engine wouldn't start ...now overheating

ballinsncbirth said:
ok guys so I had the mechanic come take a second look he ran a compression test... everything was good... after a couple hours of searching found that the water distribution housing was bad.. apparently the valve was stuck... will replace in the next couple of days on both engines... ...cautiously optimistic.. hopefully fixing this will fix the issue.. .if it does kinda annoyed that such a simple problem .. wish I would have thought about it as its such an easy fix before I changed the water pump t stat ... etc.... but I guess better than a head gasket blow out! plus I learned a lot and gained a lot of confidence in repairing issues...
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That sounds promising. good luck
 
at least you will have some piece of mind knowing that the cooling system has been thouroughly inspected and in good order.....the circulation pump needed to be replaced as mentioned earlier...if not now it could have failed and left you stranded......the other things you replaced like the thermostat i consider normal maintenance items....now you have a good base line on the life of the components of the cooling system......normally issues with the cooling system, ignition system, and fuel supply systems are the ones that can cause you to be stranded, so anything you can do to lessen the chance of issues popping up with these systems the less chance you will have problems....

personally when i get a 'new to me' boat or vehicle i usually go through these systems and replace the main components and do a full service and tune-up of the engine because i don't know their maintenance history....the cost of the items and time spent to me is a small investment to gain the piece of mind from knowing these systems are healthy and in good working order...and I can keep the components I removed that are still in good working order as a spare....

cliff
 
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I agree with Cliff, all those things are now new or gone over closely. The pump was near failure and needed replacement.

good luck but it does sound as if the shop found the problem.
 
sigh .. they replaced both water distribution housings, also replaced the sea strainer (they found a crack while backflushing engine) ... and the overheating problem is still there !!! ... getting very discouraged..
 
I probably have less experience than 99% of the responders in this thread. That being said, I feel like after 60+ posts, the answer has got to be somewhere in the thread.

I have followed closely and have probably read it all at least twice. These guys are smart, experienced boaters that obviously want to help. So, my thought..... Is there anything that you can add that might lead them further? Perhaps some more detail in your history with the boat? You mentioned the rebuild a year ago during the purchase. What drove that decision? How many hours have you put on the boat since you've owned it?

Solving this issue is obviously above my pay grade. So I am only asking in an effort to help find a resolution. I'm sure you are fearing the worst. I guess I'm hoping that a blockage or something simple might have been overlooked. Especially since you have run the engine several times during the hunt for the culprit and (I'm assuming) still no water in the oil.
 
As a test, pull the thermostat, and run the boat without it. Re-scan all points and post the temp readings.


I'm in complete agreement with mwph with needing more information. How many hours from the rebuild is important. This is a problem that should not cost you any money (yet). I'd like to suggest certain hoses to pull, and verify water flow....but without an image, or some water flow diagram, I'm at a loss.


Edit: One thing not mentioned, and tossing it up in the air....Have you grounded the boat recently, sucked a lot of sand? If the engine is filled with sand, displacing water, it will overheat.
 
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as another test you can switch the wiring between the two temp gauges....if the overheating follows the gauge swap then you know you do indeed have something going on with that engine's cooling system or the wiring or sender..if the overheating does not follow the gauge swap then you likely have a problem with the gauge or sender or wiring.....

EDIT:
The test above will help determine if you have a problem with a temp gauge....

In the same line of thought you can test the senders by swapping them between engines to see if the overheating follows the sender swap....

the same thing for thermostats....swap them between engines to see what happens....

that is the beauty of having twin engines....sometimes it can help isolate a problem by swapping components between engines...

cliff
 
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As long as we are checking and replacing everything might as well check the pickup and seacock itself for restrictions....first thing in the line that has potential to cause all these problems, I'd check it.
 
Woody said:
As long as we are checking and replacing everything might as well check the pickup and seacock itself for restrictions....first thing in the line that has potential to cause all these problems, I'd check it.
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I see what you did there :grin:
 
Did you replace the hose between you RW hull valve and your stratiner? I went through the samething you are doing... I even had a cracked strainer... It was the hose colapsing... The mechanic rerouted the hose when he put a new in for better flow as well...
 
Here is a link on how to troubleshoot Teleflex water temp gauges & senders, it also explains how they work. The gauges can vary 15* from actual temp.

From what you have posted earlier both engines are running to hot with manifold temps around 190*.

Could you post the serial number of one of your engines so we can look at the water routing system.

http://www.jamestowndistributors.co...bleshooting+Teleflex+Water+Temperature+Gauges
 
Woody said:
As long as we are checking and replacing everything might as well check the pickup and seacock itself for restrictions....first thing in the line that has potential to cause all these problems, I'd check it.
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this is exactly how im feeling right now.. checked and replaced the t stat, impeller, circulating pump, tstat, water strained and both water distribution housing and no closer to answers.. the engine serial number is ow396235.. for the other question the block was cracked a year ago an the went in a fixed it, (done by seller) boat has been working fine except over the year except for a starter motor replacement, fuel pump replacement, and couple hoses, ... it just is very weird that im getting overheating at idle.. suggesting almost no water to engine,,
 
ballinsncbirth said:
this is exactly how im feeling right now.. checked and replaced the t stat, impeller, circulating pump, tstat, water strained and both water distribution housing and no closer to answers.. the engine serial number is ow396235.. for the other question the block was cracked a year ago an the went in a fixed it, (done by seller) boat has been working fine except over the year except for a starter motor replacement, fuel pump replacement, and couple hoses, ... it just is very weird that im getting overheating at idle.. suggesting almost no water to engine,,
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i understand your frustration, but you are fighting an issue that sometimes does not have an obvious solution...in these cases it can be difficult (or impossible) to conduct test during the diagnostic phase of problem solving to isolate the exact root cause....in these cases you have no choice but to replace the items that most commonly cause the problem...sometimes you get lucky and one of the initial replacement parts cures the problem but sometimes the problem is not fixed until further down the road...

i am about as anal as anyone about wanting to clearly identify the root cause of a problem before i even pick up a wrench to work on the engine but sometimes you just don't have a choice but to start replacing parts....i once had an intermittent problem with the ignition system on a previous boat....i spent a couple months off and on trying to solve that problem and repalced a lot of parts in the process....in the end i ended up ripping out the original ignition system and replacing it with another brand of system...problem solved....

cliff
 
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dwna1a said:
Just how did he "fix" a cracked block?
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+100 on this question.
Please don't take my statement negatively look at it as a learning experience, I know how you feel we've all been there.

