HELP Blown Everything

"Ill Keep this as short as I C

"Ill Keep this as short as I Can.. But Please any and all Comments!!!!

I am a C-130 Mechanic, so i do know what i am doing ( i Hope So. )

I changed the Impeller last week, took it to the water today.. ( Started Perfect at home, and today in water at idle, about 5 min while i put the truck away.. ) 10 min into WOT a Fricken Chooo chooo train and lots of smoke from my engine...

Ran it back 5 more min to get closer to Dock, b4 I really scared my self and had some 1 tow me in ( Thank God All Boaters Are Nice @@ )

I pulled it out and saw that the Water Intake, Line to the Gear Lube Resv. and everything else was Fried and the water intake tube GONE! on the lower unit.

My Uncle a marine mech, had me take off the lower unit, thinking i put the impeller in wrong or something... Well the impeller is Fine! the Tube that Sucks the water from the Pump to the Engine Got Kinked when i put the lower unit back on...

He said that what happened... he told me they sell a tool that you can fit so it stay perfect... ( They need to put that in the Book! )


I am confident that i can replace everything.. My Big Concern is the Engine... Did i do any damage running it for 5-7 min with out water>??? My uncle seemed confident it was ok.. I am just scared...

But Any comments or anything to ease my head!

Also i think the starter is going? It didnt want to crank ( slowwww crank ) After i blew the Hose... Does it need water for the process? Am i ok on the starter???

Its an 2003 Merc 3.0.. Alpha.."

"If it cranked good before, Th

"If it cranked good before, The engine may have gotten hot. Is it a closed cooling system? You stated "tube from pump to engine". Unless you were talking about the out drive. Most enclosed units have a heat exchanger that's supplied thru the out drive. Kinda acts like a radiator. your engine cooling water circulates thru veins in the exchanger,raw water is pumped through. These systems are a little more forgiving, but not much. Open systems heat instantly without water. Imagine driving your car without water. any water in your boat engine will heat rapidly without circulation. If your engine still cranks you may have gotten lucky. I'm thinking after it cooled down it probably didn't crank at all. Choo-Choo smoke was proably steam.(cracked, or warped head). I just realized after all this you may be talking outboard here. if so no enclosed system, and engine definately got real hot. let me know. Good Luck,"Kritter""

"I am assuming it's raw wa

"I am assuming it's raw water cooled (no heat exchanger).
You can jury rig a garden hose directly to the water supply point at the T'stat housing so you can test run the engine. Just crack the valve enough to get good water flow out the drive exhaust ports or prop exit before you start her up. (Be aware that your water system pressure is much higher than your water jackets can handle if you open up the water valve too much, so be careful! As long as the water can freely exit the exhaust ports, you should be OK.)
If you get it running for a few minutes and all seems OK, then I would pull the plugs and do a compression check. That will tell the major story about engine health. If there is audible knocking, chances are good your bearings are shot.
If all is OK then I would fix up the drive leg, hoses and everything else and hope for the best. You just may have dodged the bullet. If she won't start, or compressions are bad, or she knocks loudly, well at least you know where you stand before you spend time on the drive leg.
Rod"

"Brian

{{Concern is the Eng

"Brian

{{Concern is the Engine... Did i do any damage running it for 5-7 min with out water>??? My uncle seemed confident it was ok.. I am just scared...}}

I wish I was as confident as your uncle .......

You have a right to be scared, be afraid, be very afraid.
5-7 Minutes is a long time to run with no coolant particulaly when a percentage of that running was at full noise before the choo choo Train started rolling down the tracks.
Do as Rod suggests, if you are running a high quality oil and if you are a slightly religious person and pray a bit you may be alright.
If I was a betting man i would say that there is a better than even money chance your engine is toast, but if you can get it to run and it sounds OK you may just be lucky but bear in mind your engine will have been weaken'd in some way after a beating like that.

{{Ran it back 5 more min to get closer to Dock, b4 I really scared my self and had some 1 tow me in ( Thank God All Boaters Are Nice @@ )}}

Your right Brian most boaters are nice,thats why if you had radio,d in for assistance someone would have helped, before you put your engine through 5 minutes more torture on the way back towards the dock.
Your engine would have had a much greater chance of survival if not for that additional 5 minutes, a good marine radio is a very cheap means of insurance.

Good Luck with it

Cheers
Peter C"