1988 5.7 mercruiser problem after sea foam

I should elaborate from my original post. I have been trying to get the boat running for a few weeks now . When I first brought the sea ray home from long term storage(around 7 years) by my late father it had cream in the oil. I was concerned about a cracked block at first. I change oil twice and got all the water out then proceeded to start it up. She ran on starting fluid for a few minutes at a time. It would not idle on its own with out constant spray of starting fluid. It was enough to get it up to temp. 145 approximately. The oil stayed clean and dry so far. I was recommended that I put seafoam in the carb. I let it soak for two days and charged the battery up. When I tried to start it this time it had a bad knock in the engine that was not present previously. Could the seafoam have damaged the engine. Could I have gotten the timing off by the repeated cranking. Or could there be a bent rod or worse. I want to get some advise before I start it up again.
Thanks

Using starting fluid to RUN a motor is not good!!

You have a fuel issue and most likley need a carb rebiuld and fuel system cleaning including all filters.


You have no idea if the knock was there before the boat sat.

Oh and do not keep starting new threads with the same questions.........

kghost said:

Using starting fluid to RUN a motor is not good!!

You have a fuel issue and most likley need a carb rebiuld and fuel system cleaning including all filters.


You have no idea if the knock was there before the boat sat.

Click to expand...

As far as the knock goes it was not present the first time I started it I do not think it was knocking last time my Dad ran it either he is not around to ask any more.
I did replace the fuel filer prior to starting the engine the second time. I will look into the having the carb rebuilt. I just do not want to dump alot of money into it if there is major problems with the engine.
Thanks

Sometimes if a spark plug misfires, you will get a piston knock.

My coworker says the same thing about miss firing all of a sudden. It makes since, maybe the seafoam dislodged some carbon deposit or I could have fouled the plug with the starting fluid. What will the compression test tell me it seems like I will have to disassemble quit allot to get the spark plugs out.
Thanks again

More likely burnt a spark plug tip off with the starting fluid. Excess starting fluid can also run past the rings also and reek havoc and possibly score the cylinder walls......Maybe that is why they call it "STARTING FLUID" and not running fluid............

Buy a new carb. You will experience a whole new world. An old carb sitting for nearly a decade will be full of dried up old gas. There is virtually no way to get it completely cleaned out even with a rebuild. It will always run like a$$. Also get the tank sucked out and all the old gas disposed of. Replace all the supply hoses with new ethanol resistant ones.
If the engine has indeed puked a bearing it is dirt simple to repair. It will mean the engine has to come out tho...

...and stay away from starting fluid. Use gasoline and dribble it down the open carb if you must prime the engine. However, a healthy engine with fresh gas should fire immediately. If you have to crank it and crank it something is wrong. Stop and figure out what that is.