Merc 110 9.8 hp exhaust cover leaks water

[dajohnson53]

Hi: I've been working on an overheat problem:

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=220135

Removed exhaust and water jacket covers, cleaned them up as best I could, replaced with new gaskets, and torqued to spec and tightening sequence in OEM shop manual. I tightened in 4 stages.

Shop manual does not call for any sealer or adhesive for these gaskets.

Ran it in a barrel for about 45 minutes. The good news is that the engine seems to be circulating water perfectly, and the tell tale and heads were luke warm. Water jacket cover seems perfect.

Exhaust cover has tiny water leak(s) which produce a drop every 5 minutes or so. This isn't a lot of water, but it's there. I looked and it seems to be weeping out of more than one different places.

I do not know if I can possibly clean the surfaces any more. They are not pristine, this engine is 30+ years old and there is some "irregularities" in the mating surfaces. On the other hand, before I got into this, there was no water leaks, so I don't know if that's an issue.

What should be my next steps? Even though the manual doesn't call for sealer or such, should I use it, and if so, what type?

Should I just evenly add a couple more inch-lbs to each bolt?

Can I take it all apart again and try to clean it up better or add sealer - in other words, re-install the same gaskets?

I have never done gasket work before, so I was just following procedure in the book and what I read on these forums. I'm pretty clueless when it comes to troubleshooting this.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Laddies]

Re: Merc 110 9.8 hp exhaust cover leaks water

The engine when built didn't need to have sealers used but there is nothing at this point it would hurt except the next time it has to be removed it will be more difficult

 

[dajohnson53]

Re: Merc 110 9.8 hp exhaust cover leaks water

The engine when built didn't need to have sealers used but there is nothing at this point it would hurt except the next time it has to be removed it will be more difficult

What kind of sealer should I use?

Thanks.

 

[Laddies]

Re: Merc 110 9.8 hp exhaust cover leaks water

With pitted surfaces try #2 loctite form a gasket

 

[dajohnson53]

Re: Merc 110 9.8 hp exhaust cover leaks water

Thank you.

 

[Jimmy70]

Re: Merc 110 9.8 hp exhaust cover leaks water

I haven't done any boat water sealing problems but working autos I use the non hardening permatex stuff. It seals good specially if you have some pitting on the flanges. A light coat usually will suffice for doing the job.
Jimmy

 

[dajohnson53]

Re: Merc 110 9.8 hp exhaust cover leaks water

Thank you two - I used permatex #2 non hardening gasket sealer, spread thin on the metal surfaces. I believe that the problem was probably caused by pitting in the exhaust deflector. I probably should have just replaced it. But, I put it back together, torqued it, and ran it for about an hour in the barrel. Absolutely no leaking, strong water flow, engine kept cool and ran perfectly.