ford motor / sea water/waterlock

NAUTI-NOTIONS · 07-23-2003, 12:33 PM

Any body have this happen? had a friend comming back in to neah bay, after catching their limit.
see some thing that looked like a seal. looking closer the seal started waving at the boat,,, not a seal but a diver, out in the middle of nowhere. they turned over to the guy who was so happy they saw him,,, he stated he was not sure how much long he could have hung on, still unclear on the the whole mishap. they shut the motor off to board the diver, when they went to start the motor, it turned over but wouldn't fire, they radio'ed another guy who came over to help. in the mean time a boat looking for the diver showed up and took the guy back to shore for treatment.
not being able to start the boat the pulled a spark plug, in which water drained out of the block. the towed the boat back and called the boat guy in callam bay, who told them to get the boat out of the water and drain everything and get the boat to his shop asap. after 4 oil changes and a couple other things got it running again, the boat guy stated this was common on fords, after running them hard and turning them off they suck water up the exhaust fill the block with sea water. still trying to find out more. i found a item called a waterlock, anybody install one?

Pilar · 07-23-2003, 12:41 PM

On the Chevy Mercruisers there is a flapper in the exhaust riser that is one-way ... overboard. This does not make a 100% seal but it seems to eliminate the problem of water coming up the exhaust system.

Also it is a bad idea to shut down suddenly when at speed. Because the wake that was following you charges the transom and drives water over the transom and up the exhaust riser and in to the exhaust manifold. At any given moment at least one exhaust valve is open and seawater can be forced into a cylinder.

When you crank the motor with a cylinder full of seawater it 'locks' up the motor due to the incompressible water in the cylinder. This is bad and can bend piston rods, crankshafts and knock holes in pistons.

If you ever start a motor and it locks up hard then quit cranking it and pull spark plugs to check for water.

Glad it turned out ok.

Fishplay · 07-23-2003, 10:10 PM

Sheesh! I lived such a nightmare. It cost me three grand for a new long block after a connecting rod gave way at 3600 rpm.

It also entailed a tow from one of my favorite haunts. Ling as it is named is about 18 miles offshore.

Never shut the engine down prior to it coming to idle. [img]graemlins/stupid.gif[/img]

I had the key in one hand and the throttle in the other. Shut em both down at the same time, jumped up to run back and grab a crab bouy. She dieseled, ran backward and water seized before I could get back to the helm. [img]graemlins/dork.gif[/img]

I ran it around hard in the bay for a few minutes after I purged the water...all seemed fine.

The next day I found out it wasn't. :blush:

TWB · 07-23-2003, 10:44 PM

As they say " been there, done that."

Volvo also uses a flapper on there exhaust bellows. You can buy them with, or without the flapper. The flapper bellows is about $85.00, and thinking that water would surely never get into the motor, I would go for the cheap one.

You can guess the rest of the story. [img]graemlins/eek13.gif[/img]

I went hard into reverse one day, the engine died and when I tried to restart, it was siezed. Cylinder was full of water, and when I tore it down the push rod was bent to the wall. Only good thing that happened was the rod didn't go through the block.

Don't no about the waterlock, but I do no that I wouldn't run an outdrive without some sort of device to prevent the water from going up the manifolds and into the cylinders.

Jerry

Tacklebuster · 07-23-2003, 10:55 PM

My boat will diesel as well sometimes if she has been run hard and gets shut down before the idle is down. Because I have a jet my idle is a little higher than most so you have to get used to your boat and listen every time you shut her down. If she starts to diesel, quickly turn the key to the run position and she should fire right up. Let it run for a couple of seconds and shut her down again.

I have also found that running good premium gas will cut down on this as well. I get it a lot more with cheap marina gas.

Phil Layer · 07-24-2003, 05:39 AM

Cheap marine gas = oxymoron.

It amazes me how much they charge for that garbage gas.

Pilar · 07-24-2003, 08:44 AM

Good gas can not be over emphasized. Buy it on the beach from a station that sells alot. A cut rate station has a high demand and gets regular fuel deliveries.

Buy premium and know that you paid less than you would for the 87 gas they have at the fuel dock. I keep octane booster and fuel dryer handy just in case I have to buy marina gas.

Fill it on the way home from your trip for best results.

Miss B Haven · 07-24-2003, 10:50 AM

Hey - my boat diesels all the time. Doesn't seem to hurt it any! :grin:

Zippy · 07-24-2003, 01:00 PM

Man am I glad I was told about this site! I just learned a few things in reading the posts I would not want to experience the hard way-thank you! Zippy has a 351 ford with a volvo 280 outdrive and you bet I am going to check it out. My first boat was a new reinell with a 305 volvo. the manufacturer stated that you should never put anything less than 89 octane gas in it. I never did put anything less than 89 and I never experenced a problem during the time I owned it.sorry to hear aboutyour troubles.