Ponty
Member
- Jun 28, 2016
- 62
- Boat Info
- 1996 Sea Ray 270 Sundancer
- Engines
- 454(7.4) Mercruiserw/Bravo III
Thought I'd write a post about my experience for the past month concerning overheating. Sorry if it gets long. I know others have probably already posted about experiences like mine, but a refresher never hurts.
my wife and I bought a new to us 1996 Sea Ray 270 Sundancer in early April 2016. It Has a 7.4L Mercruiser 454 with Bravo III out drive(single engine).
Before sea trial Marina checked the engine and noticed the water pump was no good and the seller paid for a replacement.
Other than cosmetics, the boat was otherwise in good condition.
So at purchase, I had them go and do an annual service before we took the boat out for our maiden voyage.
Oh, I forgot to mention that during the annual, the service department realized that the prior owner had installed a thru hull and bypassed the pickup from the out drive(I'm assumng bravoitis). The mechanic came to this realization because he burned up not one, but two impellers and replaced them. They assured me that they got all the broken impeller pieces. All the dockhands were informed of the thru hull by the owner and the dock supervisor.
Well about a month and a half ago, I started to notice the temp gauge rising well over 200 degrees. I abruptly shut down and let the engine cool and limed back to the marina to keep the engine cool.
i nformed the marina about this and they said they would diagnose and let me know. Come to find out the dock hands we flushing my boat with muffs at the out drive and not thru the hull. Result, bad impeller from dry flushing. Now I stay and flush the boat myself!
So after reading as many posts about overheating, and finding all the info on manifolds and risers, I told the marina to replace them. A again asked if they checked for broken impeller pieces. They said they did and when the manifolds and risers got replaced last week, they said they were corroded and in desperate need of replacing. So now I think overheating is resolved, and took our boat out Saturday to watch the Blue Angels air show. Well to say I was pissed Saturday would be an understatement! The engine immediately started to over heat and when I used my IR on the new risers, they were as hot as 200-210 degrees!
So I brought the boat back and texted the owner of the marina and told him the temp was worse.
anyway, I took a vacation day and went straight to the marina and NOW they decide to pull the hoses and check for broken impeller parts.
Well to the complete embarrassment of the owner, the mechanic pulled not one, not two, but over 30 broken pieces!
So, after putting everything back together, I started the engine, and ran at idall for 15 minutes. Risers were at 98 and 110 degrees. Water temp was at 140 using the IR. Brought it to 2500 and 3000 rpms for 5 minutes and the temp actually went down to the mid to low 90s!
So, after insisting and finally demanding to check for impeller parts my over heating is now solved.
if it wasn't for CSR and all the great posts and advise, who knows where I'd be.
Needless to say, we are moving our boat closer to home at a very respectable marina. Everyone at my current marina is nice, but if I hadn't joined and read and educated myself, I'd probably be looking at a blown engine.
the good news, I now have a benchmark for future maintenance.
A very big thank you to all who posted their issues and to all the folks who gave advice and recommendations on what to look for.
my wife and I bought a new to us 1996 Sea Ray 270 Sundancer in early April 2016. It Has a 7.4L Mercruiser 454 with Bravo III out drive(single engine).
Before sea trial Marina checked the engine and noticed the water pump was no good and the seller paid for a replacement.
Other than cosmetics, the boat was otherwise in good condition.
So at purchase, I had them go and do an annual service before we took the boat out for our maiden voyage.
Oh, I forgot to mention that during the annual, the service department realized that the prior owner had installed a thru hull and bypassed the pickup from the out drive(I'm assumng bravoitis). The mechanic came to this realization because he burned up not one, but two impellers and replaced them. They assured me that they got all the broken impeller pieces. All the dockhands were informed of the thru hull by the owner and the dock supervisor.
Well about a month and a half ago, I started to notice the temp gauge rising well over 200 degrees. I abruptly shut down and let the engine cool and limed back to the marina to keep the engine cool.
i nformed the marina about this and they said they would diagnose and let me know. Come to find out the dock hands we flushing my boat with muffs at the out drive and not thru the hull. Result, bad impeller from dry flushing. Now I stay and flush the boat myself!
So after reading as many posts about overheating, and finding all the info on manifolds and risers, I told the marina to replace them. A again asked if they checked for broken impeller pieces. They said they did and when the manifolds and risers got replaced last week, they said they were corroded and in desperate need of replacing. So now I think overheating is resolved, and took our boat out Saturday to watch the Blue Angels air show. Well to say I was pissed Saturday would be an understatement! The engine immediately started to over heat and when I used my IR on the new risers, they were as hot as 200-210 degrees!
So I brought the boat back and texted the owner of the marina and told him the temp was worse.
anyway, I took a vacation day and went straight to the marina and NOW they decide to pull the hoses and check for broken impeller parts.
Well to the complete embarrassment of the owner, the mechanic pulled not one, not two, but over 30 broken pieces!
So, after putting everything back together, I started the engine, and ran at idall for 15 minutes. Risers were at 98 and 110 degrees. Water temp was at 140 using the IR. Brought it to 2500 and 3000 rpms for 5 minutes and the temp actually went down to the mid to low 90s!
So, after insisting and finally demanding to check for impeller parts my over heating is now solved.
if it wasn't for CSR and all the great posts and advise, who knows where I'd be.
Needless to say, we are moving our boat closer to home at a very respectable marina. Everyone at my current marina is nice, but if I hadn't joined and read and educated myself, I'd probably be looking at a blown engine.
the good news, I now have a benchmark for future maintenance.
A very big thank you to all who posted their issues and to all the folks who gave advice and recommendations on what to look for.
