I have been having starter problems so I got my rebuilt starter today and
put it in. The boat fires up now like brand new :-)

I have a mercruiser 165hp 3.7 liter closed coolant system. I guess the lake
water cools my coolant which cools the engine.

Anyways I noticed that the coolant over flow tank was on the add line
instead of the full line. It was on the full line a few weeks ago. Anyways
I filled it on up and poured some into the main colant tank too just for a
bonus.

I fired the boat up (hose attached) and there was some smoke coming out the
exhuast. I have seen this before when I have been stopped on the lake for a
long period of time and then fired it up. The smoke is a little white but
doesnt smell like burning gas or oil. It doesnt really have an odor. Some
of it was ocming up through the engine too, dont know if it was from the
exhuast or not. I could not see a central location of the smoke except for
the exhuast.

Its possible I poured too much into the main coolant tank. Any ideas of
what im seeing. Ive never noticed much smoke coming out back there before.
It has also rained real hard for a couple days and the inside of the boat
was wet.

I guess I will watch that coolant level real close when I take her out
tomorrow.

Thanks,
Cameron

Leaky head gasket would be my best guess.


"Ree-Yees" wrote in message
.. .
I have been having starter problems so I got my rebuilt starter today and
put it in. The boat fires up now like brand new :-)

I have a mercruiser 165hp 3.7 liter closed coolant system. I guess the
lake
water cools my coolant which cools the engine.

Anyways I noticed that the coolant over flow tank was on the add line
instead of the full line. It was on the full line a few weeks ago.
Anyways
I filled it on up and poured some into the main colant tank too just for a
bonus.

I fired the boat up (hose attached) and there was some smoke coming out
the
exhuast. I have seen this before when I have been stopped on the lake for
a
long period of time and then fired it up. The smoke is a little white but
doesnt smell like burning gas or oil. It doesnt really have an odor.
Some
of it was ocming up through the engine too, dont know if it was from the
exhuast or not. I could not see a central location of the smoke except
for
the exhuast.

Its possible I poured too much into the main coolant tank. Any ideas of
what im seeing. Ive never noticed much smoke coming out back there before.
It has also rained real hard for a couple days and the inside of the boat
was wet.

I guess I will watch that coolant level real close when I take her out
tomorrow.

Thanks,
Cameron

Someone at my office told me that might be what it is too. My only question
about this is wouldnt I see white in the oil of the head gasket was leaking?
I had that happen in a car and you could pull the dipstick out and see the
white. The oil in the boat is nice and clean. Maybe my leak isnt bad
enough to see it?

--C

"Stanley Barthfarkle" wrote in message
y.com...
Leaky head gasket would be my best guess.

Water can enter the combustion chamber or exhaust manifold without picking
up oil. The head gasket seals the entire head--- water cooling passages, oil
passages, and combustion chambers. Depending on where the leak is, you could
have either one or a combination of water, oil, or both leaking. Sounds like
you have a water-only leak. You may also be losing compression. Time for a
new head gasket.


"Ree-Yees" wrote in message
.. .
Someone at my office told me that might be what it is too. My only
question
about this is wouldnt I see white in the oil of the head gasket was
leaking?
I had that happen in a car and you could pull the dipstick out and see the
white. The oil in the boat is nice and clean. Maybe my leak isnt bad
enough to see it?

--C

"Stanley Barthfarkle" wrote in message
y.com...
Leaky head gasket would be my best guess.

Would I notice a loss of power when I take her out today if this was the
case?

"Stanley Barthfarkle" wrote in message
y.com...
Water can enter the combustion chamber or exhaust manifold without picking
up oil. The head gasket seals the entire head--- water cooling passages,
oil
passages, and combustion chambers. Depending on where the leak is, you
could
have either one or a combination of water, oil, or both leaking. Sounds
like
you have a water-only leak. You may also be losing compression. Time for a
new head gasket.

"Ree-Yees" wrote
Would I notice a loss of power when I
take her out today if this was the case?

You may not notice much if it's just enough of a leak to let a little
coolant into a combustion chamber. Engines can lose a remarkable amount of
compression without any noticeable power loss. Compression check on the
cylinders and possibly a pressure test of the cooling system should tell you
what's going on. Leaky head gaskets seldom get better, btw, usually they get
worse at the most inopportune time.

Replace your head gasket ...or risk being stranded and possibly blowing your
engine.


"Ree-Yees" wrote in message
...
Would I notice a loss of power when I take her out today if this was the
case?

"Stanley Barthfarkle" wrote in message
y.com...
Water can enter the combustion chamber or exhaust manifold without
picking
up oil. The head gasket seals the entire head--- water cooling passages,
oil
passages, and combustion chambers. Depending on where the leak is, you
could
have either one or a combination of water, oil, or both leaking. Sounds
like
you have a water-only leak. You may also be losing compression. Time for
a
new head gasket.

"Ree-Yees" wrote in message
.. .


I fired the boat up (hose attached) and there was some smoke coming out
the
exhuast. I have seen this before when I have been stopped on the lake for
a
long period of time and then fired it up. The smoke is a little white but
doesnt smell like burning gas or oil.

Are you sure that it is smoke and not steam?

I would expect some amount of steam to be present in the exhaust. The raw
water from the cooling system is dumped into the exhaust. While it cools
and quiets the exhaust a portion of the liquid water will turn to steam.
This may be more obvious when running on a trailer because when the boat is
in the water the exhaust is directed below the water line. The saturated
steam would be cooled by the lake water and condense back into liquid.



Some of it was ocming up through the engine too, dont know if it was
from the exhuast or not.

If you are getting any form of vapors from the engine compartment, be they
exhaust or steam, then you have a leak of some sort. If you are losing
coolant then I would immediatly suspect that you have a leak in the fresh
water system.



Its possible I poured too much into the main coolant tank.

It is certainly possible, but if you have an overflow tank then I would
expect it to catch the overflow.

Any ideas of
what im seeing. Ive never noticed much smoke coming out back there before.

I would check the cooling system closely for leaks. The easy to fix spots
would be all the rubber hoses. Another likely leak spot is the shaft of the
circulation pump.

Rod