blew an engine

Heefus · Post by **Heefus** » Sun Aug 21, 2011 2:46 pm

Irritating to say the least.

My starboard engine gave up the ghost as we were headed out yesterday. Water has entered the block somehow, and the valve cover vent conveniently dumped all that pretty pancake batter down the intake.

I am going to pull off the manifold, and heads, and find the leak. I am guessing it is either a cracked manifold, blown headgasket, or a cracked head. Dunno at this point. It was too hot to work on it when we pulled into port this afternoon.

Speaking of which, trying to dock her, on one engine, with a strong crosswind, is noooo fun.

alexander38 · Post by **alexander38** » Sun Aug 21, 2011 3:39 pm

sorry to here that....it's all of ours nightmare

k9th · Post by **k9th** » Sun Aug 21, 2011 4:49 pm

Sorry to hear the bad news. Docking on one engine is no fun and add a cross wind it can be a nightmare. Had to do that myself a couple of years ago and was glad I could call and have several at the dock to help.

Hopefully you'll get it diagnosed and fixed soon.

Heefus · Post by **Heefus** » Sun Aug 21, 2011 5:48 pm

I am guessing it is a rusted out manifold, but it will have to wait until next weekend to figure out. I have spare heads, but not spare manifolds

RWS · Post by **RWS** » Sun Aug 21, 2011 6:08 pm

Sorry to hear of your bad news.

Once on a return trip an ignition coil failed and we came in on one engine.

Makes you appreciate the width between those props!

Hope you're back on the water soon!

RWS

alexander38 · Post by **alexander38** » Sun Aug 21, 2011 6:09 pm

did the engine hydro-lock on you ?

Heefus · Post by **Heefus** » Sun Aug 21, 2011 8:22 pm

alexander38 wrote:did the engine hydro-lock on you ?

Nope, just noticed it as it was missing on a cylinder. Pulled the hatch open, and it was pouring out. Shut her down right then.

I am going to check all the rods to make sure that none got bent.

prowlersfish · Post by **prowlersfish** » Sun Aug 21, 2011 9:27 pm

Hope its some thing simple like a head gasket .

Heefus · Post by **Heefus** » Sun Aug 21, 2011 9:32 pm

prowlersfish wrote:Hope its some thing simple like a head gasket .

I hope it is even simpler

I do have access to a trailer and a hoist if I have to pull the engine, so at least there's that.

larryeddington · Post by **larryeddington** » Mon Aug 22, 2011 9:52 am

At least the f28 with v drives are fairly easy to pull. The starboard is reverse rotation, I have a 900 hour rev engine if needed. Plus two sets of manifolds with riser, I reused the down turns though.

Larry

Heefus · Post by **Heefus** » Mon Aug 22, 2011 10:41 am

larryeddington wrote:At least the f8 with v drives are fairly easy to pull. The starboard is reverse rotation, I have a 900 hour rev engine if needed.

Larry

I will keep that in mind. I have a spare block but, of course, it is the Std. rotation engine.

larryeddington · Post by **larryeddington** » Mon Aug 22, 2011 1:17 pm

Blocks are the same difference is camshaft and distributor and a spacer under it. Distrib turns same way on both versions. Firing order different but both start with #1 cylinder.

Heefus · Post by **Heefus** » Thu Sep 15, 2011 6:06 pm

Update!

Took the manifolds off on Tuesday. I also drained all the oil/water sludge. Brought the manifolds home and filled them with acetone to check for leaks. I didn't see any, but I am not convinced that they are not the culprit for water entry.

Today I went down and stripped the engine to the block. Inboard head was clean, no visible cracks. Outboard head has a burned out/rusted exhaust valve on #2. I am guessing this is where the water was getting into the piston, as there is significant rust on it. No visible cracks in the head. The intake journals looked good as well.

I am on the hunt for a new set of manifolds/risers, as I cannot say for sure which one is the issue. I am going to pick up new gaskets and swap in my spare head tomorrow. No boating this weekend, but hopefully it will be good for next weekend!

Stripermann2 · Post by **Stripermann2** » Thu Sep 15, 2011 6:24 pm

Sorry for your troubles. What are intake journals?

If water has gotten into crankcase, it's been my experience that it won't be long before the lower end lets loose. Bearings don't like any water...

prowlersfish · Post by **prowlersfish** » Thu Sep 15, 2011 6:28 pm

I have have pretty good luck with water in the crank case . But green coolant seems to tear up bearings .