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Boat Woes and an instant cure for it

JimR

Charter Member
While fishing for Blues in Long Island Sound on Saturday I hydro locked my motor due to a leaking head gasket. That caused a connecting rod to bend. We limped back to shore 8 miles away spewing water into the oil. Short of a badly rotted out cylinder head, damaged piston and bent rod she didn't seem to be too bad. That is until I pulled the motor out and found the stringers shot. Here was my cure for that. She is a 1986 Formula 242 SF with a fairly new outdrive ( 1 - 2 years old and a fairly new motor from Indmar Marine). The boat was located about 20 miles from me. I won it on Ebay for $1128.00 and $149.00 transfer fee. What was really weird was the balance after I paid the instant $500.00 required deposit. The balance was $777.00. She has built in twin 48 gallon coolers, live well, wash down pump, cutting board and plenty of rod holders. The trailer is my old one from my 21 foot Celebrity. I will need to get a heavier duty one for this boat. She does sport an enormous 132 gallon gas tank for some serious offshore fishing. I put batteries in her today and she fired right up and the drive seems to work fine. The electrical acc. need some looking after. The lights, wipers, horn and a few other things do not work. Those are minor things for me to fix. My wife likes to fish and we are both happy campers now that we own a fishing boat.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...ame=STRK:MEWNX:IT&viewitem=&item=110297931372
 

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Doc

Bottoms Up
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Congrats Jim. Your gonna love it!!!! :thumb:
That is the best kind of cure I know of! :D
 

JimR

Charter Member
That's a pretty impressive purchase! I hope she floats! :poke: :hide:


Hi PB, She floats just fine. We had to swap her off the trailer she was on then on to mine. We did that at a nearby lake. She was in the water for a good five minutes and came out perfectly dry.


Thanks Doc. I was hoping to use her this weekend for a last run at the Blues and Stripers. With all the little things wrong with her. I decided it would be best to fix all of them before going offshore. I have never had to call for a rescue and do not want to start now. Spring is just around the corner.:wink:

One other thing I have planned for this boat is a fresh water cooling system for the motor. I had just bought a complete used one for $200.00 from a guy that lunched his motor. No more winterizing and no more draining blocks. She will have anti freeze in her year round and I won't ever have to worry about blowing another motor due to rotted out engine parts.

Either of you want to fill up the 132 gallon gas tank for me? The previous owner was nice enough to leave it with a quarter of a tank.:biggrin:
 

rback33

Hangin in Tornado Alley
SUPER Site Supporter
Either of you want to fill up the 132 gallon gas tank for me? The previous owner was nice enough to leave it with a quarter of a tank.:biggrin:

Better now than 6 weeks ago or longer... :thumb: Congrats... that ALMOST made me want to go fishing...:blink:
 

JimR

Charter Member
Better now than 6 weeks ago or longer... :thumb: Congrats... that ALMOST made me want to go fishing...:blink:


I filled up my other boat last weekend at $2.99. Right now it is at $2.83. We went through $90.00 worth of gas last Saturday fishing. Split three ways that was pretty cheap.
 

Doc

Bottoms Up
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Interesting going to a closed water system. I hate winterizing but have accepted it as part of the boating experience. Since the radiator would be in a closed area won't it be prone to overheat ....cause hardly any air would be going past it?
If you don't mind how about documenting the process with some pics. I would sure be interested. :thumb:
 

