Exhaust manifold and risers ok? 454 MAG MPI's (PICs inside)
 

Ok so just picked up another boat and am going to be honest I don't know a whole lot about the risers and mani's but noticed small seepage coming from the connection joint. I am assuming this has been happening for a period of time because its dry and just on there, it doesn't actually leak or have any issues when engine running. But wanted to see if this is common or sign things are going sour? Thanks for any input

1997 Baja 29 Outlaw w/ twin 454 MAG MPI's, 385's. Has roughly 320 engine run hours and 345 hour meter hours. No issues, no overheating or anything just asking the question.

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h1...p21/photo1.jpg

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h1...p21/photo2.jpg

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h1...p21/photo3.png

You NEED to pull those risers and take a look at the inside of the risers and manifolds . I would bet the bank that you will see water leaking into the manifolds.

Just wondering but why would you assume water leaking into the manifolds just off those pics? I haven't had any issue or signs telling me so and the previous owner I just bought it from said it has been like that for years and he has not had any issues with them either.

Reason I am asking is because I don't want to drop $1,550 on a couple sets of manifolds and raisers right now if I don't have to. Thanks

In my experience, if there are signs of water leaking out, then there is a good chance it is leaking in. Not worth the risk of sucking water into the engine. I am not saying you need new manifolds, it may just need gaskets. I am just saying its worth checking into.

Thanks for the information. Is it common for the gasket between the mani and raisers to go bad vs. the actual parts themselves going out? It has been a freshwater boat its whole life.

Could just be the gasket leaking.. I pulled my last boats riser off (25ol w/454 may mpi) and it was spotless.
Buy some gaskets and start with the P side.. less involved to take off. Or you could get a snake camera and run it in the exhaust to see!

If you take it off, make sure you clean it well before putting back together.

I have replaced many riser gaskets in the past without there being a problem with the manifolds or risers. the gaskets are paper & are bound to go out sooner or later. Good time to clean any build up out of the passages. Randy

Also when you pull the raiser, drain the manifold first to avoid water standing in the raiser entering the engine.

Thanks guys, how hard is the SB engine to do? I can see the port side is going to be pretty straight forward. In order to not have to mess with it I may just have the local marine shop swap them and check the mani/risers. Don't have a lot of time and they can just come do it. Also if stuff went sour from the gasket swap then the mess would be on their hands not mine. But if both the SB and P sides are extremely easy I'll save my cash. Thanks

The hardest part is getting the short rubber hose loose from the riser especially with captains choice so close to the riser. If you have the time & tools to mess with it you can save some $$. If not let a shop do it. Randy

You may want to unscrew the oil fill cap or take off a valve cover breather and look into the engine for any milky colored oil. When my buddies boat riser started leaking you could see a collection of milky looking moisture building up under his oil fill cap. On a side note when we changed his manifolds and risers with brand new ones it initially leaked at the same spot as yours until we tightened the bolts down even more. It's possible you may just need a new gasket and tighten the bolts but I'd defintely take a close look at things since it can trash an engine real quick.