Running Rough with White Smoke

[Uncivil]

Hi folks I am looking for some advice. I am looking at buying a boat in the Seattle area. The engine is a 94 Evinrude 70 VRO. I went down last week to check it out with my partner. We had a tough time getting it running but when we did it ran a bit rough but it had a fair bit of white smoke coming out of it. We didn't see any blue to it. I suspect it was not properly winterized and I am worried it might have cracked the block or some other nasty problem. I am wondering if it something I should run away from or if it would be worth looking into. Any sugestions on what might cause this kind of smoke that is not a cracked block? Or can anyone recommend a mechanic in the Seattle teh could give me an opinion for a reasonable price? Thanks

 

[ezeke]

Re: Running Rough with White Smoke

Water in the fuel, blown head gasket, blown exhaust gasket.

 

[Solittle]

Re: Running Rough with White Smoke

Pull the plugs and see if they look about the same. If one is much cleaner than the others that is a sign of water ingestion (ie. head gasket). Then do a compression check - you are looking for 100 psi & above with all cyl within 10% of each other.

You can do these things very easily yourself.

 

[Uncivil]

Re: Running Rough with White Smoke

Thanks for the information. The boat is such a good deal I don't want to walk away from it if it is an easy fix.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Running Rough with White Smoke

Uncivil, Outboards are self draining, such that water usually does not become trapped in the head where it can freeze. If you are running them in below freezing conditions, leave the motor in running position, and it will self drain fine. I therfore don't think you have freeze damage in the head. Somtimes the LU is cracked (which is far more common) from ice.

Do the compression check, and you should see if you have a major issue. Was the motor overheating? If you can hold your hand on the head after warm up, it is not overhating. If the paint is blistered, it is overheating.

 

[Uncivil]

Re: Running Rough with White Smoke

The owner had the motor in the travel position all winter. Would it drain in that situation. As best as we could tell it wasn't overheating but then we didn't run it very long. I think another trip across the line with a Pressure guage and some tools are in order.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Running Rough with White Smoke

Uncivil, As long as the motor was verticle for a minute or two after its last run, the water would have drained OK. Check the exhaust passage behind the prop for an ice-induced crack.

 

[Uncivil]

Re: Running Rough with White Smoke

Well we brought it up and had it checked by a local mechanic. He declared it in pretty good shape for its age although the Compression was not as high as he would have liked (105 on all three Cyl). So we decided to buy it. We still have some things to work on like the charging system (Stator or Regulator/rectifier problems) but nothing that money can't solve. Thanks again for the advice.