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In Escrow for an 86 Searay with Mercruisers

S

swellraiser

New member
"Hi to all I am new to the for

"Hi to all I am new to the forum.

I'll get to it quick:

Engine type: 2 260 Mercruisers with the Alpha One.

1- Starboard engine over heats at idle, at 1100RPM temp maintains 145 Degrees. In revers it shoots up quick. In idle temp rises slowly.

2- Port Engine has a drip hitting the fan belt, maybe a little oil, I am thinking the water pump has a broken seal.

3- Both engines the hoses have some crunch to them when you squeeze them.

Okay now - whats you suggest fix? These engines only have 700 hours on them.

I am having a survey done this week and now I am thinking a mechanic survey as well."
 
"1. Replace BOTH impellers in

"1. Replace BOTH impellers in the outdrives ( water pump kits and base kits)

2. Replace engine water pump with new one not rebuilt (marine only)

3. What hoses specifically? They last a long time unless they have seen a lot of salt water.......

4. Have both outdrives serviced, new gear lube and pressurecheck for possible seal leaks.
5. outdrives removed and have gimbal bearings checked.
6. gimbal rings. Need to be checked for side to side slop, ( steering pin to gimbal ring wear)
7. enjoy it and have fun......."
 
"Thanks KG,

<font size=""-2

"Thanks KG,

<font size=""-2"">3. What hoses specifically? They last a long time unless they have seen a lot of salt water.......</font>

Those would be the one coming up from the risers. And yes this is in Salt Water.}"
 
"If they are not supple and se

"If they are not supple and semi soft do not even waiste time, replace them. Also look at the hose that supplied the water to the thermostat housing
It may be hard as well, there will be a power steering cooler in line with that hose.

Also check very carefully the ujoint bellows and shift cable boots!!!!!!!"
 
I am not sure if a Re-power ha

I am not sure if a Re-power has been done?

The engines look clean and well taken care of. The entire boat looks like normal wear and tear. Very minor in cosmetics. This owner has taken very good care of the vessel. Surveys should confirm.

But thanks for sharing Robert. Please elaborate.
 
"Life of raw water cooled engi

"Life of raw water cooled engines in salt is generally considered to be on the order of 1000 to 1500 hrs. Engines with high hours of use/year tend to last longer in terms of hours. At 23 years of age and 700 hrs, thats about 30 hrs/year. Not a whole lot of use.

PS... don't bother posting with stories of raw water cooled gas engines in salt with 5000 hrs of operation. The time I gave is an average.

The weak links in the system are the exhaust elbows (problimatic even if it has a closed cooling system) and the exhaust manifolds.

Many an otherwise good engine has ended up on the scrap heap due to undetected failures of the elbows/ manifolds."
 
"I totally agree Robert. I am

"I totally agree Robert. I am already thinking of replacing or at a minimum having the risers and exhuast manifolds cleaned and inspected, replaced if needed. All hoses, water pumps and impellers to be replaced. I'll have the engines tuned, oil changed, carbs inpsected, cleaned d etc.

Anything else you can think of to zero out?

Thanks Guys."
 
"Have a compression check run

"Have a compression check run as part of the survey... Also if the mechanical surveyor offers it, an engine oil analysis.

I'd have the t'stat replaced as well."
 
"Yes the boat is in the water

"Yes the boat is in the water and we putted around the marina, due to high winds, The surveyors I am sure will put it under more stress in the high seas for their report.

I don't think an Oil analysis is necessary on a gas engine, you agree?

Thermostat's are working, engine in question cools down above 11 RPMS. and temperature rises quickly in reverse. Why would that happen?"
 
"A proper survey will be done

"A proper survey will be done out of the water anyway.

hey Robert, that's how I describe the 820 hours on my 27 year old boat as only. A well maintained gas engine could go 1800 but the key is "well maintained" and unless you bought the boat off the show room floor you justy never know. Of course I've seen showroom bought boats that don't go 200 hours before they need something rebuilt. No maintenance required for that!"
 
"Surveyor did a sea test yeste

"Surveyor did a sea test yesterday and today the boat comes out of the water ;-)

When you guys say 1800 or whatever number, what happens once it reaches that number if its well maintained? Shouldn't a well maintained engine last forever or are we talking about 1800 and your due for a rebuild? Just curious. BTW isn't a rebuild good maintenance...lol, I mean its never new again..."
 
