Milky oil OMG

[zell1966]

Long story so bare with me.

Had engine winterized by the local marina were I live, Central Wisconsin. Took boat out on first run and engine overheated (260 or so) shut her down and back to marina to get her fixed. Found out a employee did not reattach 2 water hoses to pump after they winterized it.

Fast forward to July. Boated all summer until the overheat of July 3rd. I got into some silt and it clogged up the impeller and starved my engine of water. I did not realize this as I was towing a tube and had 8 people on board. The engine slowly lost power and when I finally realized what was going on I shut down the motor. What I thought was smoke was billowing out of the engine bay (4.3l Chevy 6 cyl inboard) I emptied my extinguisher into the engine compartment. My day was done.

Took boat back to same marina and after my wallet was drained of $489 boat was back on water and I was hyper aware. Boat made it 3oo or so yards and temp gauge was rising fast......WTF they did not tighten the hose clams down and pump was starving for water. Called them up and chewed up one side and sown the other. After the ***** session was over they offered me $100 back from my repair bill and basically said do not come back again.

Now to today 10-24-17, Put the muffs on and warmed up motor to do a oil change and MILKY OIL.

So now I am thinking cracked block. Has anyone ever taken on a marina because of a bad winterization job and won?

 

[alldodge]

So now I am thinking cracked block. Has anyone ever taken on a marina because of a bad winterization job and won?

With this being your question it should probably be in Dock Side Chat

First I am not a lawyer and am not offering legal advise, just an opinion from being in small claims court.

To your question: Knowing what some have been able to do it small claims court is for the most part irrelevant. That was their case and this is yours. It all depends on how well documented your case is, how well you stick to the facts and not voice opinions. The judge will listen to your side and to theirs. In most cases there will be a lawyer speaking for them.

Now if you took the $100 then they can claim you accepted their offer.

 

[GA_Boater]

Moved to Non-Repair.

 

[Lou C]

The problem I see is tying the milky oil to what they initially did. The engine ran normally after the first overheat right?
The second overheat was not their fault but their lack of proper repair caused yet another overheat. It's kind of like comparative negligence in accident cases. You probably have blown head gaskets but could also have cracked heads. You can try to get something from them but unless you can prove their negligence you may wind up having to get it repaired on your dime...

 

[zell1966]

Agreed, I guess my argument would be there history of screw ups and what other way could water get in the oil?

 

[HT32BSX115]

Agreed, I guess my argument would be there history of screw ups and what other way could water get in the oil?

Howdy,

Welcome aboard!

If you want to know how the water is getting into the oil, You first need to pressurize the block using compressed air.

You can usually hear where the leaks are with about 15-20 psi on the block/heads.

Once you know where the leak is, you can proceed with a fix

Regards,

Rick

 

[Bondo]

Fast forward to July. Boated all summer until the overheat of July 3rd. I got into some silt and it clogged up the impeller and starved my engine of water. I did not realize this as I was towing a tube and had 8 people on board. The engine slowly lost power and when I finally realized what was going on I shut down the motor. What I thought was smoke was billowing out of the engine bay (4.3l Chevy 6 cyl inboard) I emptied my extinguisher into the engine compartment. My day was done.

Ayuh,..... Welcome Aboard,..... If Iwere the Judge, yer failed winterization case is dismissed as soon as I hear this evidence,....

 

[Lou C]

I'm afraid that is it as Bondo said.
​When you get your engine up and runnin' again, you might want to invest in an audible alarm system for high water temp and low oil pressure. I'm going to install one on my old engine this spring. I had the same thing happen, but it was a raw water hose from the transom to the P/S cooler that popped off and not only overheated the engine, but was filling the bilge with salt water due to that nice big impeller in the Cobra drive....my choice was, since the boat was close to sinking, beach it or take my chances that the water would stop coming in (didn't know that this was the cause yet). Well I got about 50 yds off shore and the engine dies. I thought it was done. But then the water stopped coming in so I put 2 & 2 together and figured out what happened. Got towed in, checked it over. No water in the oil, normal comp test results. Ran it 2 more seasons (2014, 2015) and it finally blew both HGs at the end of '16, not from an overheat then but due to the previous one. Had water in a cyl and water in the oil. Blew out all the water, fogged it a number of times and took it apart over the winter. Put a set of rebuilt heads on it this summer so far so good. Block was still OK, both HGs blown and both heads had cracks in the center cyls exhaust ports.

 

[HT32BSX115]

Has anyone ever taken on a marina because of a bad winterization job and won?

I am with everyone else. Since you ran it long enough to severely overheat the engine, I am afraid that Ship has already left the dock........