Water in flywheel housing 72 Mercruiser 215 Ford 302 V8

"I have a restored 1972 Trojan

"I have a restored 1972 Trojan Sea Raider with Mercruiser 215 (Ford 302 V8) inboard, Velvet drive 71C 1:1 tranny.

While performing an anual tune-up, I noticed a small stream of water coming from the underside of the starter motor. I removed the starter motor and observed rust inside the motor as well as along the teeth of the fly wheel. There did not appear to be any water standing in the bell housing. After re-installing the starter motor, she cranked over and ran fine, no leaking at first, but after a while the stream of water started coming out of a small hole (1/8" diameter) in the underside of the starter motor. There is no water in the engine oil or transmission and the engine does not overheat. In fact, she starts and runs great. A friend thinks there is a freeze plug on the back side of the engine block inside the bell housing and forward of the fly wheel. Is that true? Early in the season, I did discover a freeze plug missing during spring commisioning on the starboard aft side of the engine. I replaced it with an expansion plug and seemed to be OK. Any ideas?"

"That's the one that's

"That's the one that's leaking all right. The trans and flywheel has to come off to fix it, unfortunately.

Jeff

PS: Use a brass plug and lots of epoxy when you put the new one in."

"Jeff, thanks for the feedback

"Jeff, thanks for the feedback. So, am I to understand that there is a freeze plug inside the bell housing? Removing the tranny and bell housing could be a real challenge since the rear motor mounts are intregal to the bell housing. Sounds like a real pain."

Why did the freeze plug you fo

Why did the freeze plug you found out of the block come out? Did the engine freeze?

"I assume it froze. I don&#39

"I assume it froze. I don't know what else could have caused it to come out. I winterized the motor the same way as every other year and never had a problem, but the fact that a plug was missing leads me to believe there was water left in the jacket."

"Before tearing it apart, you

"Before tearing it apart, you might do some 'research' on Ford blocks to verify that there's a freeze out plug back there. That said, I can't think of another place it could be coming from.

Jeff"

If you did not push a wire int

If you did not push a wire into the drain plug holes there may have been water left in the block.
I'm not sure about the Fords but the GM blocks trap dirt / sand in the bottom of the water jacket and if not cleared out the water will not drain out. If the freeze plug was pushed out there is a good chance the block has cracked.

"I did not push a wire into th

"I did not push a wire into the drain plug holes, however, I did observe a full stream of water drain out of each hole as I removed the plugs. I've been trying to locate a manual, or pictures, or someone familiar with the Ford 302 block that can verify that indeed there is a freeze plug. If there is not, then I would agree that a crack somewhere is the likely culpret. BTW, I purchased the on-line manual from Seloc Marine, pretty much a waste of money, very hard to navigate, useless graphics, missing links. Thanks for you feedback guys."