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Leak at rear of heat exchanger

8

86merc

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I have a leak at the rear of m

I have a leak at the rear of my heat exchanger. I believe I can just change the cover gasket and it looks like that may solve it. I have never messed with the cooling system so this is a new one for me. What steps do I need to do in order to get this accomplished? Do I have to drain all first? Should I do anything else while I do this? What is involved with refilling it once I have drained it if that is required? Thanks for any direction that anyone can give me!
 
"Assuming it`s the 470-488 mer

"Assuming it`s the 470-488 mercruiser motor, simply unbolt the cap,straighten it flat, reinstall snuglybut not too tight as to deform the endplate.No A/F will be lost because your on the raw water side of the exchanger."
 
"Thanks for the quick response

"Thanks for the quick response! I was hoping that it was the raw water side, and that does make sense because I have not seen any AF in the bilge and when I hook it up to the muffs, then is when it leaks clear water. It is a 4" heat exchanger if that makes any difference. It looks like I might have to disconnect the exhaust when I try and take off the endplate, but I am going to try with out doing that. If I do, is there anything there that I should watch out for?"
 
Rob i have the heat exchanger

Rob i have the heat exchanger like yours and i had to fix the leak in the rear pretty simple as bt doctur stated what i did was just turned the gasket over and re tightend it driped for a bit then stopped after it warmed up and yes i got skinned knuckels
 
"I am used to those! Hey, wha

"I am used to those! Hey, what started this was I was running on the lake with this 1986 Glastron X19 for about 10 minutes when the motor died, and would turn over but not restart. When I opened the clamshell to look over the motor for obvious culprits, I saw that the bilge had water up past the bottom of the motor. Now I know what caused the water to be in the bilge, but what caused the motor to die? It starts now and all I did was haul the boat home and the bilge is dry. Is it electrical or is there some safety sensor? Any ideas on where to start with this one?"
 
"Thanks Steve, I will check th

"Thanks Steve, I will check that out also, I'm always open to ways to save money that make sense!"
 
Rob i dont think with the year

Rob i dont think with the year boat you have there would be a safety but there may have been some water spash on the coil or dist. have you gave it a once over as far as the tuneup.you may have gulped some water into the carb thru the spark arrester.and killed the motor for awhile. just how bad is/was that leaking?
 
"Sorry for getting called away

"Sorry for getting called away from this, had to work. The leak was bad enough that it was coming up on the bottom of the motor, so not extremely bad. At the time, I didn't look to see if it was up on the starter, but that could have been a possibility also. I am assuming that if that would have happened that would have shorted it out, but it would turn over, just not start. So could that have still been a possibility?"
 
Rob 1st have you corrected the

Rob 1st have you corrected the leak? and two not likely to keep it from starting but i have learned that with a boat anything is possible.have you since had it running?
 
"Yes, I have finally received

"Yes, I have finally received the part and corrected the leak. I was able to get the motor to start, quite easily, and it ran for approx. 2-4 minutes on the muffs. I checked the gauges and they were all showing everything good. Then the motor died and I have not been able to get it restarted. I have checked to see if the carb is getting gas and it is. I also checked the spark from the distributor wire and it is good. So anyone have any ideas? I do not see any more water below in the bilge...possibly points? rotor?"
 
"Check the points gap, screws

"Check the points gap, screws may be loose; check the timing. What do the plugs look like? Condenser may be shorting out."
 
"I checked all the electrical

"I checked all the electrical and finally ended up checking the fuel. It is water in the fuel that is causing the problem. It will run fine then stop, after random amounts of time. I can restart by continuing to pump fuel into the carb with the throttle, and it will run again for a while. I have ordered a fuel/water separator and will see how that takes care of it. I will keep everyone posted. Thanks again for the help!"
 
Put some Startron fuel conditi

Put some Startron fuel conditioner or Stabil Marine fuel conditioner in the tank.
 
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