New elbows on a 5.7 LX.

[AKJohne]

1996 5.7 LX,
Last week I made a trip to Homer for some king fishing. On startup i discovered the port side elbow had cracked directly under tne drain i forgot to open before i parked it outside in below freezing temperatures. Fortunately I was able to get a brand new OEM elbow from the local merc dealer. However I noticed the nrw elbow is not drilled and taped for a drain. The boss is cast there where the drain should be. Did merc change the design on tje elbow at some point? Mine were original. Do i need to drill and tap? Closed cooling with a san Juan HE, no drain on the HE other the pencil zinc. Thanks

 

[Bondo]

Ayuh,..... Those drains were deleted, 'n I haven't had any problems with the new design,...... as is,....

 

[Lou C]

Question....
If used on an engine with closed cooling (including the exhaust manifolds) wouldn’t the elbow require a separate drain in order to get the elbow to fully drain?
I guess alternatively you could disconnect the hose feeding raw water to the elbow...

 

[Bt Doctur]

or use one that has the drain plug

 

[AKJohne]

I could pull the hose that feeds the elbow from the HE, easier to unscrew the drain. I guess the real question is, are the new and the old merc elbows the same internally? Or did they modify the casting somehow?

 

[Lou C]

good question, it just doesn't make sense to me for them to eliminate the drain, for the reason I stated above. I know that in some Merc applications it would not matter where the exhaust is raw water cooled since draining the manifold drains the elbow just like on OMC/Volvo exhaust.

Another option is to use a good quality aftermarket one that still has the drain if you wanted an actual drain plug. BTW the boat looks great!
I used Barr Marine aftermarket on my engine installed 4 years ago still working well.

 

[AKJohne]

good question, it just doesn't make sense to me for them to eliminate the drain, for the reason I stated above. I know that in some Merc applications it would not matter where the exhaust is raw water cooled since draining the manifold drains the elbow just like on OMC/Volvo exhaust.

Another option is to use a good quality aftermarket one that still has the drain if you wanted an actual drain plug. BTW the boat looks great!
I used Barr Marine aftermarket on my engine installed 4 years ago still working well.

I could drill and tap and install the drains, its cast so easy enough to do, just wondering why they were eliminated. Thanks, it was a 5 year rebuild, glad it wasn't any bigger...!

 

[AKJohne]

I finally had a chance to examine the parts and there was a note card with the elbow that states the drain is no longer needed as the elbows are self draining. Sure enough there is a weep hole on the bottom that would theoretically drain, as long as its not rusted/crusted shut like my old one was, which had a drain **** and a plugged weep hole. I will be drilling and installing the old drain ****.

 

[Bt Doctur]

I think it is because of the 3 point and single point drain systems.
Theory is it drains everything and no need for any drain plugs. That is until it clogs and you lose a block and/or manifolds

 

[achris]

I finally had a chance to examine the parts and there was a note card with the elbow that states the drain is no longer needed as the elbows are self draining. Sure enough there is a weep hole on the bottom that would theoretically drain, as long as its not rusted/crusted shut like my old one was, which had a drain **** and a plugged weep hole. I will be drilling and installing the old drain ****.

The software edited 'c o c k'.

 

[AKJohne]

The software edited 'c o c k'.

Yes maybe I should have said "drainpenis".... laffin

 

[todhunter]

I was trying to figure out what vulgarity was being used. I figured he must be pretty pissed to be talking about drains that way...

 

[achris]

Yes maybe I should have said "drainpenis".... laffin

Or perhaps, 'drain man-sausage'...

 

[AKJohne]

I know how much you guys like pics and want to see my drain c o c k.
The weep hole was defintely plugged and I opened it with a awl. The piece was cracked and I pried it off the rest of the way so I could examine the cavity and thickness of the cast. These are original form 96/97, however low hour motor. I now have about 470 hours on this motor and had the exhaust off 2 years ago, cleaned everything and repainted resealed. I always think of these things as a ticking time bomb, however other than the weep hole plugging I think they had some life left in them. Pretty hard to evaluate accurately, for me anyway. I am going to R&R both sides and drill and tap for drains things....

 

[Lou C]

Interesting, I was having trouble imagining where there would be a weep hole. You can see how it got clogged, I guess they could have made it bigger!
The part that cracked you can see how much thickness was left, not bad actually.

 

[AKJohne]

Drilled and tapped for the drain, had to get out the big dog vise...!
I did not R&R the risers and gasket between the riser and the mannie, I did get a small amount of coolant seepage between the two, I may pay for it latter....! If I start seeing some corrosion I will have to redo. Busy at work and needed to get this done. After I put it back together I ran the motor and then retorqued the elbows. Interesting thing about the weep holes. I decided to test the drains, and nothing from the port side, buy the SB pizzed a small stream........? WTH..? glad I put the drain in.
If the weep hole was bigger to much water would discharge out the bottom, water needs to be directed to the top to keep things cool.