Engine Spraying water like Old Faithful

kkalsch

kkalsch

Member
Aug 3, 2010
376
Pine Knoll Shores NC
Boat Info
2016 Sea Hunt Gamefish 27
Engines
Fuel Sipping Yamaha F150's 4 stroke
Well...here was my plan -I was going to take the boat out for a quick ride than come back in and pull the boat out on the trailer take it home - winterize and cover it. I started out and got about 5 miles from my dock on a plane when I noticed the temperature falling down to 120 degrees on the starboard engine then slowly the boat came off a plane and the starboard engine died. I have 4.3 MPI Mercrusier Alpa-II open the engine hatch and on the front of the starboard engine there is a plug in the intake manifold with a pin hole in the center of it spraying water everywhere like old faithful. The engine will not start. So I have to go back to the dock on the port engine (no power steering). I have just enough time to pull the boat, winterize it and cover it before I had to leave to go back home (3 hour ride). I did not get a chance to look at the engine - I did spray it down with Boeshield. The air cleaner/cover was soaked with water. There was no water in the oil. I will be going back this weekend to try to get it running and replace that plug (getting that plug out could be a problem -its got a square slot in it smaller than a 3/8 extension but bigger than a 1/4) . I am hoping the distributor cap got wet and killed the engine??
Any suggestions would be great

KK
 
Was it fresh water or salt. If salt make sure you clean it very good to remove all of the salt water before you let it sit for the winter.
 
Not sure I understand what plug you are referring to. Is it on the thermostat housing near the water temp sensor? If your engine cut down then it sounds possible that you took some water in through the throttle body and into the cylinders. The distributor should be realitivly water tight.
 
saopm said:
Not sure I understand what plug you are referring to. Is it on the thermostat housing near the water temp sensor? If your engine cut down then it sounds possible that you took some water in through the throttle body and into the cylinders. The distributor should be realitivly water tight.
Click to expand...

The plug is in the lower intake manifold on the front end of the engine and yes I am sure some spray of water got in the cylinders -but never hydro locked -it still turned over normal -it just won't run -I did spray some Boeshield down the intake and turned over before I left. I am sure that plug is not going to just unscrew from the manifold either

KK
 
Well... here is an update - I could not get it to run -it turns over fine -no spark! Mercrusier 4.3 MPI Ser# OM380780 -I checked the cap and rotor -it was dry (new at the beginning of the season) I learned something today -they put a module in the distributor and don't use it. I wonder how it control's the timing and advance??Also pulled a few plugs no signs of water just gas -I also tried stating fluid ,I washed both engines and the whole bilge area real good with salt away and put a fan on the engines
There is no trouble shooting information in the manual about no spark -I wonder what the spray of water damaged -the coil ?-I sure hope its not ECM any help would be great!
KK
 
Take the coil from the good eng and swap it to the bad eng easy enough to do then you will know if its the coil. If that don't work try the ecu next.
 
While you are at it take a look at the distributor base where the cap screws into the tabs. Mine were broken off and I had to replace the distributor. If the rotor and cap look good then I would try switching the coil as the previous poster suggests. If all else fails i guess you can try swapping the ECM too.
 
believe it or not Searay uses steel pipe plugs to block off unused water ports and they tend to rust through after a while. be sure to use brass plugs when you replace the one that's leaking.
Rob
 
Here is a second update - I got it to spark (well it shows spark when I use a timing light on the wire from the coil to the distributor and from the distributor to the spark plug) anyway it still will not start -so I did a compression check -the engine is stone cold at 45 degrees -I tested 2 cylinders and got 100 and 95 psi is that normal for a cold engine and could the plugs of been fouled when the spray of water killed the engine? The plugs where wet with gas and I tried starting fluid
 
If all cylenders are the same it would indicate all is OK.
There was a 50 AMP in line fues on my 3.8 V6 twins. It was on the engine and a mechanic showed me where it was when one engine would not start.
 
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