Hello My Name is Stanley. I have a 1983 Starcraft CSS181B w/ OMC 3.8L Stringer Drive. It has been in storage for several years and this summer my wife/daughter encouraged me to bring it out and get it running. I have owned the boat for many years. It was turned over to me from my father. It has always had pretty good care/maintenance. When it was last stored it was in good running order and I did the full winterization as per the owners manual. The reason it was not used for a while is the last time we took it out we hit a submerged stump and broke the quadrant gear off the out drive. We were able to get back to the dock since driving in forward held the outdrive against the stern but as you can imagine backing up was not so good. The outdrive would jump/raise up out of the water because there was nothing there to hold it down.
I do have a working knowledge of engine repair. I am an old shade tree mechanic and in my younger days would take apart and engine and put it back together without hesitation but that was quite a while ago. I still have the ability but I wonder if the case I am about to present if it is worth it?
So here is where I am at...
Pulled the boat out of storage and put it my drive way. Checked the battery and it is still OK. Most likely will replace if things go my way but it will do for now. I checked the engine over, plugs looked good, still very wet with fogging oil. Ignition wires, cap, rotor, points all looked good. Oil was changed right before storage so that looked OK as well.
When I tried to start all that I got was single click at the solenoid so I went through and checked everything with a multimeter and received the correct readings. I was able to turn the engine manually by spinning the pulley wheel on the crankshaft so engine was not frozen so I deduced it must be the starter. Pulled it and did a bench test and nothing, I could manually move the drive pinon in and out but nothing would move electronically. Took it to my local rebuild shop and sure enough it was frozen solid inside the case so I had it rebuilt for $80 put it back and TADA the engine turns over.
Emptied the gas tank and put in new fuel. I could not get the old fuel filter off so I replaced with a new Sierra Marine Fuel Water Separator Kit.
So now that it was cranking and I knew I had a good fuel supply (I did remember to add the lead additive to the no-lead gasoline and included a bottle of sea foam). So I put on the muffs/ears thingy that attaches to the hose and put it on the outdrive water intake and turned on the water.
It took a bit to get the fuel through the fuel pump and up to the carb and as you can imagine it smoked like heck and choked and puffed but after a few minutes of cranking is started, YES!
It did run rough for a bit but eventually smoothed out and after 30 minutes or so it would even idle in neutral.
It did run a little hot for a bit, up to 180 degrees but then settled down to about 120 degrees.
Well I thought I was on a good track, engine running, I was able to shift into forward and reverse. I was looking over the engine as it was running and noticed that I had not closed one of the winterizing water drain pet cocks fully so there was water dripping out of it down the side of the engine but a hard turn by hand and the dripping stopped.
Well I let it run for a couple of hours, Shut it down. Let it cool started again and all seemed fine until I decided to check the oil again and RATS. Milky White!!!!
ERRRRR, I know that is not good but I am not sure if it is a bad as it could be. Like I said the engine is running fine. I even pulled all the spark plugs and did a compression check. I just had a cheap hold in spark plug hole by had meter but I was able to get at least register 150 on every cylinder.
So now what to do???
I assume it must be a bad head gasket? Like I said I know engines pretty well but is there maybe another way the water got in the oil? Did the leaking pet **** valve somehow get water in? I have run the boat on the muffs many times before but never that long. Could that somehow be getting water in. The water pressure at my house is quite high. The plugs are still clean.
So now I have a 1983 boat/motor that needs maybe head gaskets and for sure a new upper housing.
I am not afraid to do the work but is it worth it? The rest of the boat is solid, Hull is good, No wood rot in any of the decking.
I am just not sure if I should invest the time and money or just consider a new engine/outdrive or even a whole boat?
Thanks in advance for you time, knowledge and advice.
I have attached some pictures for reference.
I do have a working knowledge of engine repair. I am an old shade tree mechanic and in my younger days would take apart and engine and put it back together without hesitation but that was quite a while ago. I still have the ability but I wonder if the case I am about to present if it is worth it?
So here is where I am at...
Pulled the boat out of storage and put it my drive way. Checked the battery and it is still OK. Most likely will replace if things go my way but it will do for now. I checked the engine over, plugs looked good, still very wet with fogging oil. Ignition wires, cap, rotor, points all looked good. Oil was changed right before storage so that looked OK as well.
When I tried to start all that I got was single click at the solenoid so I went through and checked everything with a multimeter and received the correct readings. I was able to turn the engine manually by spinning the pulley wheel on the crankshaft so engine was not frozen so I deduced it must be the starter. Pulled it and did a bench test and nothing, I could manually move the drive pinon in and out but nothing would move electronically. Took it to my local rebuild shop and sure enough it was frozen solid inside the case so I had it rebuilt for $80 put it back and TADA the engine turns over.
Emptied the gas tank and put in new fuel. I could not get the old fuel filter off so I replaced with a new Sierra Marine Fuel Water Separator Kit.
So now that it was cranking and I knew I had a good fuel supply (I did remember to add the lead additive to the no-lead gasoline and included a bottle of sea foam). So I put on the muffs/ears thingy that attaches to the hose and put it on the outdrive water intake and turned on the water.
It took a bit to get the fuel through the fuel pump and up to the carb and as you can imagine it smoked like heck and choked and puffed but after a few minutes of cranking is started, YES!
It did run rough for a bit but eventually smoothed out and after 30 minutes or so it would even idle in neutral.
It did run a little hot for a bit, up to 180 degrees but then settled down to about 120 degrees.
Well I thought I was on a good track, engine running, I was able to shift into forward and reverse. I was looking over the engine as it was running and noticed that I had not closed one of the winterizing water drain pet cocks fully so there was water dripping out of it down the side of the engine but a hard turn by hand and the dripping stopped.
Well I let it run for a couple of hours, Shut it down. Let it cool started again and all seemed fine until I decided to check the oil again and RATS. Milky White!!!!
ERRRRR, I know that is not good but I am not sure if it is a bad as it could be. Like I said the engine is running fine. I even pulled all the spark plugs and did a compression check. I just had a cheap hold in spark plug hole by had meter but I was able to get at least register 150 on every cylinder.
So now what to do???
I assume it must be a bad head gasket? Like I said I know engines pretty well but is there maybe another way the water got in the oil? Did the leaking pet **** valve somehow get water in? I have run the boat on the muffs many times before but never that long. Could that somehow be getting water in. The water pressure at my house is quite high. The plugs are still clean.
So now I have a 1983 boat/motor that needs maybe head gaskets and for sure a new upper housing.
I am not afraid to do the work but is it worth it? The rest of the boat is solid, Hull is good, No wood rot in any of the decking.
I am just not sure if I should invest the time and money or just consider a new engine/outdrive or even a whole boat?
Thanks in advance for you time, knowledge and advice.
I have attached some pictures for reference.
