..Picked up 89 311 thursday in Atlanta and pulled it back to Jax .. Saturday ..was to be first time in the water ...started Motors in Driveway just to make sure things were ok and Sure enough Port Motor got hot .....shut it down and Found the clamps had not been reinstalled on suction side of Sea Pump ..they were just loose .slid back on the hose ..Called Previous owners Mechanic and he seemd to think everything was ok ...So we but boat in water and it ran fine for about 25 mins ....then Port got hot ...limped back to port ...pulled seapump and it was toast.. replaced it ... now port motor runs rough ..wont idle ....I am sick .....

Pulled the plugs today and 4&6 and 5&7 wet ....Sh$%

Call Fel Pro.

Welcome to the wonderful world of "watch your gauges". Hopefully you will get out of this with just a headgasket job.

While the heads are off, though, you might as well redo the valve seats. Even a quickie job with lapping paste and a suction cup on a dowel rod is better than nothing (and in some cases better than a hatchet valve job by a kid in the back of the speed shop).

When you go back together, make sure you have a warning horn and wire it into a 200 degree temp sensor and a 15 psi oil pressure switch.

I was just disscussing that issue with a friend ...no warning horn ? I guess in 89 it didnt exist ?

Man that is a bummer. Check both your water pumps. You did not say but did you start it out of the water with out a hose hooked up? I try and avoid this at all costs. Do a compresion check on the motor just in case you have a bad riser or manifold would be my suggestion. Water could have got in that way...... Hang in there. One you get it up and running you will forget about the bad first couple days....

Jon

Mike, tried to PM you but your mail box is full. My first guess is, like Jon said, a bad riser or manifold. I had the exact same problem on my 242 years ago. If there is rusty water spots running down the side of the risers, bingo, you've found your problem. I've got to change mine pretty quick or I'm gonna have the same problem. I'm trying to figure out what I'm gonna end up doing with my motors before I buy a new exhaust set up. In salt water you gotta figure on changing them out about every three years. It gets expensive, but welcome to boats. What isn't???? Call me at either land line 941-485-2424 or 941-544-1375, 7/7:30 pm is a good time. Russ

All good thoughts above. Definitely pull the exhaust risers and take a look in there. Most common leak spot. Even if you suspect them a bit, replace them with something good - Stainless Marine or something similiar. That is one lesson I have learned - no cheapo exhausts, and if you think it needs replacing, it probably does! Better than blowing a motor...

Unless you find the smoking gun shortly, I'd recommend pulling that motor out. If you haven't done that before, may sound daunting, and it does suck to do that right after buying the boat. However, those motors are in there tight, and it is way easier to work on the heads/ exhaust with the motor out. I have both my 311's engines out currently, and I can tell you that engine room is not fun to work in. I'd suggest pulling it out, pressure test and refresh the heads, and check the exhaust. Check the tin too. My personal favorite (well not my pocket's!) is to go through the ingition too, caps, trigger/rotor, sensors, wires, have been neglected on every boat I bought, so as a rule of thumb I throw them away the 1st week of owning the boat.

If you don't figure out what you are starting with for a baseline - it can be a long season of not boating much.

I would contact the previous owner, and see if they would be willing to help with the costs. Sorry to hear the bad news, but we've all been there for the most part.

Jaybird, isn't that the truth!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

compresion 2-145 4-144 6-163 8-145
1-145 3-155 5-163 7-158

Which to me is all good ...Deff water in Cylinders ..esp #6 ...

It's either manifolds or risers, or both....

gona drain oil for water ...then oil cylinders ...plugs back in or out to lube up cylinders and top end ?