---- if at the lake it overheats --- I just shut it off, open a beer and bait my hook


Best of luck

OFM

 

[windsors03cobra]

Re: Terrible First Day

That all iron and low hour Chevy 350 should be able to take a good overheating like that a time or 2 and be fine, its the little 4 bangers with dissimilar metals that will meltdown with a good overheat.
Surely the exhaust connectors, exhaust shutters and water pocket cover are melted but those are alot cheaper than an engine. P
Pinging (tink tink) is a sign of a hot and detonating engine.

Plasma George an active member did the exact same thing to his new to him Chap about a month ago, his Pontiac Iron Duke 3.0 motor is fine. Said smoke was pouring out of the doghouse and he described his situation as "Smoking my new Chap".

Sounds like a nice boat, hope everything comes out ok. The compression test will tell you alot.

 

[FreeBeeTony]

Re: Terrible First Day

So you bought a boat that sat for 2 yrs and put it in the water the next day without ever starting it on land to check things out?

 

[Apollo75]

Re: Terrible First Day

As I read and learn so will others

___________________________________________________
"If the boat is not sinking or on fire ---- Relax."

OFM

 

[natemoore]

Re: Terrible First Day

Misery loves company.

I got to use my boat three times before I had to pull the engine and rebuild it, along with the transom assembly, and some work to my drive shaft assembly.

It only left us stranded once.

And, I only paid about $1500 too much for it.

Chalk it up to experience.:redface:

Good luck.

 

[searay3]

Re: Terrible First Day

The impeller is a maintenance item. They go bad by just sitting as well as use. It is recommended to replace every two to three years. Find your serial numbers and try to locate your manual at the top of the forum, adults only or must have for diy'ers. It is not a difficult job and the cost could be less than 50 dollars. Chances are that if things went as you describe, a new engine is not in your near future. Buy a set of muffs to feed water to it so you can run it on the trailer to make sure things look good before you go to the lake...

 

[ENSIGN]

Re: Terrible First Day

overheating sucks! would be a good idea to remove the spark plugs and see if any are wet.

 

[Matt'sRegal]

Re: Terrible First Day

I hope that I was able to catch the overheat soon enough, I let the boat idle for a fair amount of time before moving toward open water. Heck I even felt of the water hoses before trying to leave and thought water was pumping.

I am sure that the distance we took was no more than a football field and all of the distance was without the cover over the engine. Most of the smoking was after the engine was shut down. But it did sputter for a bit after the key was turned off. Is that sputtering what I have heard in other posts as Dieseling. Then came the pinging.

Well I am off to take the kids fishing, hopefully they forget we planned to go boating this weekend.

Thanks again,

Matt

 

[Bryan_S]

Re: Terrible First Day

yep i can relate as well.

The boat i purchased was in INCREDIBLE shape for a 1978.... interior looked almost brand new, the hull was shiny no dings scratches ... nothing.

took the boat out first trip, cooked off the exhaust rubber.

changed impeller.

Second trip, thought the cooked off exhaust was where the water in the bilge was coming from...... NOPE big 1 inch rip in the transom seal........

fixed transom seal.

Third Trip out... cannot get boat over 2500 rpm with out backfiring spittin and sputtering.

Parked the boat for 2 years....... Broke as a joke

I recently bought a new long block for my boat. When i removed the old engine, the timing chain was soooo loose, i believe it jumped a tooth and thats why i couldnt do higher rpms. The Oil in the pan looked like roofing tar.... it was in chunk like sludge across the whole bottom of my oil pan.... like 2 inches deep Also, the intermediate was trashed... the drive shaft could wiggle about an 1/8th of an inch either way for a total of 1/4 inch play in the shaft.

So you cannot take the previous boat owners word for nothing.

Most the time you can look at it as someone gettin rid of a headache, and they lie through their teeth to sell you THEIR problem

Just because the boat looks great on the outside, does not mean the motor/outdrive are going to be great on the inside.

so after about $4500 I am now finally boating.... but not without issue still.

I really hope you did not do too much damage.

good luck

~Bryan S

 

[Maclin]

Re: Terrible First Day

You got some worst case scenarios so far, so stay calm! As others have mentioned, the engine is probably ok, even head gaskets but any rubber pieces are compromised now, those were more than likely the source of the smoke.

Have a compression test done first and go from there regarding the engine, it sounds like to me the service people have the right idea on where to start.

Just be ready for the rest....:

Exhaust boots may have started to melt, they run form the exhaust risers to the exhaust Y-pipe. The exhaust flappers in the Y-pipe probably melted and will need to be fished out of the drive. Best to remove the drive for this.

The impeller needs to be removed and looked at and if any pieces are missing then the rest of the cooling sysytem needs to be back flushed to get them out. If the impeller is sort of ok then the pump housing can be the actual problem and you will need to replace the whole pump.

I am sure there are more things to check, but those are the main ones involved in the type of overheat you described.

 

[Matt'sRegal]

Re: Terrible First Day

Thanks, I will start there. Matt