Blown head gasket...it looks like

Nehalennia

Nehalennia

Well-Known Member
Aug 22, 2007
10,006
Marysville, WA
Boat Info
2001 310DA twin 350 MAGs, Westerbeke 4.5KW
Engines
Twin 350 MAG V-drives
Well my beast has been in the shop now for a couple weeks. It's the third trip in since our overheat issue in January. For the last few trips each around 4 hours runtime round trip I have noticed a little coolant leak (or at least coolant in the bilge) maybe 1/2-1 cup. I have run it in my driveway for an hour on 3 different occasions searching for it to no avail. I have taken it back to my dealer to fix it. They have performed a leak down test now three times. They've replaced fittings and Each time afterward I still had fluid. Last time we were out I noticed a very very small amount of oil in the coolant.
Well I sure didn't like that I she went immediately back last Monday 6-30. I said: " I have trip on July 18th, I have planned for over a year I cannot miss".

Well now a week and a half later, they're thinking I blew a head gasket back when she overheated in January and it has progressively become worse as the engine runs over an hour or so at temperature under a load.

TICK TOCK TICK TOCK
We have our 2008 Jul 18th-Aug 3rd Seattle/San Juan Island/BC Gulf REDZVS big trip (for two weeks) starting next Friday.

They have assured me I'll get her back before then all ship shape, but I won't get her back by this weekend to really get things organized.

Anyway, I needed to get this off my chest. I feel Like "Gary Light" with problems before the big annual trip.

This is my first 2 week vacation of my life.

I need my boat back. Thanks for listening.
 
Yeah, my Tech's got the day off tomorrow, so Pizza's going in Monday.......................Like a Carpet bomber.
 
Four Suns said:
I really feel for you... that just sucks... (can I say that now?)
Click to expand...

Thanks, but no, but you can say it draws air or water though.

It really does draw air or water knowing I have so many things to do to finish getting ready.

:smt021​
 
Todd,
I hope that your dealer gets it right and you have a great vacation. We just wrapped up 9 days on the bay, culminating in the BiH get together. Except for the grouchy old dude with a limp who had to drive up in his minivan because his boat was broken, it was all happiness and joy...and much needed after 9 months of job related hell.
Keep us posted. We can all call the service manager at your dealer and torture him, I suppose.

Skip
 
Let us know when we should start calling the service guy.(Grin) You need to be on that trip. Who is going to do the daily updates???? if not you (Grin)
 
I don't have a limp... nor do I drive a minivan... so it ain't me you are talking about.
 
Skip said:
Todd,
I hope that your dealer gets it right and you have a great vacation. Skip
Click to expand...

Me too brother!
Skip said:
We just wrapped up 9 days on the bay, culminating in the BiH get together. Except for the grouchy old dude with a limp who had to drive up in his minivan because his boat was broken, Skip
Click to expand...
I ain't toching that one...
Skip said:
it was all happiness and joy...and much needed after 9 months of job related hell.
Keep us posted. We can all call the service manager at your dealer and torture him, I suppose.

Skip
Click to expand...

This dealer really is great. They have always treated me fairly and nice. I just want it fixed on time.

Bartles20and20James20Parrot.jpg

Thanks for your support!
 
If I get enough positive reinforcement for my Service Manager I'll send him this link tomorrow.
 
look at it this way, if they fix it it'll be a great trip. If they don't, then we won't have to sit through great pics of the fabulous area that you boat in...

just kidding. they'll get it fixed. fingers are crossed.
 
Dude!

I feel for you. Seriously. I went through lots of problems last year, and I am now tickled pink that everything (more or less) is working fine.

Sooner or later. . .it will all work out.
 
Well... it looks like you bumped me! I was supposed to go in tomorrow (Friday) to finally get all the odds and ends taken care of from issues back in January... I scheduled the appointment 6 weeks ago... and today they said... can we wait until Monday???

I hope yours comes out right. They also like chocolate cake and ice cream!
 
Todd

A head gasket really is a trivial fix in a boat. A decent tech can pull the heads and put a reman set in a single day. Head gaskets normally don't fail all by themselves. Either the engine was assembled incorrectly or there's another problem. If you severely overheated the engine, then the head gasket probably isn't sealing because the heads might be warped. Make certain that your tech checks the heads for warping or installs a set of good remans, or you'll be back to where you are now.

Best regards,
Frank C
 
I'm assuming the oil is milky since you said you found coolant in the oil? If it's still questionable, you can send an oil sample to Blackstone Labs to find out exactly what the verdict is.

http://www.blackstone-labs.com/

How bad did you overheat the engine? Did it just creep up to the 'hot zone' and then you shut the boat down? Most 350's are pretty tolerant of overheating. Again, not to say that it can't happen, but they are pretty tolerant.

What puzzles me is that you're finding coolant in the bilge. Losing coolant to the bilge and the overheat condition/coolant in oil sound like two different issues.

Good luck in your quest to fix her up. Like Frank said, replacing head gaskets on a 350 isn't too tough.

Doug
 
Hmmm. A good point. I have overheated my engines a few times due to various problems. I have not had any consequential damage (thank goodness!), although I never let the engine run overheated for more than a few seconds in each case. I have had the raw water pump fail catastrophically on both engines. (pully got loose and threw belt on one; pully FLEW off engine on the other)

(this is one of the advantages of twins: You don't strand the crew in the middle of a river when you overheat)
 
comsnark said:
(this is one of the advantages of twins: You don't strand the crew in the middle of a river when you overheat)
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Unless the boat is big enough and you lose the engine with the only hydraulic pump and lose the steering also... In order for a twin engine boat (big) to be failsafe the systems need to be redundent as well and sea ray does not do that... At least on my boat they didn't. If I blow a head gasket, I just hope it's the port engine.
 
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