I just joined the forum after my wife bought our latest project boat. The problem that lead me here is that the boat had a small fire that doesn't appear to have damaged the engine or wiring (no visible damage in engine bay) but damaged the interior cabin. Should be an easy fix but....
After the paperwork was done and I owned the boat, the seller told me that after the fire department turned the boat into a bathtub (fire occurred on a lift so it did not sink) he left the water in the boat for 6 weeks. I pulled the dipstick and found chocolate milk, as I expected but when I put a socket on the balancer bolt (I know, I know.... bad idea) I was able to get the crankshaft to turn about 15 degrees but didn't want to turn it more than that for fear of stripping the crankshaft.
It's a Mercruiser 7.4L MPI (454) I/O from somewhere around 1994. I am planning on either replacing it with a remanufactured longblock or converting the boat to twin outboards but before I do that I want to put an honest effort into seeing if this engine will run. Mostly because I promised my wife I would.
The plan right now is to drain the oil/water out from the oil pan drain plug, replace the filter and fill the engine to the top of the valve covers with diesel fuel. My hope is that after it sits for a few days any water that was left in the block will end up at the bottom of the pan and come out first when I drain it. I'll do this as many times as it takes to get all of the junk out of the engine. Diesel fuel will displace the water and hopefully act as a solvent to break down the sludge caused by the mixing of the water and oil. Does this sound like a solid plan? Is there possibly something better than diesel fuel?
I like diesel because it's lighter than water so it will push the water to the bottom of the oil pan plus it's a solvent and lubricant at the same time. Obviously, I will dispose of the diesel / water / sludge properly when I'm done.
Thanks in advance for any responses.
After the paperwork was done and I owned the boat, the seller told me that after the fire department turned the boat into a bathtub (fire occurred on a lift so it did not sink) he left the water in the boat for 6 weeks. I pulled the dipstick and found chocolate milk, as I expected but when I put a socket on the balancer bolt (I know, I know.... bad idea) I was able to get the crankshaft to turn about 15 degrees but didn't want to turn it more than that for fear of stripping the crankshaft.
It's a Mercruiser 7.4L MPI (454) I/O from somewhere around 1994. I am planning on either replacing it with a remanufactured longblock or converting the boat to twin outboards but before I do that I want to put an honest effort into seeing if this engine will run. Mostly because I promised my wife I would.
The plan right now is to drain the oil/water out from the oil pan drain plug, replace the filter and fill the engine to the top of the valve covers with diesel fuel. My hope is that after it sits for a few days any water that was left in the block will end up at the bottom of the pan and come out first when I drain it. I'll do this as many times as it takes to get all of the junk out of the engine. Diesel fuel will displace the water and hopefully act as a solvent to break down the sludge caused by the mixing of the water and oil. Does this sound like a solid plan? Is there possibly something better than diesel fuel?
I like diesel because it's lighter than water so it will push the water to the bottom of the oil pan plus it's a solvent and lubricant at the same time. Obviously, I will dispose of the diesel / water / sludge properly when I'm done.
Thanks in advance for any responses.
