Has my engine or lower unit seized?

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primo3236

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May 23, 2011
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Morning all, I have a rebuilt mercruiser 69' 140 3.0 liter I/O completley rebuilt last year.

Boat was winterized properly.

Ran well while in driveway twice for 20 minute intervals, in neutral.

Took into water, all was fine until 5 minutes into the trip, I lost all power . The boat seemed to have over heated, temp guage at 220. Small amount of smoke from the top of the oil pan. I allowed to cool, then started again, boat idled fine, but then cut out after attempting to put into gear, and would not start again.

I was towed back to shore:facepalm: put on trailer and back to my garage to try and diagnose.

Tested starter, its working. Pulled Spark plugs and tried to crank by hand without any luck.

Not sure where to go from here, but having a hard time believing my engine siezed at 220 degrees, I havent checked the lower unit oil, but i did not have any oil on the driveway over the winter so i had to believe it was still in there after i winterized it.

Please help

Thank you

Brendon
 
ziggy

ziggy

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Re: Has my engine or lower unit seized?

seems like the next step to me would be to pull the drive. then see which one don't rotate..
 
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wifisher

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Re: Has my engine or lower unit seized?

If I had to guess, I would say the drive, as it stalled when putting in gear. Purely a guess though, I agree with ziggy, pull the drive and check it out.

I would check all fluids on any vehicle that sits for the off-season before starting.
 
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primo3236

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Re: Has my engine or lower unit seized?

Thanks, im not confident pulling the drive i have never dissassembled one, I do have shop manual do you believe that this is a Do it yourself ? or should i be taking to mechanic at this point?

What would I be looking for?

Thanks
 
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wifisher

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Re: Has my engine or lower unit seized?

With a manual, and some basic wrench turning abilities, pulling the drive should be no problem. IMHO
 
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primo3236

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Re: Has my engine or lower unit seized?

Gentleman, I forgot to mention that my battery was dead, and when I tried to start the engine i did so from a jump from a Car, is it possible that I did not have enough aps to turn the engine over?
 
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wifisher

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Re: Has my engine or lower unit seized?

primo3236 said:
Gentleman, I forgot to mention that my battery was dead, and when I tried to start the engine i did so from a jump from a Car, is it possible that I did not have enough aps to turn the engine over?
Click to expand...

yes. It is very possible. Charge your battery and try it the proper way before you go tearing it apart.
 
81 Checkmate

81 Checkmate

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Re: Has my engine or lower unit seized?

1. Leave the spark plugs pulled
2. Check your engine oil. See if it is clean ( No Water)
3. Charge battery, Once you get a full charge hook back up and bummp your starter and see if it turns over. If it is hard or will not turn over then stop.
4. Drain drive gear lube, ( Check contents of lube ) If it is milky or it smells burnt then there is a problem with the drive.
5. Proceed to pull the drive, Like above post.
6. Try and bump over starter and see if it turns, If so then reinstall spark plugs and see if it starts.
 
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primo3236

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Re: Has my engine or lower unit seized?

Checked lower unit oil,

Vanilla Milkshake, the drain plug was loose

is the entire outdrive is FUBAR?

could this have destroyed the engine as well?

considering replacing the entire outdrive for 1200 with 3 year bulletproof warranty and swapping myself, or should i let someone attempt a rebuild?

does anyone know what model or serial number would be a 1969 mercruiser outdrive for a 140hp 3.0 litre?

one quarter turn....unbelievable
 
Eric 3.7LX Alpha 1

Eric 3.7LX Alpha 1

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Mar 27, 2010
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Re: Has my engine or lower unit seized?

So you found water in the drive lube, and the drain plug was loose. That doesn't guarantee that the drive is the cause of the engine not turning over.

There are many threads on here with people having water in the drive, depends how long the parts were sitting in it.

Have you pulled the drive off yet and confirm it is the cause? Or put a fresh battery in it and try it again?

Water is heavier than oil so it would be at the bottom of the drive. Those gears would be the ones sitting in it. However if it was leaking from the drain plug, wouldn't it be obvious on your driveway under it, unless you keep it in the water.
 
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primo3236

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Re: Has my engine or lower unit seized?

The lower unit oil was changed when i winterized the boat . The boat had not seen the water since, so there would be no reason that all the oil was the consitstency it was unles it was being sucked in This all happened within the first ten minutes of being in the water for the season.

I did put on a fresh battery, it now sounds like the boat has been in a barn for 10 years,it will slowly and painfully turn the flywheel now.

The oil was never leaking it is all still in the lower unit, it was just compramised when the water was sucked in through the loose drain plug:facepalm:

Next step will be pulling off the drive.
 
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primo3236

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Have I seized my outdrive?

Have I seized my outdrive?

Boat ran like snot in the driveway

I dropped the boat in for the first time.

After 10 minutes, engine failed and wont turn over, sounds like she has been sitting in a barn for 10 years.

Pulled out, checked lower unit oil. "Got Milk"

Drain plug was loose.

Oil was 100% fresh when winterized

Im thinking the outdrive is seized. Will know when i pull it.

Can anyone check my photo's out and positivley ID my model as i am now looking to replace parts and possibly the outdrive as a whole. :facepalm:

1969 Mercruiser 3.0 litre 140 hm engine.
 

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Don S

Don S

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Re: Have I seized my outdrive?

Re: Have I seized my outdrive?

I have merged your two threads together, since they are on exactly the same subject as your original post. Just a continuation.
This just keeps all the information on this problem in the same place instead of bouncing from post to post.
 
Don S

Don S

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Re: Have I seized my outdrive?

Re: Have I seized my outdrive?

For one thing, being a 228 outdrive, it's geared for a V8 and not a 140. You NEED the proper outdrive or at least an upper for a 140 with the right gear ratio.
 
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primo3236

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May 23, 2011
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Re: Has my engine or lower unit seized?

can I replace with Alpha 1 outdrive? the gear ratio on my engine is 1.94

i see many alpha 1 for sale, but not many pre alpha
 
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dingdongs

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Re: Has my engine or lower unit seized?

best thing to do is pull the drive to confirm what failed before emptying your wallet.if the engine seized and the drive is shot too it may be time to consider a new rig.
 
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