Coolant in 3 cylinders after winter storage? Hasn't been started

[vincentmb615]

Hello all! My Boat ran great last season so after our last trip I fogged the motor changed the oil and filled both water hoses with coolant, and left it alone, tried to start this weekend and the motor was hydro locked, I found water in 3 cylinders 2 on one side one on the other , my question is the boat hadn't even been ran, the oil isn't milky and it was definitely the orange antifreeze that I filled the system with that came out of the cylinders, motor is free now and spins perfectly but im confused what could cause this ? Is there a gasket or seal that it could leaked passed? Remember I ran it on muffs fogged it and burned all of the fuel out of the carb, then changed the oil and filled the cooling system it hasn't been started . Thanks for any assistance!

 

[Chris1956]

Exactly what motor are we discussing? MerCruiser sterndrive, outboard?

 

[racerone]

What motor ?---Serial #----What hoses ?---Describe your winterizing procedure.----If inboard you may have a cracked block , manifold or head.-----If inboard did you drain the water out of the block, yes or no ?

 

[vincentmb615]

It's a mercruiser 4.3 inboard , I basically ran the motor on muffs until operating temp , fogged the engine through the carb, shut it down took the muffs out drained the water changed the oil and then took the thermostat hoses off and filled them with marine antifreeze from each side until full, I've never had any issues this boat overheating or running any way short of amazing

 

[racerone]

You may have a cracked block.

 

[vincentmb615]

I live in south Georgia so cold isn't really existent and it's only been in fresh water it's whole life . How would I pinpoint the issue ? Start pulling exhaust and intake manifold off ?

 

[Chris1956]

Do you mean MerCruiser Sterndrive or straight inboard motor?

On the Mercruiser, did you drain and fill the manifolds and riser with A-F? Presuming the manifolds and risers are not damaged, the gasket between the manifold and riser can leak, causing A-F to run into the engine thru an open valve.

 

[vincentmb615]

Yes alpha one Stern drive

 

[Chris1956]

Well, you either have a cracked block, cracked head, rotted out riser or bad gasket between the manifold and riser. Hopefully the latter.

Drain and pull the risers. s/b 4 bolts and a couple of hose clamps each. Inspect the gasket surface and try to see if the orange A-F breached the gasket, and went into the engine. If so, post a picture of the gasket surfaces. Maybe they can be resurfaced. Also, the tops of the risers rot out, and can let water or A-F run back into the manifold. Post a picture of those as well.

 

[Scott Danforth]

It's a mercruiser 4.3 inboard , I basically ran the motor on muffs until operating temp , fogged the engine through the carb, shut it down took the muffs out drained the water changed the oil and then took the thermostat hoses off and filled them with marine antifreeze from each side until full, I've never had any issues this boat overheating or running any way short of amazing

did you poke each and every drain in the block, manifolds, hoses, etc to ensure that water did drain?

or does this have the 3-point or single point drain system which may or may not drain the block, heads, manifolds, etc.?

 

[vincentmb615]

Manifold seems to be ok gasket on block is shot for sure and I think the risers have had there.last run, what do y'all think ?

 

[flashback]

No expert here, but the center port looks to have a puddle in it an the valve don't look too good either. The riser looks like solid rust. I'm having a bit of a problem with exhaust myself at the moment.
If it's a raw water cooling your winterizing procedure is totally wrong. Check out the forum stickies to learn a bit.

 

[flashback]

I came on a little strong, apologies, lots of very good wrenches on the forum and they will hang with you..

 

[Scott Danforth]

you have water pooled on top of the valve, and the valve and seat are rusted.

your manifolds need to be acetone tested as visual inspection doesnt mean squat......as that is pooled water in the center port

you need to pressure test the cooling water jacket and do a compression and leak down test.

hopefully you get by with only new manifolds and a head job.

 

[vincentmb615]

Don't know why this one didn't upload, but is this riser cracked ? It looks like it to me !

 

[QBhoy]

Yeah. Riser looks suspect there. You need to drain the manifolds too. Not just the block

 

[vincentmb615]

Well here's we're im at mentally and please chime back and let me know what you think, I've filled all the cylinders with lubricant and spun it around a few times, valves are opening and closing and that rust came out I've filled again and let it set, I've ordered a new compression/ and leak down tester from Amazon, so Friday I will check compression and leak down, what is in spec? 6 or 7 percent? What am I looking for on compression scale ! 150 or better ? If they pass these tests is it safe to swap risers and manifolds and hit the lake? I don't want to spend 900 plus if the head gasket is blown or the block is cracked so im kind of sitting back until this weekend when my tools arrive from Amazon, any disagreement with my plan of attack ? Or better ideas then mine ? Im all ears, I was an Auto mechanic for years so im not clueless I've done several head gaskets and timing chains, motor swaps transmission etc . But clearly im a moron with boats this isn't a 4.3 sitting in a blazer lol

 

[Scott Danforth]

You can borrow compression and leak down tester tools from your local FLAPS

Compression on a new motor is 150psi
You want more than 100 psi as below that, it will not run. You want all your cylinders within 5% ideally. However within 10% is the limit

make sure to do a pressure test on the water jacket. It should hold 15psi forever

 

[vincentmb615]

Leak down tester came in yesterday compression tester should be in tomorrow I will post back my results , hopefully it's just manifolds and a valve job

 

[achris]

Clamp off/plug the water hoses and pressure test the engine block/heads. A compression test and leakdown test will only show you the condition of the cylinders, not the water jacket.

Chris.....