DT-55 Water in middle and bottom cylinder?

[g_craft]

Hi guys, Back again! just wondering what are the probable causes of water getting into cylinders. My guess is the head gasket but I also am wondering about a hole in the exhaust manifold? I don't want to start ripping stuff apart with out knowing all the possible causes.

Another seperate issues is i noticed I had play in the prop (in and out) less then 1/8 of an inch but its allowing water into the the lower unit oil I tried tightening the prop nut but it was tight and did nothing.

I'm bout readdy to pull the bung and throw this pile of shit into lake and let it sink lol.

[Moonlighter]

Cant advise re water in cylinders, although you need to get onto this quickly one way or another for obvious reasons.

Re the prop, a bit of play or slightly loose prop is unlikely to be the cause of water in the gearbox. Seals, either top or lower, must be damaged/failed, or at the very least, a washer on the drain or fill plug are leaking and letting water in. What does the oil look like from the lower unit when drained? Apart from eater in there, what else is showing?

As you say, with both top end and lower unit problems, and quite an old engine, its best future use may be as an anchor?!

[g_craft]

Thanks moon lighter. I have a spare top and lower unit so i have parts. and i would hate to use it as an anchor because i just bought this boat in the spring. I was more or less trying to express my frustration with that comment haha.
I can rip out and replace almost anything what im lacking is knowledge of where seals are and what not. where would these top and lower seals be? is there supposed to be a gasket or even silicone between where the lower unit attaches to the top end? I will def replace the washers on both the drain and fill (didn't even think of that)

my main worry is the water in the cylinders though. hoping its a head gasket its only 40 bucks and looks fairly simple

[g_craft]

also for the first couple seconds it was creamy white colored and then went to the normal color of gear oil. thanks again

[Moonlighter]

If there were no metal shavings on the lower drain plug then you might have escaped major damage.

Gearbox Seals I referred to are the seal behind the prop, and the seal at the top of the gearbox, seen when leg is off. Both can be replaced, although its not something I have done myself. Main thing is to immediately get old oil out and some fresh stuff in there so you prevent or minimize rust damage. Then it should be kept out of the eater until you find the source of the water entry and fix it.

I did have a mechanic who serviced a previous motor of mine some years ago, who left the nylon washer off the top gearbox fill hole nut. Luckily it still sealed up and no water got in! Those washers should be replaced with new ones every single time you service the leg.

[keakar]

sounds like its eaten up with corrosion issues from poor flushing or not at all.

gear box I would say the top plate under water pump has corrosion letting water pass the seal or ,maybe a corrosion hole through the metal itself.

top end, same thing, corrosion hole in the head or gasket mating surface and worst case a bad head.

since you don't know the history and just got this motor I suggest you bite the bullet and pull the head to clean and inspect the water jackets and investigate the source of the water. I think its still a good motor but you need to know what condition this motor is internally as far as corrosion and water cooling.

I suggest an acid flush first before pulling it apart to clean it out so you can better see whats left and just what you are dealing with when you get into it.

[g_craft]

Ok will do! Thanks Keakar you are allways there for me lol. how do i go about it? would i dump CLR down the thermostat housing and let it sit. or is there another produckt or way of doing it?

[g_craft]

Replaced Gasket

Well I replaced the head gasket today! everything seemed to go well (no broken bolts) lol. there was infact a corrosion hole through the gasket you could see rust all around it and it was caked on to the head abit. the rest of the head had quite a bit of corrosion and is slightly pitted in spots. I cleaned it up well with a some white vinegar and baking soda. I used a razor blade and some emry cloth to smooth it up best I could. I'm going to the lake tomorrow to take it for a spin.

