I think I made a huge mistake!

R

rawright

Member
Sep 6, 2011
43
California
Boat Info
1979 Sea Ray SRV 240 Weekender Cuddy Cabin
Engines
260 Mercruiser (350 Chevy)
I own a 1979 SRV 240 with a Mercruiser 260. The boat was stored in Oxnard CA. when I received it and I had it stored there for a couple of years while I worked on it. It was running great when I moved it to my new house in the high desert. I ran the boat right after I towed it home with no issues. When I went to run it yesterday because it has been 4 months since it was run last, the boat wouldn't idle and the exhaust note has changed a little. When I ran the boat with the water off for 20 seconds just to check if that made a difference, it idled fine but the exhaust still sounded different.

I was thinking about this all night trying to figure out what went wrong. Something I didn't take into consideration when I moved it to my new house was the temperature differences between here and the beach. It can get down into the mid 20ies here where I am now living and it never got below 40 at the beach where it was stored. In the past I never had to do anything other then leave the drive down after running it so it would drain. This I was told was common practice at the boat yard where it was kept. I am a first time boat owner so I didn't question it.

I am kinda lost now as to what to do at this point. I am hoping the exhaust is the problem and not the block.

any suggestions would be appreciated,
Robert
 
In my opinion one night below freezing won't necessarily ruin an engine. I think its your average daily temperature below freezing plays a bigger role in whether you engine will freeze out.

besides looking at the oil, was there any water in the bilge?
 
Leaving the drive down will only drain the drive, not the exhaust manifolds or the block. Like Wish mentioned, a little dip below freezing for a few hours overnight won't do anything. But, repeated, questionable temps, and then maybe not warming up much during the day... hard to tell. There is absolutely no way to say when or how fast the water will freeze inside the manifolds or block. There's just too many variables. Obviously temperature, but also how long at a given temp, sun or shade during the day, in a windy area, near a house, cover on the boat... and more.

Check the oil for milkiness. IF everything looks OK, start it up and run it again. Take a real good look around the engine while it's running for leaks. And make sure you use water - running it without water is a good way to ruin your impeller. You won't overheat an engine in 20 seconds, but if the impeller was questionable to start with, it will damage faster and you may end up with pieces breaking off and clogging up the water passages.

Post back after doing that and we can take it from there. And as mentioned above, altitude could explain a running/idling problem.
 
Oh, forgot to add... If the impeller isn't so good, you might be getting less water into the engine which could affect the exhaust note. It won't affect the running issue, though.
 
OP says that the boat sat for 4 months without use. While I don't think gas would go bad in that time could moisture in fuel be a problem? Especially with the temperature differences?
 
Checking the dipstick for milky oil was the first thing I did. The oil looks fine and I didn't see any water in the bilge. The boat does have a cover on it. As far as the altitude, I'm at around 2600 feet and it did run really well when I first brought it to the new house. Unfortunately the boat sits in a newly created RV space that sits between our house and the neighbors and doesn't get a whole lot of sun during the day. We had several days of temps dipping into the 20ies a few weeks ago. I don't make a habit of running the boat without water but was trying to check if the water was causing the problem or it was something else. I am hoping the exhaust is the problem because they were the original log style manifolds and were pretty rusty and in need of replacing anyway. I was just hoping they would last another couple seasons.

Thanx for the replies so far, any more suggestions would be much appreciated,
Robert
 
wish2fish said:
OP says that the boat sat for 4 months without use. While I don't think gas would go bad in that time could moisture in fuel be a problem? Especially with the temperature differences?
Click to expand...

Depending on what type of fuel is in there and whether or not additives were used - yup, absolutely it could go bad. But he also said that it ran fine with the water turned off. In that short period of time, from running on water to turning the water off, gas quality won't make a difference. BUT, given how long it's been sitting, that's a good idea to check it, anyways. Pull off the filter and dump it into a glass jar for an hour or two to check the quality.
 
It would definitely be a good idea to learn the locations of the different drain plugs. It may be a pain to reach them but not as much as a frozen engine.
 
Yes now that the boat is in the colder desert temps for half the year during the winter time, I most definitely need to learn the drain plug locations. Does anyone own an older 260 merc that could help locating them on the motor?

You guys have been a great help with all the info so far,
Robert
 
Something to keep in mind is that a little bit of water may not cause the oil to look milky... yet. You need to run the engine and look for leaks to be sure. Then drain and add AF.

You'll have a plug on each side of the block, about the middle, just up from the oil pan. There will also be a drain on either the bottom, middle of each manifold - or possibly at one end or both. Possibly the main block cooling hose could have one. If fuel injection was added, look for a fuel cooler. You'll have find your power steering cooler to see where it's located - if it's up high, behind the engine you're good. If it's low, you need to take the hose off one end. Follow the hoses that are attached to the t-stat housing. One of them (a smaller one) will NOT go to the manifolds, instead it will go towards the transom - either astern, along the top of the engine or first going down, then towards the transom. A fuel cooler will be in this hose, too. You can also, of course, find the steering cooler by following the pump lines.
 
