WATER CAME DRIPPING OUT. Is it time to donate it?

[thewallflowers]

I just got an 1989 Wellcraft from a friends friend. It was given to me so I have nothing inverted except the gas to get it. The interior is trash. It has been sitting out for years. I did find someone who can do the upholstery work reasonable cheep. I took off the cowl, pulled out the dipstick and when I went to check the oil, WATER CAME DRIPPING OUT. The dipstick was all gummed up with gray sludge. Water is still dripping out of the oil dipstick tube. Does this mean the there is a bad head gasket or? How would water get into the oil? My neighbor said to just drain it and run some resoluble thru it. Is it worth all the headache to get my first boat operational or just stop and donate it?

 

[tpenfield]

Lucky you . . . or April Fools as the case may be . . . Those friends of friends will get you every time.

Tell us more about the engine, Outboard? I/O ? Water in the engine is not a good sign. If it is an I/O could mean the engine is toast (cracked from freezing ????)

 

[tank1949]

I just got an 1989 Wellcraft from a friends friend. It was given to me so I have nothing inverted except the gas to get it. The interior is trash. It has been sitting out for years. I did find someone who can do the upholstery work reasonable cheep. I took off the cowl, pulled out the dipstick and when I went to check the oil, WATER CAME DRIPPING OUT. The dipstick was all gummed up with gray sludge. Water is still dripping out of the oil dipstick tube. Does this mean the there is a bad head gasket or? How would water get into the oil? My neighbor said to just drain it and run some resoluble thru it. Is it worth all the headache to get my first boat operational or just stop and donate it?

You just "ate" 500+ bucks of waste disposal fees. I'd be more concerned with a rotten transom or stringers or deck, especially transom.

 

[achris]

Time to be a friend and pass it to another friend... Engine's history, no question. Hull's probably rotten too...

 

[GA_Boater]

Or return it to your generous friend. Free boats are the most expensive boats with very rare exceptions.

 

[matt167]

Take a free boat as the value of the trailer it's sitting on, minus the dump fee's unless it's got stuff in it you need.

I got a free boat 2 years ago, and cut out probably $500 worth of parts for the boat I'm building + the nearly new trailer it had

 

[thewallflowers]

The motor is a Merc i/o the v6. Looks like it is a Chevy v6 I am guessing. It was kept in the San Diego area so I am almost sure it did not freeze over. So if the engine is bad and it looks like a rebuilt short block can be more than $1200, assuming the heads were still ok, It's just not worth the work. Sad part is I can buy a Chevy V6 at the local pic a part for under $200 but I would guess it is not really built the same. Thanks for the info. So now that my apatite is wet guess I'll look for one in much better shape.

 

[matt167]

They are the same engine actually. You can go up to 1992 or 3 in a truck application ( Not S10 unless you swap cams ). just add marine head gaskets, water pump and core plugs. You can go newer with more swapping of stuff..

But make sure the boat is actually worth it first. Deck/ transom/ stringers

 

[thewallflowers]

I have a friend that swaps out car engines and he said he would be willing to give it a try. I really got nothing to louse. I will wait till he gets the motor out before i mess with anything else. it makes it so much easier to evaluate everything else. I pass the info of if this really happens.