I also cut a new gasket for under the plate on the water pump housing its a new kit so there was no corrosion, I think i just had that bottom leg of so many times the thin gasket they gave me failed quickly. We shall see, Will keep you posted. Thanks guys for the help

[keakar]

glad you got it fixed, sorry I didn't get back sooner.

since you had the head off and cleaned it out manually its a moot point now but the way to dissolve corrosion without taking everything apart is:

remove the lower unit and cap off the water tube at the bottom, then remove the thermostat and fill the block from there with a mix of 25% muratic acid and 75% water then let it sit for a few hours before pulling the plug out and letting it drain from the water tube. it dissolves the corrosion into a milky white or greyish sludge that washes out fairly easy by running water in the block from the thermostat hole out the bottom so everything goes in the opposite direction then normal in case there are still any larger chunks so nothing can get blocked up. you should do this a second time if you see a lot of junk come out until you don't see much meaning its all cleaned out.

having time to rethink it Im glad you didn't do the acid flush because while it is best done as a first step for cooling issues before you pull the head, in your case you had water getting into the engine areas with oil and wouldn't have wanted to do it because you don't want acid water mixing with the oil in your engine since it can be harsh on the bearing surfaces in there

[g_craft]

Still getting water in cylinders

Wellllllllllll, I had the boat out and when i fired it up it ran like a top. amazing the engine was even quieter made a real difference. Then i trolled around for a couple hours fishing ran fine didnt die once, then i took off to go to a different spot and it was really sluggish, it bogged out for a while then went full power but i noticed the engine was getting a little louder then before. I took it back to the launch pulled the plugs and the same cylinders had water in them again.

I was foolish and didnt replace the head cover gasket at the same time as the actual head gasket. If i take it apart again to do the head cover gasket can i reuse the head gasket i just put on? or do i have to buy another new one?

Is there away the exhaust manifold could be letting water into the cylinders or if im buying bad watered down fuel?

I don't know, beyond frustrated! Any input at all is greatly appreciated. thanks

[keakar]

no, you cant reuse the head gasket but I think you might find its the head gasket leaking again.

if corrosion ate up the first gasket then there is a good chance the matting surface isn't flush anymore and the block and head may need to be resurfaced (lightly sanded or milled to be perfectly flat smooth again).

use a straight edge to lay on the gasket surface and see if there are any spots it doesn't make solid sealed surface contact but obviously you are mainly looking at the area where it leaks.

then again it may be as simple as you didn't torque the head bolts correctly, if that's all you think it might be then this time run the engine idle for an hour in the driveway then let it cool down completely and re-torque your head bolts. then go test run it on the water but first you need to take it down and see whats going on.

when I replace a head gasket, before I even run the engine, I wait several hours to be sure it has fully compressed then I loosen and re-torque all the bolts again just to be sure they are all still tight at the right torque before I finish putting it all back together.

good luck and I hope its just something minor

[g_craft]

Actually i did notice the bolts were loose when i brought it in. I then
retorqued them. I forgot to mention that. how do i get the water out of the cylinders. if thats all that caused the water again

[keakar]

THE PROBLEM IS THAT ONCE IT BLOWS PAST THE GASKET THE GASKET IS TRASHED SO YOU HAVE NO SHORTCUT HERE YOU HAVE TO PULL THE HEAD AND REPLACE THE HEAD GASKET, oops cap lock is on lol.

trying to just re-torque it now will not fix the problem because the gasket has been damaged already and even if it does reseal for a short time it will blow out again before very long

just be sure to test the surface to be sure its smooth and flat then it should be fine after you replace it and put ALL new gaskets this time, taking short cuts to save money or time only costs you more money and time in the long run as you are finding out now

use the correct bolt torqueing pattern and tighten them down with a torque wrench then wait about 2 hours and go back and loosen all the head bolts then retighten them in the proper sequence and torque, that should eliminate any more problems.

if done correctly it should be good to go at that point but I like to re-torque it again one more time after the engine has been fully warmed up and cooled down at least once because its added insurance everything is as tight as it should be.

[g_craft]

OK, Thanks, This is what i was afraid of. yikes im gonna put the new gaskets on and sell this hunk of crap. Thanks again. Keakar.

[g_craft]

just out of curiosity, where is the exhaust manifold located? any idea?