Dropping the motor in.....finally.

[racinrc14]

Well, it's been a while, but I think I am finally ready to get my old '77 Glastron back together.

I rebuilt the Merc 888 (Ford 302), and am about ready to drop it back in. I have a few questions, however. They are:

1) While the engine is out, and the drive is off, are there any other maintenance tasks I should accomplish while access is good to the transom? It's an old boat, and it seems like the steering was a little 'loose'. How should I go about tackling this issue? Also, the gimbal bearing spins smoothly without any hitches and appears rust free. Should I replace this anyway? Hate to spend the money if it doesn't need it.

2) I was planning on installing the engine minus the heads, exhaust manifolds, intake, etc. so I didn't have all that weight on the mounts, making it a little easier to align. Anyone see any problems with this or have another suggestion?

3) The reason for the rebuild was water in the oil and rod knock. While dis-assembling the old motor, the machinist didn't find any cracks in any of the castings (block, heads). During disassembly, I couldn't find any telltale signs of water getting by any gaskets (intake, heads, water pump, etc). So that leaves the exhuast manifolds and shutters. I haven't got the y-pipe out yet, but I am doing that tonight or tomorrow night to check the shutters. That leaves the manifolds and I'm not quite sure how to go about inspecting them for cracks. But so far, I can't see where the water came from.

4) As noted in another post, I belive I was having trim issues before the rebuild. What's the test for weak trim pumps and cylinders.

Thanks to all, this forum has been extremely helpful (with the occasionally not very helpful post :>)

 

[MikDee]

Re: Dropping the motor in.....finally.

1)I would put a new engine coupler on now, just to be on the safe side.
Loose steering, why? is there play at the pivot point at the transom or somewhere? And the gimble bearing sounds fine, why mess with it?
2) This is not necessary? IMO
3)Maybe your intake manifold is rusting out?

You'll hafta get further info from others

 

[racinrc14]

Re: Dropping the motor in.....finally.

My apologies, I should have been more specific. I can grab the lower unit, and move it back and forth and get 1 1/2 to 2 inches of lateral movement at the skeg without moving the wheel. It does not have power steering, and it appeared to me that the 'slop' was somewhere behind the lower unit when looking forward from the rear of the boat. I grabbed the linkages (forgot the names of the parts iaw the manual) at the transom and they all seem to fit together minus any looseness. Is the arm that actually moves the lower unit prone to wear? It looks like it pivots on a couple of bushings. I can make bushings here at work if they are easy to replace.

I did buy a new coupler as the old one was shot. The splines were razor sharp and 'rifled'.

Can I check the intake manifold for cracking with acetone like the exhaust manifolds as someone suggested in another post?

 

[racinrc14]

Re: Dropping the motor in.....finally.

Oh one more, you should NOT have to remove the "Y" pipe to check or replace your flappers. In fact you really don't want to take it out unless you have to.

Aren't the shutters located at the bottom of that pipe? How do I check them if I don't take it out?

 

[racinrc14]

Re: Dropping the motor in.....finally.

Ok, so I looked over the exhaust and cannot find them anywhere. My exhaust goes like this:

Manifolds to riser, riser to bellows, bellows to down tube, down tube to y-shaped pipe/housing connected with a 3 bolt flange, then out the transom. I couldn't see any casted in recesses where the flappers might reside. There is definitely no where to mount any shutter device within the first visible 6 inches of either down tube.

 

[racinrc14]

Re: Dropping the motor in.....finally.

Is it possible that I do not have exhaust shutters on my installation? I looked the manual over and found no mention of shutters or flappers, and the housing at the transom plate is called an 'exhaust separator'.

 

[coastalcruiser]

Re: Dropping the motor in.....finally.

shutters are on the bottom of the Y
if your steering is that loose you need to check the transom assembly because the steering lever wore out on my old 888. If it is gone you will have to pull that motor out again hope im wrong but you asked
if you take the Y out, remove the 2 bolts under it or when you take it off it will crack the casting on the bottom of the Y

mercstuff.com
http://www.mercstuff.com/gimbalringwear.htm

 

[racinrc14]

Re: Dropping the motor in.....finally.