"Good news, Mechanical compre

"Good news, Mechanical compressions test are 150-165 range both engines. Hoses are good. Owner paid for the work on the leaky water pump.

Mechanic said theres a valve cover gasket leaking oil, and spark plug wire on one engine look to be original.

The surveyor said the drives need to be cleaned and repainted, some electo something the other, I call it crud, on them and the props. Suggested servcing and all the zinc anodes need to be replaced. Mechnic is going to give me a quote to service both drives, and at that time he'll check the belows and bearings. He said the belows are not leaking.

Mechanic said the idle was alittle high and therefore will be tricky to shift. All Risers need to be checked and resealed. He also said the belt was on the wrong groove? and he corrected it - would that cause an at idle heating problem?

Hull is clean, but does need new bottom paint."
 
"The Boat is Mine :) &#41

"The Boat is Mine :) )-: Had the Drives Serviced. Overheating problem gone! =) Took her 80 nautical miles home without a hitch. One thing though - Exhaust fumes seem to be strong, blowers on. Anything I can do to reduce or help this situation - no smoke -"
 
"Steve, you stated that the me

"Steve, you stated that the mechanic said that the idle was a little high. You also stated that there was a strong smell of fumes. What kind of fumes? Unburned fuel vapor? You might have a problem with one or both of the carbs. Maybe need to be looked at or even rebuilt. The reason I am saying this is because the idle is set high probably in order to keep engine from stalling. What rpms will the engines idle at after warm up?
It sounds as though you are running engine too rich which could cause the smell of unburned gas.
How long was it since boat was run last? Did the previous owner put an additive in fuel? Probably have some stale gas in tank! Check spark plugs and wires and replace if necessary! Be careful with the fumes for your own safety! Maybe engines sat and it needs a fresh tank of fuel and another good run! Good luck, Tom"
 
Hey there Tom - Yes I found ou

Hey there Tom - Yes I found out the boat sat for a year - only a couple of times out in the last year. As far as fumes - exhaust fumes - no smell of gas but after awhile can anyone tell the difference? When my blowers are off - the fumes and my new CO alarm went off - blowers corrected that problem :) I put about 54 gallons of new fuel (tanks hold 72 gal each) Plugs are new - one set looks to have the original spark plug wires.

I have two blowers one on each side of the boat and vents. Would it help to put some sort of fan against the vents to draw any fumes out of the engine compartment?

I used about what I put into it in gas to get the boat home - seems to me like good gas mileage - Should I add any additives or is that a waste of money?
 
"You shouldn't be getting

"You shouldn't be getting that much fumes in the doghouses! Something doesn't sound quite right or should I say smell right! lol Are you leaking at the manifolds or anywhere else on the exaust system? You gotta make sure because you don't want hot exaust gases leaking into engine compartments! (Could cause a fire or worse) Could also poison you breathing all that stuff. You said you have two fans! Did you check to see if the hoses are seperated,broken or dryrotted making exaust fans inoperable. And with two blowers you shouldn't need any more than that if everthing else in engine copartment is up to par.
Next time you plan on running boat:
1) Engines cold and blowers running for a couple of minutes.(make sure engine compartments are properly vented.)
2)Sniff around for any smell of fuel or oil leaks
3)Remove engine covers and look at engines very carefully for leaks on valve cover gaskets which could in turn be leaking onto hot exaust manifolds causing alot of white smoke. If the valvecovers are anything like the ones that they use on the Chevy Blazer that I used to own which had a 4.3 liter engine and yes the valve cover bolts came loose and leaked on manifolds. Maybe that is not the problem either but figured I would mention it.
4)Check all fuel lines from tank to motor if possible. Look to see if the lines are dryrotted, if so replace them.
5)The next time you run boat check all of your gauges! See what the water temp. reads after a pretty good run. I guess you will have to look at gauges for each of the motors. Is the smoke possibly steam? Do not fool around with fans, they are specially designed for marine use (no sparks from electric motors means no explosions!
Use some of that stable additive and maybe some drygas and try and run the fuel out of the tanks the best you can, meanwhile adding fresh fuel as you do so. Make sure you have inline fuel filters with water seperators (change filters if equipped with them.) best of luck,Tom"
 
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