1987 Sea Ray Sundancer 250.

Engine started a little rough, then stalled. Could not get the starter to
turn it over, even with both batteries fully charged and online. Brought it
to the dock mechanic who talked about a recent oil pan change, then
mentioned a replaced exhaust system last year.

He almost instinctively went for the spark plugs. After all were removed he
said the rear two on both sides (four all together) had salt water in the
cylinder. I know the boat is outside water cooled.

He said it could be one of the following, a failed exhaust where there is a
backdraft, a blown head gasket or a cracked head. The engine oil, which was
recently changed, was honey yellow with no sign of water. Beside the water,
the plugs were clean.

We are waiting for the master mechanic to look at it on Monday. In the
meanwhile we sprayed a ton of engine "pickling" into all cylinders as well
as the carburator to thwart any salt water action.

Anyone have any experiences/insights into this particular scenario? All
comments appreciated.

Thank you,
Mike

Water cooling of exhaust manifolds would be my favorite.

Brian W

On Sun, 03 Aug 2003 14:40:07 GMT, "MJT" wrote:

1987 Sea Ray Sundancer 250.

Engine started a little rough, then stalled. Could not get the starter to
turn it over, even with both batteries fully charged and online. Brought it
to the dock mechanic who talked about a recent oil pan change, then
mentioned a replaced exhaust system last year.

He almost instinctively went for the spark plugs. After all were removed he
said the rear two on both sides (four all together) had salt water in the
cylinder. I know the boat is outside water cooled.

He said it could be one of the following, a failed exhaust where there is a
backdraft, a blown head gasket or a cracked head. The engine oil, which was
recently changed, was honey yellow with no sign of water. Beside the water,
the plugs were clean.

We are waiting for the master mechanic to look at it on Monday. In the
meanwhile we sprayed a ton of engine "pickling" into all cylinders as well
as the carburator to thwart any salt water action.

Anyone have any experiences/insights into this particular scenario? All
comments appreciated.

Thank you,
Mike

We had a similar problem with our Sundancer 245. But it turned out to
be our dumb mistake, hopefully not yours. We purchased the boat from
the East coast, and it had a lot of corrosion in the water jackets.
So we have, a number of times, "flushed" the system to help get all
that junk out. However, we got a little excited with the water
pressure, and filled the cylinders up with water!

First, we were exteremly afraid that we had cracked the heads. But on
inspection, and a few different farmer tests, we decided the heads
were fine. So we drained all the engine fluids, and gave her a trial
in the shop with water muffs to supply water. Thus we decided that
for some reason, we had reversed the one-way valves in the
exhaust-water-jackets and filled the cylinders with water.

In your case, since the engine started (it won't with any water, they
call it hydraulic for a reason), I'd take a look at the exhaust
jackets as the other fella mentioned.

On Sun, 03 Aug 2003 14:40:07 GMT, "MJT" wrote:

1987 Sea Ray Sundancer 250.
Thank you,
Mike

We had a similar problem with our Sundancer 245. But it turned out to
be our dumb mistake, hopefully not yours. We purchased the boat from
the East coast, and it had a lot of corrosion in the water jackets.
So we have, a number of times, "flushed" the system to help get all
that junk out. However, we got a little excited with the water
pressure, and filled the cylinders up with water!

First, we were exteremly afraid that we had cracked the heads. But on
inspection, and a few different farmer tests, we decided the heads
were fine. So we drained all the engine fluids, and gave her a trial
in the shop with water muffs to supply water. Thus we decided that
for some reason, we had reversed the one-way valves in the
exhaust-water-jackets and filled the cylinders with water.

In your case, since the engine started (it won't with any water, they
call it hydraulic for a reason), I'd take a look at the exhaust
jackets as the other fella mentioned.

On Sun, 03 Aug 2003 14:40:07 GMT, "MJT" wrote:

1987 Sea Ray Sundancer 250.
Thank you,
Mike