JimR

Charter Member
Doc, FWC systems use a heat exchanger to cool the anti freeze. No radiator is needed. My previous boat that hydro locked only had 150 hours on the motor in the last 10 years. I've owned it for three years. The rust inside the heads was so bad that it rotted the insides out enough that the head gasket sealing surface area around one of the water holes was almost non existant. This boat was used almost exclusively in fresh water. It was always flushed after being used in salt water by running the motor with a garden hose attached for at least 45 - 60 minutes or a good trip around a local fresh water lake. From what I have been reading on the internet. Another cure is to keep RV anti freeze in the block during off season. This keeps the insides of the motor from rusting. The FWC system to me is a no brainer. You can up the running temperature of the motor to 180 degrees where it will run better and get better gas mileage. There is also less of a chance of oil contamination from moisture because the motor is running hotter. I can post a before and after picture when I do it. It is a simple bolt on unit that attaches to the front of the motor just over the water pump. I have a complete set of FWC manifolds and all the hoses from the guy I bought my system from. It is off the same size motor that I have in the Formula. I also found out that any manifold can be used witht he FWC system as long as there are plugs for the water hoses. All you need to do is replace the gasket between the manifold and riser to block off the water holes going into the risers. Then remove a rear plug and add in new water hose fittings. One Tee fitting will be needed also. The Thermostat housing is also replaced with a two hose connection. The Mercuiser manual show a great picture of the complete system. Maybe I can take a photo of it and put it up here later on today.
 
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rback33

Hangin in Tornado Alley
SUPER Site Supporter
Doc, FWC systems use a heat exchanger to cool the anti freeze. No radiator is needed. My previous boat that hydro locked only had 150 hours on the motor in the last 10 years. I've owned it for three years. The rust inside the heads was so bad that it rotted the insides out enough that the head gasket sealing surface area around one of the water holes was almost non existant. This boat was used almost exclusively in fresh water. It was always flushed after being used in salt water by running the motor with a garden hose attached for at least 45 - 60 minutes or a good trip around a local fresh water lake. From what I have been reading on the internet. Another cure is to keep RV anti freeze in the block during off season. This keeps the insides of the motor from rusting. The FWC system to me is a no brainer. You can up the running temperature of the motor to 180 degrees where it will run better and get better gas mileage. There is also less of a chance of oil contamination from moisture because the motor is running hotter.

I know nothing about boats and found this very interesting. I had never heard of a heat exchanger system (in a boat), but it certainly makes sense. What does FWC stand for?

Forced Water Something or other...just making guesses...
 

JimR

Charter Member
FWC = Fresh Water Cooled. This means the water your boat is in is only going to the heat exchanger and the risers. RWC = Raw Water Cooled. That means that the water your boat is in is going through your entire motor and exhausts.
 

rback33

Hangin in Tornado Alley
SUPER Site Supporter
FWC = Fresh Water Cooled. This means the water your boat is in is only going to the heat exchanger and the risers. RWC = Raw Water Cooled. That means that the water your boat is in is going through your entire motor and exhausts.

Ah.. makes perfect sense. Thanks Jim!
 

Doc

Bottoms Up
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Thanks Jim. Good info. I would be interested in more on this as you get er done. :D
 

JimR

Charter Member
FWC = Fresh Water Cooled. This means the water your boat is in is only going to the heat exchanger and the risers. RWC = Raw Water Cooled. That means that the water your boat is in is going through your entire motor and exhausts.

I need to change this a bit. FWC means that there is fresh water or anti freeze in the motor and manifolds. The raw water only goes through the risers and heat excahnger. Here are two photos from the Mercruiser manual. Unfortunaly they didn't seem to update the pictures for this book. The pictures shown for the FWC system is from the old 888 and 898 drives. The style like my 86 and 88 boats do not use the block between the manifold and risers. Nor do they have the end caps on the exhaust manifolds. You tap into the top back side of the manifold to loop the engine cooling system by removing the plug and installing a fitting there. I can use my standard water pump that is inside the outdrive to cool the heat exchanger and risers.
 

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JimR

Charter Member
The fresh water cooling system has been installed. I did have a few missing spacers for one of the heat exchanger mounting brackets that I had to make up. One note of caution for anyone doing this. Make sure that you put a stainless steel plate between the two riser gaskets where the riser bolts onto the top of the manifold. You could loose your antifreeze if the plate is not used and a single gasket is used and blows out. The front lower steering pump brace needs to be changed for hose clearance. None of the original RWC system hoses will work with this setup. Here is a picture of the completed setup. It won't be until spring before I get to try the boat out.
 

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