That's good info. I was hoping to avoid messing with the gimbal ring, but since the motor is out and access is good, might as well fix whatever is going on there.

 

[racinrc14]

Re: Dropping the motor in.....finally.

Found 'em. Or at least 1 1/2 of them. The starboard side shutter flaps are missing, but the pivot pin and cage was still there. They are located at the bottom of the down tubes (or 'elbow' iaw the Merc manual) just ahead of the 'exhaust separator'. I looked into the bellows and the lower unit for the remains of the old one, but I didn't see them anywhere. Hopefully the pieces got sent out the exhaust. Any precautions I should take regarding the missing pieces? Of course I will replace both of them as a set.

 

[Schmoe]

Re: Dropping the motor in.....finally.

Make dang sure the flywheel nuts are good and tight, maybe put some locktight on them. Dad had the exact same set up, and for some reason, the flywheel nuts started backing off and had to pull the whole motor out.

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: Dropping the motor in.....finally.

Correct the flappers are at the bottom of the y-pipe. My 351 had both of the rings and center pins intact but all flappers gone. I also have the water in oil problem along with a possibly frozen engine which is due to one of tow things: the riser gasket failed which allows water into the exhaust manifold (i found it in one cylinder only) or the water coolant plugs on the bottom of the heads have corroded through. Number 1 is most likely as the boat has never been in salt water and the water in the oil was not mixed, so it happened while sitting, not running.

In any case I would install the engine as complete as you can. Risers, manifolds, the whole thing. Once you have everything on the engine hoist, weight isn't much of a factor. As long as you don't remove the engine mounts it will go on just as it came out. Now is an excellent time to clean as much of the grease/grime out of the bilge/transom area and off of the engine. Doing the oil change, new spark plugs or any other maintenance is also warranted as everything is as accessible as it can be at this point.

 

[coastalcruiser]

Re: Dropping the motor in.....finally.

found flapper remains in the bottom of the leg blocking exaust flow so keep a sharp eye out.

 

[racinrc14]

Re: Dropping the motor in.....finally.

Thanks to all...

Borrowed a borescope from work yesterday and found no remains in the exhaust pathway in the drive. So that's some good news. Ordered the new shutters, should be here tomorrow.

H'n A, My water problem was mixed oil/water in the pan. When I removed the intake manifold, there was clear water and milky oil in the lifter valley, so I am fairly sure that my problem was a leaking intake manifold gasket. I didn't find any clear water on top of the pistons, so I think my exhaust system is ok except for the shutters, although it's no guarantee.

I have the engine nearly completed, so I'll be installing it all together. I had to remove the mounts. I was planning on re-aligning the engine anyway, because the engine coupler is bad. So I'll install everything as the manual suggests. Have the mounts on the engine, lower it onto the rear mount, install the bolts and torque, slide the alignment bar in, lower the engine until bar slides in freely, adjust the mounts so they just touch the stringers, run the nuts down another 1/2 turn, take the weight off the hoist, and tighten mount nuts to torque, double-check the alignment, run the lag screws into the mounts and torque, sit back and wonder how I did it without this forum....and so on.

 

[vegasphotoman]

Re: Dropping the motor in.....finally.

Lets see some pics of that engine when you get started on the install!
I think I may need flappers on my newman...we'll see! havent messed with the engine yet...watching your posts LOL

 

[racinrc14]

Re: Dropping the motor in.....finally.

Vegas,

This is on older thread and I have been running the boat all summer!! No problem though. I dropped the motor in at a friends house (used a tractor with a front end loader since my hoist wasn't tall enough to clear the transom) and wifey wasn't there to take pictures. I think I detailed the install in another post somewhere, though. I'll see if I can find it...

 

[racinrc14]

Re: Dropping the motor in.....finally.

OH! I did it pretty much just like the post above yours! ? ^