86BAJA

A little history...First day I got the boat (1986 baja 280 force) I took it down to the Lake ran it for about 4 hours to include at idle for about an hour prior to leaving it in my slip for the night. Woke the next day feeling weird because of past boat experience went down to check on the boat and just as i thought....half sunk....Because of the weight of the motors most the water collected in the engine compartment and didnt destroy the rest of the boat pulled the boat outta the water and took it in to have it checked out..Bellows went out and leaked water in all night, both motors were almost completely underwater i found it just prior to water going over the carbs. Now here is my issue the dude checkin the boat out found water in the oil of one of my motors and i explained to him what had happend and he still is saying he thinks it a cracked block or head gasket.....but he's set on it being the block. Its at the shop now. I have talked to a lot of dudes about this and they seem to think its just because of how much water the boat took in....My question?...If it were the block would it had ran the day prior for 4-5 hours without any issues? just seein what you guys think and if it is just from the ammount of water it took in how many times would you have to flush it to remove the water??? Thanks...Just dont want to get screwed by mechanic during slow times

Griff

Did you check the oil and change all the fluids after it was partially submerged?????? Did you run it after that at all on the hose???? Did you winterize it with AF????

A cracked block should show more than a little water in the oil. Its not that hard to figure out. Run the engine, if there is more water going into the oil, then it probably a cracked block, head gasket, or intake gasket.

86BAJA

Ran the boat for about an hour after i i got the water out until i got the trailer and pulled it from the water and still the motor was running strong. Took is straight to the shop and they changed all fluids in the motors but the portside still showed water in the oil. My buddy seems to think you would need to change fluids 2-3 times before you could get all the water out but the mechanic is jumping staright to the block. guess we'll see what he says this week, was just trying to be on my game when i go in and talk to the dude so i dont get jerked around. First boat and still trying to learn the ropes thanks bro.

FIXX

iTrader: (2)

just my o2!

i had a customer the had the same thing happen to him (before i ever touched the boat and bought it used)

i went through 60 bottles of oil before the oil was clear, that was with sucking it out and pulling the drain plug under the motor..

Is the oil level going up also,thats a sign that theirs water leaking in from somewhere..also a bad oil cooler can cause water in the oil. A bad intake gasket or coroaded intake water passages too!

picklenjim

I would change the oil again and run it for a while and then check for water again.

c_deezy

iTrader: (1)

So did you change the oil initially after the sinking before running the boat to the dock? I would assume you had to...


At any rate, you can run kerosene through the motor to flush out the old water/oil, but I would only do it on the hose and only at an idle.

Easy way to check for a crack or blown head gasket is to block off the water hoses going to the exhaust manifolds and the hook a garden hose to the hose that goes to the motor after the sea-water pump. Pop the spark plugs out as well. If you get water coming out of a spark plug hole, most likely a head gasket. If you get water in the pan, then most likely a crack in the block or head somewhere.

I use a ball valve and only pressurize to say 25 psi, by watching water pressure gauge and slowly opening the ball valve until I reach said pressure. If you get the exhaust manifold hoses pinched off good and have no leak from the garden hose to the water pump hose, you can tell if its cracked by if the block holds pressure or not.

hoozeyurdaddy

unless it was a shift cable bellow, thats alot of water to get past a gimble bearing and seal, I would look for another leak somewhere. as far as the engines, change the oil a few times using kereosene and oil mixture to clean it, take it out and run it, keep an eye on the oil levels and make sure there not making oil or water, I would do that before being talked into a big dollar repair.

bajabob

MY BUDDY HAD HIS BOAT TOW FOR 5HOURS GOT BACK TO THE MARINA HIS MOTOR WAS FULL OF WATER I TOOK THE PLUGS OUT AND CHANGE THE OIL STARTED IT FOR 20MINUTES THEN CHANGE THE OIL AGAIN RAN IT FOR 1/2 HOUR THEN CHANGE IT.4 TIMES WE CHANGE THE OIL USEING THE CHEAPEST OIL THE MOTOR STILL RUNNIG 3YEAR NO PROMBLEMS . . GOOD LUCK

US1 Fountain

iTrader: (1)

Cheap things 1st. Change the oil& filter again and run it up to temp, change them again then run it some more, keeping an eye on both oil and for water in bilge. It' take a couple changes to get all the water out of the oil. Water probably enter the motor either thru the exhaust or the oil fill since the carb was still above water level.

The way I read this is all was fine on day 1, motor wise.
Boat 1/2 sunk over night. Now mechanic thinks you have both a bellows and a block issue? Not sure I would give in to that w/o doing the oil changes.

low_psi

Did you start the motor after being half sunk? Here is my thought, if the water had just entered the motor becuase of being submerged, but the motor had not been started prior to checking the oil I would think the oil and water would not have combined to be a white milky fluid. The water and oil should have remaind seperated. It would take the motor being started to mix the oil and water together.

So if you have not started the motor since the submerging and the oil was milky white, I'd say that was an existing condition and not caused by the submerging. However if you did start the motor, then take my theory and toss it out the window....