Logo
FULL SITE MENU

Please help merc 140 problems

U

unscathed

New member
"Hi everyone. I'm new to t

"Hi everyone. I'm new to this site. I have to admit I don't know much about boats, the 86 four winns I have now used to belong to my father.

The Problem:
The boat ran fine the 3 times I had it out last year, and I thought I had all the water drained from the engine prior to the winter, but when I fired it up today with the muffs on it started leaking water into the engine compartment. The water looks like it's coming from back behind by the starter and at a simillar spot on the other side. The motor was running great the whole time as I was unaware of any problems at first. However it started to get warm because the water wasn't getting through.

I can see that there seems to be a cork looking gasket back by where the water is leaking, but I'm not sure that it's simply a gasket problem.

Has anyone else ever seen this, or have any idea what is wrong?? I'm praying it's not a cracked block, but I just don't know enough about them.

Any help is much appreciated!"
 
exhaust riser may be cracked.

exhaust riser may be cracked. exhaust bellow may be cracked.
but both sides? that may be bad
 
"I guess I don't know what

"I guess I don't know what the exhaust riser is. But I could smell a lot of exhaust when the boat was running, and I didn't feel any exhaust coming out by the prop when it was running. Maybe a cracked manifold? If it is just a riser or something what are we looking at $$ wise? Really bad?"
 
"thanks! This makes me feel a

"thanks! This makes me feel a little better...maybe it's a water pump problem? I'm thinking maybe it's just leaking out of the one side and running over to the other, so it looks like it leaking there, but the majority of the water is coming out right by the alternator.

Like I said the motor was running fine, and I checked the oil and it still looks brand new and the levels are good. I'm really hoping for just a gasket or maybe a water pump or cracked riser."
 
you said water is coming out b

you said water is coming out by the starter...then you said alternator....which is it?
 
"it's the starter..sorry..

"it's the starter..sorry...I'm a newbie. It's down below and back of the start. Right near where the motor hooks up to the lower unit, maybe 10 inches from the very back of the engine compartment. There is a seam between the engine and where it hooks up to the drive...the water is coming in right around this seem somewhere."
 
"Using ears...and here is some

"Using ears...and here is some new info...I had a buddy of mine that knows a lot more about engines than I do.

He said to say that water is leaking back by like where the fly wheel is, it's back by the very back of the motor, but he's convinced it's not a gasket. He said water is coming out of the fly wheel cover. I haven't had the boat in the water at all, I noticed all this while on the ears. Any ideas??"
 
"No water in the cylinders. I

"No water in the cylinders. I think we've got it!
We took off the flywheel access panel and a frost plug was laying in the bottom by the flywheel! This makes sense as to why I'm leaking water. But I can't see where the plug came from, it must have been somewhere back up behind the fly wheel. Does anyone know how these go back in? I'm assuming we will have to pull the motor to get it back in. Any ideas? Thanks for all the help!!"
 
"Ryan

Time to pull the engi

"Ryan

Time to pull the engine and have a very close inspection of the block for cracks as well while it is out.
Poping the plug will generaly mean the block wasnt winterised correctly so check it out very carefully before you refit a plug and put it back in.
If it is only a plug, replace them all while it is out (preventive maintainence)

Peter C"
 
"thanks for all your help guys

"thanks for all your help guys. I have an appointment on Tuesday to get the plug put back in and get an inspection of the block. Fingers crossed I can keep this mistake under 500 bucks! Like I said I'm a newbie at this. I thought I had all the water drained before winter but I must have missed a plug somewhere. Does anyone know of any links that explain the winterizing process? The boat sat in a semi heated garage all winter so I'm confused on how this happened even if there was water left in it. But better safe than sorry, I'd like to avoid this problem next year! :)"
 
"Get the service manual for yo

"Get the service manual for your specific engine and OD; SELOC, Clymers. Try Ebay for the year and engine of your boat for a factory manual. I bought two for $15 each."
 
Back
Top