1976 ford 302 Merc 888 - frothy oil

[VP46]

Hello iboat forums!

This is my first post so be gentle

I am the proud new owner of a 1976 Crestline Crusader 995 with a ford 302 and a merc 888.

It would seem that the previous owner (my father in-law) screwed the pooch and forgot?? or didn't properly winterize the boat. When I took possession (last week) a couple of problems presented themselves:

1. two of the 10 freeze plugs (core plugs right?) nearest the heads in the front were either out or were half way out.

2. there was an issue with stalling and restarting at low idol ( which is the least of my issues now)

I put the freeze plugs back in and worked on getting her started to begin to trouble shoot and hopefully solve the carb issue. Once I got her started she ran pretty darn smoothly at low idol and would cut out at higher rpm. I then looked at the oil breather tube and noticed it was spitting out a sickening froth - that of oil and water mixed. The oil/water froth was also coming from the oil check tube.

So.. my question?

Is it ....

A) a positive indication of a cracked block or cracked head or both

or

B) a blown head gasket

and finally

How do i confirm this?

Many thanks in advance!

 

[Bt Doctur]

Re: 1976 ford 302 Merc 888 - frothy oil

gaskets dont blow from freezing. Core plugs do move out ,sometimes completely.
I`d drain the pan, pull the spark plugs and get water in it from the inlet hose. water out the pan could be a cracked block, out the spark plug holes, either block or heads.

 

[VP46]

Re: 1976 ford 302 Merc 888 - frothy oil

Excellent! Thank you. I will do just that first thing in the AM. Here is to hoping for no water in the pan!

 

[VP46]

Re: 1976 ford 302 Merc 888 - frothy oil

I ended up pulling the Intake Manifold and discovered it rusted through at/near the water intake.

Where do I get a new 2bl manifold does it have to be Marine or will the edlebrok performer 302 work??


Thanks!

 

[Bt Doctur]

Re: 1976 ford 302 Merc 888 - frothy oil

Any cast iron one will work,and local car junk yards by you?
Aluminum ones should have the motor fresh water cooled

 

[VP46]

Re: 1976 ford 302 Merc 888 - frothy oil

can you clarify what it means to have an aluminum intake cooled?

 

[Bt Doctur]

Re: 1976 ford 302 Merc 888 - frothy oil

aluminum and salt water dont mix. the manifold would tend to corrode internally at a faster rate than cast iron. To use an aluminum intake manifold you need to put a fresh water cooling system on the engine.(heat exchanger)

 

[VP46]

Re: 1976 ford 302 Merc 888 - frothy oil

What do you think about welding the hole, IE finding someone to repair it?

PS turns out this is a big block ford... so it is a Windsor 351? (it is stamped ford and the boat is a Crusader 995 - I thought Crusaders had 302s in them)

 

[Bt Doctur]

Re: 1976 ford 302 Merc 888 - frothy oil

thin here, thin there, thin everywhere. How many times do you want to go thru removing water from the engine.

 

[VP46]

Re: 1976 ford 302 Merc 888 - frothy oil

Agreed... I am having trouble finding a manifold though. I can find marine long and short blocks all day long but the manifold is not as easily sorted.

Any hints one where to go to find the right one at a reasonable price? (already picked up the caskets from a good auto parts store).

 

[Bt Doctur]

Re: 1976 ford 302 Merc 888 - frothy oil

An older auto junk yard

 

[VP46]

Re: 1976 ford 302 Merc 888 - frothy oil

Oh yes, junk yards... (man I hate to love junkyards).

Thanks again, I really appreciate your help.

 

[hblair]

Re: 1976 ford 302 Merc 888 - frothy oil

well, I was gonna say I have two intakes here, but they're for the 302. Yours is a 351? I thought 888's were all 302's.

 

[Slicktified]

Re: 1976 ford 302 Merc 888 - frothy oil

-snip-

PS turns out this is a big block ford... so it is a Windsor 351? (it is stamped ford and the boat is a Crusader 995 - I thought Crusaders had 302s in them)

As far as I know all Merc 888's had 302's in them. Probably along it life it got a 351 put in it.

Be aware in you search for an intake that Ford used two different bolt patterns on its windsor intakes, one had 12 holes and one had 16. Make sure to count yours so you can get the correct one.

 

[VP46]

Re: 1976 ford 351w - frothy oil

Re: 1976 ford 351w - frothy oil

Looks l have a 12 bolt block and a 16 hole manifold! Oops!

 

[VP46]

Re: 1976 ford 351w - frothy oil

Re: 1976 ford 351w - frothy oil

Also.. the new used manifold was damaged in transit see pic. The new one on the left and old one on right.

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: 1976 ford 302 Merc 888 - frothy oil

I'm not sure what you have at the moment, but you could just get the casting number from around the starter area and that will tell you what you have. I have a used 2bbl marine 351w intake I'll sell you if it helps you any. The 351w/302 uses the exact same block *except* that the 351w has a higher deck height to allow for the longer piston stroke.

You can tell a 302 from a 351 by looking at the distributor area. The deck height will be pretty much even with the distributor collar (block part, not part of distributor) on a 302, the 351 deck will be well above the collar.

 

[Slicktified]

Re: 1976 ford 351w - frothy oil

Re: 1976 ford 351w - frothy oil

Looks l have a 12 bolt block and a 16 hole manifold! Oops!

I have in the past (once) tapped the 4 extra holes in the intake and plugged them, and it worked for me, but thats up to you.

The sheet metal "pan" on the under side of the intake is there to keep oil from splashing up and hitting the hot egr/exhaust crossover that is in the intake, even dented up it should still do that, personally I wouldn't worry about it, but again, thats up to you.

 

[VP46]

Re: 1976 ford 302 Merc 888 - frothy oil

I ended up plugging the holes and making a go of it.

I got it all back together tonight, changed the filter, added about 5 qts of oil, and gave it a turn.

It would turn over and pause turn over and pause turn over and pause. It did this 5 or 6 times and then stopped. If I turn the key now It just clicks at me.

Did I screw up the coil? The started was hot. Standing over the carb it smelled a bit like faint burning but only for a moment. I thought the smell was from it almost kicking over.... now I think maybe that could have been the coil, though the coil was cold to the touch.

Any ideas?

 

[VP46]

Re: 1976 ford 302 Merc 888 - frothy oil

Sounds like there is still water in a lung or there is rust on a cyl. wall. Try some lubricant in eack spark plug hole before cranking.

OK So drop some oil (teaspoon or so?) in each cylinder through the Sprk plg hole - and then it might turn it over?

I am confused a bit as to why it would turn over 5 or 6 times and then simply stop due to a little rust that accumulated in the last week or so. (Granted I have little experience to go off).