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454 wont crank!

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searay 25

New member
I was on the lake friday. I was pulling kids on a tube, we stopped for a swim. After a 5 min swim we went to leave and as i turned the key you can hear the starter engage but no crank. I thought mabey low battery. So i switched to all 3 and same problem. This is on my 1987 sundancer250 with the 454 and alpha one.
Please help!!!
 
pull the sparkplugs and check for water in the cylinders. if it still wont turn, check the oil in the drive and then pull the drive.
 
That's the way it goes when things break. Workee good one minute, next minute no workee. Starter may have given up. Even though the start solenoid is clicking, if the starter drive is dead , well, it's dead.
 
tap that starter with a hammer , don't smack it like a cheating wife just tap it. Still don;t turn the motor or the motor seems locked up then do what the doc said.

See if water is in the cylinders it won't turn, pull all the plugs look at the holes while cranking, see if it cranks and water shoots out the holes then we have to know now today so we can talk you thru saving the motor see if its saltwater it maybe too late already if it happened yesterday or this morning understand?

Did you check the oil what it look like.

I will be here at the puter for another half hour then sleep and i have to drive my son to collage in Conn. So i won't be on tomorrow till late if at all.

It's dark but do it now, hopefully Doc or someone else will talk you thru saving the motor if i'm not here.

Hopefully.
 
Hey guys thanks for the advice. I pulled the plugs and water came out of 3. So i pulled the iginition wire and it turned over and water came shooting out. BUT now what to do. It was in fresh water, I havent checked the oil but i am planning on changing it before i run it again. Also it looked like two of my plugs were fouled. I am just going to replace all of them. Any advice on what kind of plug to use. I have the NGK.
THANKS AGAIN!!!
 
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So....just how prevalent is this sort of problem??????

It happened to me 20 years ago with an OMC 260HP...and I didn't enjoy that experience at all. When it quit I was in some very fast current and heading for the rocks. Luckily another boat was near by for me to flag down and tow me to safety.

I just bought a boat 2 weeks ago with the 454 Alpha One in it...and I'd prefer that I don't experience it again.

I've yet to hear a good clear definitive explanation as to what is causing this and how to avoid it

When it happened to me before there was absolutely nothing out of the ordinary going on. I was simply cruising along very slowly....engine stalled.....wouldn't start. Hydraulically locked. Water in ALL cylinders.

I did a compression test and oil change...and all was good afterwards. No damage done.

I sure don't know what if anything I may have done to cause this.

Can ANYONE clearly explain the cause for us all....and how to avoid it happening?

Thanks.
 
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Thanks for the link. My situation was, I was pulling a tube the kids wanted to stop so we came off plane turned around at about wakeless speed, Idled for a few seconds then shut the motor so everyone else could go for a swim.
I've been told not to come off plane and shut the motor off just for that reason that water would come back up the exhaust. So I always make sure to run for a little before shutting down.
Is there anything you can add ( flappers ) in your exhaust to help prevent this?

Thanks Again.
 
NGK plugs are fine. Get that watery oil out now! Ground the coil output wire. Spray a can of WD-40 into the spark plug holes and crank the engine several seconds w/o plugs. Problem can be a cracked exhaust manifold, riser or gaskets, missing exhaust shutters, damaged intake manifold or gasket.
 
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