Disaster

Finally got my new-to-me 1987 5.0 liter FWC Crusaders mounted into my 28' Lyman Islander (in place of the old raw water cooled and stuck Grays) and ready for it's first trip. The boat was at a marina on the Piscataqua (sp?) River in Portsmouth, NH. I bought the low hour (503 and 501 hours, with the instruments too, and the wiring harness) Crusaders from a well known marina in upstate Maine. They had belonged to the marina owner and he had switched to diesels. They ran beautifully.
So off we went. After around 20 minutes of running at a low medium throttle, the starboard engine cut out. All of the oil had spilled or blown out into the bilge. It turned out one of the high pressure lines going into the oil filter had come off of its crimped connector. I've never seen that before.
Took the boat out of the water today and back to the shop. We'll disassemble it to see what condition the block is in, but most likely it will need to be rebuilt. Darn it. Very discouraging.
Ned

Well, maybe a disaster or maybe just a bad day. If it were mine and on my nickel I would replace the failed hose (likely damaged in the engine switch) and any others you suspect, then refill and start it up. The theory of the engine shut off switch when oil pressure is lost is that it will happen before the engine is damaged. You want to test that theory out before committing to major engine work. Your have a twin with with to compare oil pressures and if you don't here any strange clanking or rattling noises, you may be good to go. Good luck.

CaboJohn

87's had a mechanical pump....no safety shutoff unless it was installed after the fact...that said, can't hurt to try it...

Tried to restart and it failed. It's locked up. Removed it from the boat yesterday and ordered a rebuilt "long block" after being reassured that it's the same block so everything will fit. It's a good opportunity to wire brush and repaint the various parts, change all of the hoses, including all the hard to access ones, etc., etc., etc. Worst part is all of this doean't come cheap, but heck, you can't take it with you.
Ned