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Coolant in crankcase

allyoops

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I have a 1985 33' Egg Harb

I have a 1985 33' Egg Harbor with same year 454 Crusaders (model 350) FWC. About 800 hours on them. We were out on the water yesterday and running for several hours and the engines were running fine. After going through a "no wake zone" I powered them up and the port engine just died. I was able to restart it but it ran extremely rough and white smoke (not steam) was coming out of the exhaust. Limped back to the dock on one engine.

Checked coolant level at heat exchanger and could see none. Pulled oil dipstick and found a large amount of a coolant/oil mix. Also noticed some oil dripping out of the exhaust.

Any thoughts on the cause and where to start diagnostics would be appreciated.
 
"I'd be inclined to get th

"I'd be inclined to get the glycol out of the crankcase ASAP. Probably start with plug removal and compression test. Based on that, and equipment available, I'd go to pressure test the FWC system or leakdown test on the engine.

As far as what - could be head gasket or intake gasket or internal crack in the cast iron. Unless you touched the "oil" and verified it, I'd be inclined to think it was a carbon-based residue dripping out after the 'bath'.

Your stuff is ~ 25 years old.....not too bad of a service life if still original!"
 
Well we pulled the head and fo

Well we pulled the head and found the not so good news. The #6 piston was completely disintegrated and pieces of the piston actually blew a hole into the block. So now I am looking at either a remanufactured engine or consideration of repower with new 8.1L.

Does anyone that has been through this process have any advice on the pros and cons (and rough costs) of either option

Thanks in advance
 
"I repowered a couple of years

"I repowered a couple of years ago and learned an expensive lesson. If you can do the labor yourself, then a long block might be worthwhile. However, I repowered with two new long blocks, keeping as original as possible, but had it done by a reputable mechanic. I figured that by keeping as close to the old engines as possible, I would benefit from all of the original peripheral parts that would be swapped over and reused. I did not realize (and of course, he didn't volunteer the info) how labor intensive the swap out from engine to engine is. By the time I paid for his labor to swap parts from the old engines to the new blocks, I could have purchased and installed new, complete, fuel efficient, new technology warranteed engines."
 
The "if you can do the lab

The "if you can do the labor" route has more options available...I'd say the biggest thing you need to consider is all your 'bolt on items' are close to 25 years old. Unless they've been replaced (and you know when) they can't have a lot of life remaining.
 
"I'd better sell my boat n

"I'd better sell my boat now....This is getting too intense.

Mark, Here's a question for you. I had restored quite a few vintage motorcycle engines and transmissions in the day. I BELIEVE that once I got to .030 over in piston size, there was a major requirement to rebalance the bottom end or the vibration and balance variables weighed too much in the poor outcome of a smooth LONG TERM rebuild. Where does that point begin with the old blocks for our boats?

Additionally, and I do know this is not the place but you guys are my "trusted source"...I am probably going to replace the 305 in the Bayliner thsi fall and put in either a 5.7 SLIGHTLY modified or some other bigger unit. I know the Cobra outdrive has limits...any ideas?"
 
"You can't sell it now - y

"You can't sell it now - you have to put at least 1000 hours on it since its running right, before you can sell it!

When I take my stuff apart and change things, I've always gone thru the 'balancing act'...not much more at the machine shop when you look at the rest of the bill.

I'd suspect as long as you're doing things in sets, you can probably get away w/o balancing things. I'd bet issues start when you change parts makers, say a single forged piston,leaving the other 7 stock pistons in there. I believe the 'get away with it' is mostly due to our low RPM operation, especially with BBCs being more tolerant than SBC, due to the larger rotating mass.

On the bayliner - don't have a clue to what the cobra drive will tolerate. I'd guess 350hp would be the upper end with 300hp being a safe bet. The 5.7 would be the preferred configuration. whether to go with a crate or complete engine vs a rebuilt long block would be driven by your wallet and then the use - keep it as a toy vs selling it. Based on my history, you never have time for two boats once one occupies a slip. BTW - SBC remans are cheap - $2K with a 2yr warranty & no core!"
 
"yes there was a "king&#34

"yes there was a "king" but my knowledge is fuzzy on this one...One of the 'other shops' worked on OMCs when I was working on the black outdrives...

I seem to remember his description as Volvo's correction of OMC's bad engineering ... bet there's some history out on the web. we always thought the original cobra's were OMC's reengineering of the merc I drives....with hindsight, i suspect that was based on a rumor originating out of east brunswick"
 
"All so true BUT...Since my br

"All so true BUT...Since my brother and I share the boats...SOMETIMES that other boat is a nice option when timing is off slightly....( people timing, that is )"
 
"I forgot you had that partner

"I forgot you had that partner arrangement.....now that my memory fog has lifted, I'd agree, a backup vessel isn't a bad idea."
 
"I know this is not the forum

"I know this is not the forum for this BUT...I went down to the boat yesterday, after 3 years she started right up... Added the Pertronix Ignition and changed the shift module...Although not in the water, she ran great an the hard. I plan a complete tune this week one evening and maybe drop it in the water Saturday.

Comes in handy when two famileis get together and everyone wants to go.. 7 went fishing out of Little Egg Reef with a green gilled 24 yr old female aboard with 6 fishing, 1 chumming. Yep...home by 3
"
 
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