I ran the motor at pretty high idle for around 10 minutes when I was first trying to figure out what was wrong with the idle and if there was an exhaust leak. That's when I checked the oil and tried running it without the water.

The thermostat housing cap has a fitting that has a brass plug in it. Could the plug be removed and the fitting be used to clear the water in the block with compressed air? Just curious

Robert
 
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If you're using the boat sporadically in the desert winter season (I didn't know there was such a thing! Lol) I would just put the rabbit ears on it and run a couple of gallons of pink antifreeze through it when you store it. That's an inexpensive insurance for the engine to prevent freezing & is relatively quick.
Unfortunately, I can't help you on the other problems that you are currently experiencing. I hope you get it sorted out & it's nothing too expensive!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Todd
 
If I'm thinking of the same plug you're referring to, that plug won't help. You'll still be on the wrong side of the t-stat. If you do as Todd mentioned above (which is fine), you'll still want to first drain everything (about 3 minutes once you know where everything is). An absolutely necessary step, though, when using the muffs is that you must remove the t-stat. Otherwise, there is some trapped water that won't get flushed out because the t-stat will be closed. For what it's worth, I can drain and pour AF in through the hoses in under 10 minutes - it's absolutely not hard to do, nor time consuming or cumbersome.

Still another option for the freeze part... would be investing in a Coast Guard approved, IGNITION PROTECTED, bilge heater such as Xtreme (there are others). With the obvious caveat that these won't work if the power goes out.
 
sfergson727 said:
Just a point, Oxygen percentage is the same at sea level, it is the density that is the problem. (pet peeve of mine) We lean our fuel/air mixture to keep the ratio the same as at sea level when altitude increases.

Further, the higher altitude would cause his engine to run rich, and possibly not produce rated HP at WOT, but it won't preclude it from running properly. You'd have to get above 10,000 feet or so to really start causing issues.
Click to expand...

OOPS!!!

My bad. Got my hypoxias mixed up. Aren't you glad I'm not a doctor!!!!!!

From the OP....."...When I ran the boat with the water off for 20 seconds..." Wouldn't this fry his impeller?

After re-reading the thread, I'm totally confused as to what the problem is other than his exhaust sounding different. Am I missing something?
 
sfergson727 said:
Agree 100% on all parts. Too many people just hook the muffs up and run anti-freeze through the system only to find their blocks cracked in the spring.
Click to expand...

If I was on this forum for "business", I'd be a huge proponent of the muff method. :lol:
 
dpmulvey said:
From the OP....."...When I ran the boat with the water off for 20 seconds..." Wouldn't this fry his impeller?

After re-reading the thread, I'm totally confused as to what the problem is other than his exhaust sounding different. Am I missing something?
Click to expand...

20 seconds... in this case, he's probably alright since he ran the engine (with water) immediately before. So there would still be some water draining out and setting in the impeller housing. Absolutely not advised, and I wouldn't chance it myself. But chances are (slightly) better, than not, that everything's OK. No guarantees, though.

Confused... I still would like to hear confirmation (once he gets a chance to run it again) that there is no water leaking out anywhere while he's running it. I also might feel safer if I disabled the ignition (and fuel) system, pulled the plugs and turned the engine over while someone looked for water shooting out of the plug holes.
 
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Rob,
I would doubt you hurt an engine overnight
the exhaust tone could be 1 stuck flapper if it has sat for awhile
As for the drain plugs..my 78 has 3 brass pipe plugs in the low spots of the manifold port, 1 at the rear on stb ,
1 in each elbow, and 1 in each side of the block near dead center just above the oil pan gasket surface..all easily accessed
 
Lazy Daze said:
If I'm thinking of the same plug you're referring to, that plug won't help. You'll still be on the wrong side of the t-stat. If you do as Todd mentioned above (which is fine), you'll still want to first drain everything (about 3 minutes once you know where everything is). An absolutely necessary step, though, when using the muffs is that you must remove the t-stat. Otherwise, there is some trapped water that won't get flushed out because the t-stat will be closed. For what it's worth, I can drain and pour AF in through the hoses in under 10 minutes - it's absolutely not hard to do, nor time consuming or cumbersome.

Still another option for the freeze part... would be investing in a Coast Guard approved, IGNITION PROTECTED, bilge heater such as Xtreme (there are others). With the obvious caveat that these won't work if the power goes out.
Click to expand...
no room for a bilge heater in his old girl
 
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