Engine "seizing"?

[plundw59]

We were out on our 86 bluewater..3 liter... for about an hour....running up and down the river and everything seemed to be fine...ran fine...gauges appeared to be working...not overheating...oil pressure fine...and we slowed down..rather quickly...and the engine just STOPPED...died...tried cranking and it appears to be seized up...will not turn over...tries to crank but will not...waited awhile...tried again..same result....had brother in law come out and took out 2 spark plugs....still will not turn over....put in neutral and prop will spin freely.....now have no clue .....:/

 

[MikDee]

Backflush of water in engine probably! Check the oil for water, then Pull all the plugs, pull kill switch, try cranking over vigorously to get water out! (if it won't crank with kill switch out, disconnect resistor wire on coil Pos +, not the other wire, or it won't crank,,, then crank as I said. Once all water is out of engine, change oil, & filter, refill put it all back together, & get it running on the muffs!

 

[jimbo_jwc]

Pull top brg cap on top of outdrive upper and check that brg mine the rollers on taper brg came apart from water intrusion and dropped piece in gear and acted the same way .

 

[Howard Sterndrive]

sounds like the upper gears/bearings in the outdrive - pull the outdrive off the boat and try cranking engine.

 

[plundw59]

thanks for all the information...will probably try them all!.....sorry "howard"....opie and Anthony fan here

 

[Maclin]

Probably hydrolocked, water came back up the exghaust when slowing quickly and into cylinders and stopped the engine as water does not compress. You need to pull all the spark plugs, watch for water coming out, then crank until water is expelled This needs to be done like right now or as soon as you can. If this was salt water then do it now

 

[dp9214]

Mine did the same thing the other day - almost like I had a rope tangled in the prop, the way it stopped, but prop was free. Was not overheating. I have a 1987 2.3L OMC - but I was able to get mine started eventually but would stall again - after I would get it started, I could hear something getting ready to bog it down again and it would "seize up" but I knew it wasn't really seizing up. Soething was stopping it. So far I have done the following:
1. Made sure nothing was around prop - that was free and clear
2. Made sure no blockages to inlet on lower unit (no plastic bags etc) - that was all good
3. Checked impeller and made sure was in good shape - looked like new.
4. Took hose #25 off and ran the engine to make sure I was getting water from the lake - that was fine - shooting water 8 - 10"
5. Took thermostat housing apart and made sure the thermostat was working and that assy was unplugged - heated thermostat in water to 160 and it was fine
6. Took all plugs out, smelled like gas, no water in cyl's - looked OK
7. Took belt off so I could check and make sure my water pump and alternator was not binding and stalling the engine - engine started up but would stall eventually
8. Took timing belt cover off just to check I did not have worn ribs slipping - that looked great no cracks etc - engine ran fine but eventually "seized"
9. I guess like the above I need to start looking at the upper outdrive gears and bearings - the engine will run smooth as silk for about 2 minutes then you can hear it start to bog down suddenly like something locks it up.

I'm not sure of the acronyms being used "Pull top "brg cap" on top of outdrive upper and check that "brg" mine the rollers on taper "brg" came apart from water intrusion and dropped piece in gear and acted the same way ." What is a "BRG"? Thanks

 

[dp9214]

"BRG" = Bearing - took me a few moments, getting old - Thanks

 

[dp9214]

Took the "brg" cover off today - the "brg" cage was all mangled - so know what I have to do...

 

[Howard Sterndrive]

you need a complete rebuild of your drive, or a new outdrive.

 

[jimbo_jwc]

Sorry about not being more specific , don't sweat it I had happen two times before and 4.5hp kicker motor got me back . I looked at buying SEI lower unit and finally repaired original and did the bellows and gimbal brg job and shouldn't have to worry for a while on a 1987 Thompson that I found with 40-50 hrs from original owner .

 

[Stringer Guy]

This happened to me last year with my 79 Seaswirl. I allowed my upper gear box oil to run low and mauled the bearings. As soon as the engine would start, the bearings would overheat after a short time and the increased strain stopped the engine. The Mechanic diagnosed it after running on the rabbit ears and all the noise that came from the box. Had to have the gear box rebuilt.

 

[markboutros]

i had the same problem on my omc electric shift, the upper unit seized due to lack of oil