How did the previous owner repair a cracked block? The only repair I know of for a cracked block would be a cylinder which isn't a good fix, if he bored the cylinder out & put a sleeve in it. Welding a crack is not a good idea it will fail.

In all your posts you have given only bits & pieces at a time of what your problems are. Please sit down & take some time to give us a step by step in order of how all your problems have happened from the day you purchased your boat including any fixes the seller made till present.

There are some very knowledgeable folks on this board that will spend their time trying to help solve your problem, that said we need to know all of the info in a chronological timeline to give you an educated (or not) guess on any repair or fix needed to solve it.

Without this it is just a lot of good folks guessing without the facts & spending a lot of their own time getting nowhere. With you spending a lot of money on new parts hoping for the best.

Best of luck with solving this, all of us just want everyone on the water enjoying their boat with piece of mind.
 
ballinsncbirth said:
for the other question the block was cracked a year ago an the went in a fixed it, (done by seller) boat has been working fine except over the year
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if this had been included early in this thread we may could have saved you a lot of time and money....IMHO a 'repaired' cracked block is at best only going to last for a short time before the repair fails.....

not trying to be the 'bearer of bad news' but there is a very real possibility this is the root cause of the overheating problem...

good luck...
cliff

EDIT:
i thought i should mention that 'sometimes' a cracked block can be successfully repired but it involves removing the engine and letting an experienced shop do the welding and repair....the success of the repair depends on where the crack is and how severe....

if the egine block failed repair is indeed the issue you still 'MAY' be able to salvage the engine by letting an experienced repair shop look at it....
 
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CliffA said:
if this had been included early in this thread we may could have saved you a lot of time and money....IMHO a 'repaired' cracked block is at best only going to last for a short time before the repair fails.....

not trying to be the 'bearer of bad news' but there is a very real possibility this is the root cause of the overheating problem...

good luck...
cliff

EDIT:
i thought i should mention that 'sometimes' a cracked block can be successfully repired but it involves removing the engine and letting an experienced shop do the welding and repair....the success of the repair depends on where the crack is and how severe....

if the egine block failed repair is indeed the issue you still 'MAY' be able to salvage the engine by letting an experienced repair shop look at it....
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ok guys, sorry for the delay , so went through all of the records from the repair shop over the last several years.. the long block was repaired but it doesn't say whether it was cracked, they changed the risers and exhaust, but did not change the manifolds...... anyway so the mechanic has been troubleshooting for a couple days, found several issues...first there were several old veins from an old impeller (likely years per mechanic) .... also the manifold outlet and inlet hoses were significantly corroded and clogged... to the point of a pinhole... also manifolds although hadnt failed or cracked were pretty rusted and corroded and we replaced them ... engine running great now at temperature... all in all about 4 k of work (including the seawater pump , water circulating pump , water distribution, manifold intake and outlet hoses/intakes/ and now the manifolds themselves) ......... he was going to replace the manifolds in the good engine,,, but after all I have learned I might replace them myself within the year.. thanks for all of your help fellas.. and hope this can help others with similar issues
 
ballinsncbirth said:
ok guys, sorry for the delay , so went through all of the records from the repair shop over the last several years.. the long block was repaired but it doesn't say whether it was cracked, they changed the risers and exhaust, but did not change the manifolds...... anyway so the mechanic has been troubleshooting for a couple days, found several issues...first there were several old veins from an old impeller (likely years per mechanic) .... also the manifold outlet and inlet hoses were significantly corroded and clogged... to the point of a pinhole... also manifolds although hadnt failed or cracked were pretty rusted and corroded and we replaced them ... engine running great now at temperature... all in all about 4 k of work (including the seawater pump , water circulating pump , water distribution, manifold intake and outlet hoses/intakes/ and now the manifolds themselves) ......... he was going to replace the manifolds in the good engine,,, but after all I have learned I might replace them myself within the year.. thanks for all of your help fellas.. and hope this can help others with similar issues
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glad to hear it was not a cracked block, i think....not sure what the maintenance records mean by saying the long block was repaired but not stating it was cracked....how else would a long block need to be repaired if not for a crack?....anyway, everything else can be fixed as you are finding out....sounds like the cooling system has been neglected for some time and you now have the 'pleasure' of catching up on the missed required maintenance...it also sounds like you are keeping the right attitude...instead of getting p!ssed off at the things you tried not working you have learned a good deal about the cooling system and how to troubleshoot future issues and make the repairs....

a competent marine mechanic could have and should have found all of these things early in the diagnostic stage of this issue if he was consulted early after the problem started to escalate.....not real sure when you first consulted a mechanic but if he had checked the cooling system before and did not find these things you may think about using a different mechanic next time....a good mechanic will not stop his investigation when he finds one potential reason for an issue...he should analyze the entire cooling system to determine the overall health of the system and identify all weak components...

cliff
 
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