1975 Glastron V-187 Swinger - Milky Oil and Wasted Bellows

[BMundell]

Hey iBoats Forums! This is my first post here but I've been reading a lot of posts and I just want to say this seems like a great and very knowledgeable community of boaters!

So now on to my issues...

I have a 1975 Glastron V-187 Swinger. It has a Volvo Penta 280 & Ford 302 motor combo.

Several weeks ago I took the boat out and on day one the boat ran decent, but a little hot, probably around 200-215. We left the boat on the shore over night (bad idea in hindsight) and in the morning the back half of the boat was full of water. I was able to pump out the water with the bilge pump thankfully, and eventually got it running. However, it seemed to run choppy, and it stalled several times. It also continued to run hot, and every time we stopped, I used the bilge pump to see if we were taking on water, and we were, but I didn't know from where.

We finally stalled out in the middle of the lake and couldn't get it to start. We opened up the motor cover because we smelled a lot of gas, and water was everywhere all over the motor and the air filter was soaked. We checked the oil and it was frothy milky goodness. Also it was several quarts high I'd say. The boating fun was over obviously.

I thought it was probably a blown head gasket, or worse after reading posts here, possible cracked head or block. But then I saw a post about torn bellows, checked mine (didn't even know what one was until reading posts here) and sure enough the main bellows (not sure what it's called, but not exhaust bellows) has a large tear running along the bottom. This is probably where all the water is coming from

So now I am hoping to get some help from you, the Super iBoat Community, as to where to go from here. Obviously I?ll need to replace the bellows. I?m looking at getting a complete Transom Seal Kit. I?m also planning on getting an electric waste oil pump (any suggestions as to a good one?) and doing an oil flush. How many times would you guys suggest flushing the system? I?m also going to purchase a Seloc Manual.

Other than that, I really have no idea what else to check or be concerned about so I?m hoping to get some pointers.

I hope I didn?t make any of your eyes bleed with the long post but I wanted to give a lot of info so any helpers will have decent info to work with. Thanks!

Ben

 

[captmello]

Re: 1975 Glastron V-187 Swinger - Milky Oil and Wasted Bellows

You've got a ton of work ahead of you Ben.

Welcome to Iboats.

Are you a good mechanic?

Are you prepared to spend over a thousand dollars in parts?

If so you've come to the right place!!!

 

[Don S]

Re: 1975 Glastron V-187 Swinger - Milky Oil and Wasted Bellows

Water in the belows cause the drive oil to become milky. Not the engine oil.
Chances are, you have a cracked block. Everyone hopes for a blown gasket, but it seldom if ever happens What usually happens with a blown head gasket is you get air in the cooling system, not water in the oil.
You should also have a look at the external engine block and manifolds for cracks.

You really need to learn to open up your engine compartment and look around while it's running, and on initial start up. Just to make sure all is well and nothing is leaking.

 

[BMundell]

Re: 1975 Glastron V-187 Swinger - Milky Oil and Wasted Bellows

Uggggg... Well this might have killed all my hopes and dreams for this boat.

captmello - I'm not the greatest mechanic, but I have several people that are pretty good that are willing to help me. However, the spending of over $1000 might make the cost/benefit of a repair not even worth it at this point.

Don S - I'll take a closer look at the engine over the weekend and report back on my findings.

Thanks so far guys.

 

[captmello]

Re: 1975 Glastron V-187 Swinger - Milky Oil and Wasted Bellows

I was thinking the water had come in when you flooded the bilge. If the block is cracked then, ya, just more work and money.

I guess at this point you could drain the oil, refill and run it on muffs and see what happens. The new oil will turn milky from the previous water however you can see if the level of the oil climbs as you run it.

These old boats can be expensive to repair. If you're not looking for a project then you should find something in better shape to begin with.

If you decide to go ahead and fix it up, we'll try to help as much as we can.

Let us know how it goes.

 

[BMundell]

Re: 1975 Glastron V-187 Swinger - Milky Oil and Wasted Bellows

UPDATE

I finally got a chance to work on the boat this weekend. We ended up pumping all the old milky oil out first. Then we put new clean oil in, ran the boat with muffs for a while, and the oil was FAR less milky. We then drained that batch of oil, and put new clean oil in for a 3rd time. We then ran the motor again with muffs and this time the oil was essentially milk free.

So now I guess the question is, do you guys still think there is a crack in the block or something else internal if the oil did not get milky while running with muffs?

 

[captmello]

Re: 1975 Glastron V-187 Swinger - Milky Oil and Wasted Bellows

Hard to say on the block. How deep was the water in the back of the boat when it flooded? Could water have gooet in the dipstick tube? May need to drive it more to really know. Blocks crack from freezing primarily.

I suppose if you had the means you could pressure check the block cooling passages.

What about the overheating thing? Was it because there was a broken hose? You should replace the impeller regardless if you haven't done it in the past two years. I believe its housed behind the pully on the lower port side, front of the engine.

then you've got the bellows issue!!! Have you checked the oil in the outdrive recently? This is where the money will be spent if you decide to keep working at it.