Hot Cylinders?

[DaKahuna]

Hello,

I have a 1992 200HP Mercury Black Max and was told the other day by a shadetree mechanic that a couple of the cylinders were running hot. He used an infrared thermometer to check the temp on the outside of the engine at each cylinder.

one on each side was showing about 20-30 degrees hotter than the others.

The engine is not overheating, or at least the alarm has never gone off and it does work. The thermostats are working OK.

His comment was that there was "gunk" or in the head and they would probably need to be removed and cleaned at a machine shop or the heat would end up damaging things.

Can someone give me some insight on if this sounds correct and if so how big a deal is it to remove the heads (looks easy) and how much am I looking at for the repair? Is there a simpler alternative to clean this out?

Thanks!

 

[Faztbullet]

Re: Hot Cylinders?

Step away from the "shadetree" as you cannot tell internal cylinder temp's with a infrared gun. The cylinders are surrounded by a water jacket and its normal to have a few warmer spots on a engine. On A V-6 its usually in the #3 & #4 cylinder area. If water pump hasnt been replaced in last 2 years your due one..

 

[willp2]

Re: Hot Cylinders?

Not sure if there is a good way to check the temp cylinder by cylinder I'd assume the system needs to be looked at as a complete system.

 

[Dukedog]

Re: Hot Cylinders?

A few years back Merc put 1 size bigger mains in 2 and 5 to get the temps down in those clyinders in the chrome bore motors. Think that went away when the chrome did or maybe it didn't work like they intended it to. Like Faz says, its not gonna run equal everwhere...............D