I hate to say this but...............
If #1 ran good then developed a backfire, it might have rounded a cam lobe.
Over last 20+ years I broke in 100 cams and never had a problem. Then 2 years ago I had 2 different 454s smoke a cam lobe during cam break in. weird

I hope not cause Jay sure needs a break!
DS

hey whats up Mark
i only pulled the plug on #5 and it had moisture on it
after that we drained the oil out of the block and you could
see the water in it
then it started raining so we had to stop there
also when Jay pulled the risers off there was water in the manifold
he did drain them first before he yanked them, so watcha gonna do
how much bad luck can one dude have?

Zanie, i sure hope he didn't wipe a cam lobe. i never even thought about that. over the weekend he had the motor running fine and all of the sudden it backfired. the more i think about it, it is very possible thats what happened there. i'm sure the h2o didn't help in matters


Russ

Did you hear the motor pinging before it started back firing? Maybe the cylinder with water was detonating... as it would with water taking up combustion space... and that is why the backfire on intake stroke? Easier solution than wiping a lobe. Did he run the motor at low rpms upon initial startup? Why else would a lobe go away?
I would also double check the cleanliness of the ignition system. What this poor guy has been through I could see where there may be grease on the rotor and inside cap cause leakage.. backfires.

Hopin for simple solution.....

BT

BT,
what you suggested is actually the same exact thing i thought once we found the water. i checked the cap and rotor and they are both clean. we can only wait till tomorrow to see what happens. all the parts should be in today and we're going to wrench till we get these things running

Russ

okay I feel as though it is time to attack this ***** and get this freakin pig running and running right
Yes I have had a horrible ride with this thing but god damn it this freakin thing is going in the water this weekend , Hell I have plan B too (little aluminum paddle)
Now yes engine #1 that was running had water in Cyl #5
so basically these risers were not down properly.
They were used yes, only had about 15 or so hours on them. They have absolutely NO corrosion at all, in any of the jackets that is visible around any of the ports, edges and flanges that I can see.
The water was puddled at the #5 cylinder which makes me 99% sure it was a riser gasket problem
Okay with that said, I dont believe a cam lobe is wiped cause if you listen to the exhaust side of this, you dont hear it stumble or what not at all
Now with that said YES I could use a freakin break!!!!
And a big one to boot, I have 1000 or just under HP waiting to go for one wild ride and im foolin around with this like a moron.
I have now fogged out all cylinders, sprayed fogging fluid down intakes to prevent any upper head damage
I have drained oil out of each block, yanked oil filters
Installed new oil filters and lowered then under the oil pans in the bilge to let the oil in the lines flow into oil filter to catch as much of the water yoohoo mix that I can.
Im going to fill up engines with oil, prime oil pumps, get the oil moving, and then drain the engines again and start from scratch.
Before installing all plugs, Im going to fill with fresh oil again, and start engines up with no plugs in it, sort of get everything moving, crank, pistons, wrist pins, cam, timing chains ect.
once I get engine moving and I DONT HEAR ANYTHING BAD, Then next step is to try this BS all over again
The one problem that im nervous about is this
How in the freakin hell can you check the riser gaskets before it is too late?
From seeing this setup and experiencing the detrimental outcome of this wonderful BS idea that mercury has, it is a shame to think if they were casted a hair different with a small sleeve in the exhaust passage on the manifold that the riser would slip DOWN ON and then gasket and bolts, this would prevent about 85-90% of this crap for all of us that cant afford 6 grand in headers
Well it is back to the drawing board at this point and work at it and see what happens.
from there I hope to be out on Sunday for a test drive to see what this thing can do
Thanks to all that have put up with my BS and long ass posts and the ones that have offered to lend a wrench (Tommy V, Russ ect)
we WILL get this thing done, it WILL run, and it WILL be solid when Im done with it even if it is not until next summer that it does run.
IT WILL RUN
(then it is time to upgrade to a bigger boat)

Jason

Jay hang in there. It will be worth it. We all know it's worth it in the end.

GO GET EM

Best of luck and just remember to double check each others work.
I have made a mistake assuming a friend tightened everything
it did not cost me as much as your agravation so far.
but it still stings

Hell guys I just want to get out there
any one have a row boat for sale?
have a 1 ton truck to pull it so I dont think the weight would be an issue
can get a nitrous bottle and hook it up to a 9.9 hp no problems.
Jason

Im installing some used gils this weekend and sure hope i dont run into the troubles you have had. I have only seen 1 mention here of using hio temp silicone on the sealed surfaces. Wouldn't this be a wise idea?? sj

Merc used to spec Loctite 510 sealent for the old style gaskets with the orange line. The latest gasket is a graphite composite and should not use any sealer. It is kind of silver metallic looking like the exhaust gasket.