My M440 Saga continues

"M440 in a '71 Century Cor

"M440 in a '71 Century Coronado.
Blew a head gasket last summer, and was repaired this winter. Now, it runs fine, and makes good power. Also has compression in the 125-150 psi range. Makes none of the old blown head gasket symptoms that it made last year. But.....I find water on the aft 2 sparkplugs, port side. Sometimes, even a few ounces of water dribbles out. A few questions: If it's a rotted out exhaust manifold, would I be able to see is, when I remove the manifold? If it's not an exhaust manifold, what else would cause water to get into the aft cylinders?"

"If you take off the manifold,

"If you take off the manifold, there should be visible rust inside the exhaust ports, and probably water sitting in there. Sounds like this is your problem, especially if they are 5 yrs or older. If it is rotted manifolds,take the plugs out, shut off the gas and disconnect the coil wire and spin the motor over to get any water out of the cylinders. Spray some kind of oil or trans fluid in there and turn it over a couple of times more to lube the walls and rings. replace both sides with new maniflods and risers and you should be set, providing the water wasn't in there long enough to damage the rings and walls. Good luck."

"It's probably the manifol

"It's probably the manifold--had one go on my 360s and the dirty ~!#%*% did worse than that.

Here's what you might try: Pull it off, make up a steel endplate to block off the riser end, and pressure test it. Fill it with water, then put about 15 psi air pressure on it.

Bet it'll leak. If so, you've got half the replacement work done already, right?

Jeff"

"You need to replace the manif

"You need to replace the manifolds, risers and elbows. Plan on some $$$$$.
The date codes are cast in all of them. Sea-Way Marine in Seattle has all the parts in stock.

Dan"

"Update: Yes, it was the manif

"Update: Yes, it was the manifolds after all. Interesting that they looked fine this winter when the heads were off. But apparently the fresh water pump impellers revealed the next "weak link" in the chain, which was the exhaust manifolds. Upon re-removal this spring, sure enough there was a large, new hole, letting water into the exhaust. New Manifolds, all back together and running fine. Then, the next "weak link" was revealed: The Water Pump pulley was found to be all worn away where interfaces with the pump shaft. Now fixed, and running well. Now, what else could POSSIBLY go wrong? My Mantra: I love my old boat. I love my old boat. I love my old boat....."

"..."Now, what else could

"..."Now, what else could POSSIBLY go wrong? "

You'll soon see!

Jeff"