Crankcase full of tan oil

Good deal!

Well. Sorta good. Here is a quick video of the rumble.

Rumble Video

But here's a picture of where water is pouring out below the spark plug bores. The cap popped off this port on both sides of the engine. Does this lead straight to the crankcase? I sure hope not because as you can see, there is a bunch of rusty crud in there. What are these ports with lids and why do the welds holding them in look so crappy?

Port Pic

Brad

Those are core plugs used by the foundry when pouring the engine block. If both of them are popped out, there a pretty good chance someone let the engine freeze up. Water in the engine block can sometimes pop these out, hence the improper name "freeze plugs". You can crack the block by freezing it and those plugs still won't leave their place necessarily. I'm still thinking that your engine, sometime In the last 4-5 years of sitting full of water and not winterized suffered a big chill.

Hey Dave,are we showing our age?

Brad,
Any update on the water issue? After seeing the popped core plug picture, I concur that that block froze. Maybe your father-in-law isn't as anal as you believe! By chance did he lend the boat out to a friend before the layup?

BTW, hopefully you didn't purchase a deep cycle battery. You want a starting battery.

Don't forget to switch over marine fuel pump, alternator, & starter too.

tryathlete wrote: Alternatively buy a rebuilt long block and you won't have the rebuild to do.

I like that idea. I worry that dropping a salvage yard engine in will give you a summer of problems and frustration.

Pete, not sure the battery is his primary concern right now!

8122pbrainard wrote: Brad, Any update on the water issue? After seeing the popped core plug picture, I concur that that block froze. Maybe your father-in-law isn't as anal as you believe! By chance did he lend the boat out to a friend before the layup? BTW, hopefully you didn't purchase a deep cycle battery. You want a starting battery.

Matter of fact, the boat did go out as a loaner the last time it was out. Which probably led to it being put away wet. Starting battery installed.

Good points. I am actually the only mechanic I trust. I would rather go through it regardless.

I have not given up all hope that the freeze was not catastrophic to the block. I can't get at the boat again until next weekend. Will update once I do.

That would be nice if just manifolds. Very nice. You see there's hope here! If this all it is you should buy a powerball ticket.

NP, I've gotten way more help here than I've ever given, it's nice to be on the giving end
I hope this works as well for you as it did for me!

Why not pull those manifolds at the same time? It's a no-brainer if you ask me. If you see leaking manifolds you can be way ahead. Core plugs aren't causing the entry of water into the oil, but manifolds are the weak link according to Gary S--and he's already paved the road to the answer.

I think we all want to hear the cheer of victory and see you on the water.

Don't blame me Pete there were many who figured that out before,I just took their advise and passed what I had found on mine

Got the cast plugs put back in and changed the oil again after a few idle runs off a hose. Managed to replace the plugs by setting a jack as support under the oil pan and removing one motor mount at a time. This worked really well and was easier than I anticipated. I noted that the two plugs that were out had signs of prolonged failure, rust stains below the ports.

Today I chose to put the boat on the lake and run it a bit and verify that water was coming in (and to what extent) before I started taking things apart (had a buddy in another boat just in case).. Ran it for about an hour with at least 10 minutes wide open and 15 minutes at high rpm.. Checked the dipstick and the level was unchanged. Brought it home and drained the oil. Maybe a few tablespoons of lightish brown oil. Caught it and noted that it did not separate. Rest of the pan looked like it should. Just a bit darker than it went in. That was the second oil change after finding nearly a gallon of water in the crankcase.

Not sure I am in the clear just yet. Going to take it out tomorrow or Saturday and run it a few hours and do another drain and fill. So now my question is, where did all the water come from?!? Maybe I've got an internal leak somewhere, but based on what I saw today, it's gotta be pretty slow and I can hardly imagine how a gallon gets in there unless it went a very long time without an oil change. I've got another alternate theory to the block freezing. Perhaps the core plug came out and someone filled the bilge while running the boat. I've read that this can lead to lots of water entering the engine, but I'm not exactly sure how. Any thoughts?

I will still probably pull the exhaust manifolds and heads to assess the condition of the internals, but probably not until I run it for awhile, provided that I do not see any milky oil.

dabeastro wrote: Got the cast plugs put back in and changed the oil again after a few idle runs off a hose. Managed to replace the plugs by setting a jack as support under the oil pan and removing one motor mount at a time. This worked really well and was easier than I anticipated. I noted that the two plugs that were out had signs of prolonged failure, rust stains below the ports.

Curious how you got the cast plugs back in? Noticed one of mine popped today as I fired up the boat for the first time for the season. Water pouring out of it. Hoping, like yourself, that is all that is wrong...