Overheated Engine

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racer57

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Joined
Jun 9, 2014
RO Number
33655
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3
Hello;

2007 3.0L Mercruiser I/O. Top cooling hose came off and because of radio on and in the process of passing some boats I did not hear the high temp alarm.

Engine died and I coasted to the dock. Got a tow back to ramp. Engine ran maybe a minute or two with alarm on, not really sure.

Found out the hose clamp corroded (stainless steel?, yea right)and broke, so I replaced and started engine in driveway. Engine appeared to run just fine. Oil pressure OK, cooling temp went up and then stabilized at normal running temp. All looks good.

Anything hidden that I should be concerned about that might have been mucked up when it was running w/o cooling for a minute or two?
 
Other than burning the rubber exhaust hoses I wouldn't worry
 
Run it til something goes wrong, IF something goes wrong. What else can you do. Have fun but be aware.
 
quote:
Originally posted by jtybt15

Run it til something goes wrong, IF something goes wrong. What else can you do. Have fun but be aware.

Click to expand...

Solid advice.
I’d pull the dipstick and see how the oil looks, and the plugs to see if there is any sign of water from a blown head gasket.
If all looks well, enjoy the boat.
 
That's a shame. Hope that was in fresh water so the engine , pulleys, alternator, starter,engine mounts, etc. didn't get soaaked with SW.

Bruce mentioned the exhaust hoses. Especially if this was at cruise RPM the exhaust hoses may look OK on the outer surface but could be burned much of the way through or crispy brittle on the inside.

Checking oil for milkiness is certainly wise as well. I might retorque the manifold riser/elbow fasteners as well due to extreme expansion & contraction of overheated cast parts there.

Hope everything remains fine for continued happy boating. But also strongly advise checking tightness and condition of every hose clamp on the boat at layup and commissioning. Particulalry the ones you think you can't reach but really can with a little pain. Obviously you'd want to replace any that look at all suspect to avoid a potential repeat with worse consequences.

FWIW- The "5 in 1" or better "10 in 1", screwdrivers' hollow shaft nut driver function is excellent for checking most common hose clamp hex heads tightness. They are the most-used tools by far on my boat.
 
Assuming everything else OK I would also change the oil and filters as the oil probably overheated and may not lubricate as well as it should which could accurate any damage that may have been done
 
Thanks all for your advice. I checked the oil, still almost clear since less than 30 hours on it and there was no adverse odor. I thoroughly rinsed everything in the engine compartment with fresh water. Then took it out Saturday for a test run and everything seemed to be shipshape.

Frustrating part is that I did check the tightness of all clamps since this did happen before. I didn't check the presence of rust underneath though. Since, I thought, they were stainless steel, didn't have to worry since they were replaced only 3 years ago. Live and learn.
 
Why not double clamp your hoses?
 
If it was salt water, and it got into pulleys and drive belt(s), do a very thorough cleaning. Maybe replace the belt(s) so there isn't any salt trapped in the porous surfaces that meet the pulleys. We had a circulation pump leak and I "rinsed" but didn't go into deep effort. Ended up replacing all the pulleys. Not cheap, even with used parts. If the contact surfaces get pitted, the engine will wear belts out VERY fast.
 
as a fellow saltwater boater when you finish for the day after the engine cools down spray everything with WD40 as per my mechanic. I've been doing this for years and everything looks good. WD40 evaporates off the next time you use the boat so no buildup.
 
Stainless steel comes in various mixtures of nickel and other metals. The burner of most gas grills rusts yet it is SS.

So there are cheap and quality mixtures and all are called SS.

Flatware for your dining table often lists what mix of SS the flatware is. Not much else lists the mix.
 
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