I have a question that I hope someone can help me out with. We have a boat with a Mercruiser 305 V8. It has been sitting for 5 years. (We believe that it was properly winterized when we were finished using it 5 years ago). We?re now trying to get it running again for this summer. We started cleaning and washing the boat when I just happened to pull out the dipstick to take a look at the oil. Instead of seeing brown oil up to the Full mark on the dipstick, I saw grayish oil. Not only did I see grayish oil but it was about 5 times higher up the dipstick than it should have been. It would appear that water has entered the oil pan somehow.
I was wondering what generally causes this type of condition. Is it a cracked water jacket or perhaps a blown head gasket? I imagine that this was caused by incorrect winterization but I?m not sure. How do I proceed now? Should I change the oil and filter and try to start the engine? Perform a compression check on all cylinders? Any direction you could give would be greatly appreciated.
I was wondering what generally causes this type of condition. Is it a cracked water jacket or perhaps a blown head gasket? I imagine that this was caused by incorrect winterization but I?m not sure. How do I proceed now? Should I change the oil and filter and try to start the engine? Perform a compression check on all cylinders? Any direction you could give would be greatly appreciated.