New recon engine problems!!!! 4.3 merc 190hp

[grantnicol543]

Hi,
İ have just fıtted a new recon block and heads from michigan motorz a highly reputable supplier from what i gather.
All of my ancillaries i.e manifolds, inlet manifold and carb amongst others have been used from my old engine. Got it all put together and fitted and it runs like a sweetie, makes all the right noises and does all the right stuff apart from water mixing with the oil, Ä° havent had it out yet and have only ran it on the muffs in my yard. After discovering the fault i drained the oil and flushed the engine through, removed the intake manifold and checked the gaskets were sitting right and added a bit more silicone gasket for extra help when refitting, made sure everything else was tight\fitted correctly and tried again with the results the same, Ä° have visually checked the manifold for cracks as this is meant to be a common fault and there doesnt appear to be any water leaking from the exhaust manifolds. Also and thankfully the water isnt getting into the cylinders so its just the water and oil mixing, i have contacted michigan motorz and am running through different checks with him but just wondered if any of you guys have experience something similar or know what the fault may be?????

p.s the previous block was cracked when the last owner didnt winterise the engine properly.

Regards
Grant

[seapuppy]

Grant...
do you have wet exhaust risers??..ie does the risers have a water jacket around them??

if those aren't sealed properly..then that will cause a water leak..but not sure about the water getting into the oil...did you do a compression check??....leak down test ??...I'd also check the angle of the heads to the intakes manifolds..sometimes if they grind down too much on a head...it will change the angle and the intake won't fit up properly....there isn't a whole lot that can cause it unless you have a blown head gasket or crack or maybe a line reversed ...not being there I can't help out but those are the places I'd start looking....

keep us informed how it goes...MM is a good place to get engines....

SP irate:

[Gazjen]

The only way I can think of water getting in to the oil is (Best Case) badly sealed/seated head gasket or (Worst Case) cracked block

Or like you have already said through the intake have you got the paper gaskets or the plastic ones with the rubber inner?

[grantnicol543]

Yes i do have wet exhaust risers. Im not so sure that the oil would mix wıth the water though ıf they were faulty\fıtted incorrectly because wouldnt that create an exhaust blow noise and the water would go back up the exhaust valve and into the cylinder?????

İm not at home now though, in turkey at the mo. Will check all of thıs when i get back....comp test etc.

THanks for the help so far will keep you updated.

grant

[grantnicol543]

Hi again guys, Jst to let you know i have pulled the plugs and done a compression test.

Each cylinder has between 130 and 144 lb in2 so all seems fine but 2 plugs on the left bank are spotlessly clean (look brand

new unused) and the other is the normal sooty black as are all on the right bank.

Can anyone suggest why these two are clean and what may cause that.

Also is it normal for water to pass around the prop hub (exhaust) as well as from the normal area higher up the leg?? (This happens when running on the muffs on my drive)

Regards

Grant :roll:

[seapuppy]

Grant
if your having clean electrodes on 2 plugs..one of 2 things are happening....

1)..the plug is not being fired and therefore you either have a bad plug wire to each plug...thus no detonation is happening..

2)blown head gasket between the two cylinders and water is steam cleaning the plugs...thus ...no detonation is happening and you would be loosing water.....do a leak down test on both cylinders....

SP irate:

[grantnicol543]

Ok thanks,

There are no misfires though so im a bit puzzled and if the head gasket was gone wouldnt there be a lack of compression??

Im not too keen on removing the heads as it is a warrantied new/recon engine! Only problem is i bought it in michigan and i

am in Scotland uk!!!

I have contacted the guy at michigan motorz but he is taking a couple of days to get back to me with each email, Im too eagar to wait that long!!

Thanks .G

[Gazjen]

I had a Ford 302 with a blown head gasket and a snapped head bolt that didn't really show any loss in compression

try the compression test again but spin it for a very short time just enough to get the gauge to move and then compare the results for all cylinders

A leak down test is a much more accurate way of finding out what's going off, but not as simple

You could try pulling the caps off the two you think aren't firing, seeing how it changes then try it with another two see how it compares

I think it would be very difficult to get the head gasket fitment wrong especially by a well regarded engine shop

[grantnicol543]

How do you mean pull the caps off?? Forgive my ignorance to the jargon!! ops:

I was thinking the same about the place i got it, plus im sure they get some kind of tests after they have done the work to recon them.

Another question, When running the engine on the muffs should water pass thru the exhaust part in the middle of the prop as well as up at the top of the leg???

I ask because mine does and i have watched a couple of youtube vids of 4.3v6's with alpha 1 outdrive running and no water seems to pass thru that way!
Any Ideas??


Regards

Grant

[SilveradoSS]

On my old 4.3 water ran out of the prop and the holes in the transom.

[grantnicol543]

Thanks, thats a great help, at least i dont have to worry about that being a problem.

Grant

[Gazjen]

Just the plug caps on the two you suspect to see if the engine note changes if not then you know there is something a miss

yes water coming from the prop is normal

I was worried when I first started mine because there was water coming out near the transom mount.

[grantnicol543]

Haha so was i, i think i posted something about it last year sometime!!!

Oh i c, i have done that and everything is normal, there is a miss when i do that, i think it is still firing on all cylinders even though those 2 plugs are clean, whether thats possible im not sure!

Grant

[grantnicol543]

Hey, got a little update about my engine problems. I spoke to the mechanic at michigan motorz and ha asked me to do a couple of things....pump water thru the main intake pipe from the garden hose for 15 minutes and let the pressure build up then take the spark plugs out and crank the engine over and see if any water comes out... i did that and there was no water came out, then i was to slacken the exhaust manifold bolts and pull them back a bit to see if there is any water dripping.....again there was nothing! Finally i was to remove oil drain plug and see if any water came out and guess what.....no water!!!!

The only difference between testing it and running the engine to get the fault was when testing, it was cold when running, the engine was hot.

I was then put in touch with an experienced guy called hank at american marine imports in england uk and after explaining the symptoms to him, he was 95% certain that it was the exhaust manifolds have a fine crack somewhere and thet is letting water into the crankcase and cylinders but only when hot!!

I currently have one piece manifolds which are no longer available to buy as they were apparently very problematic, can anyone confirm this??? I need new 2 piece manifolds with elbows and extra pipe work. I have been back in contact with michigan motorz and told them what hank suggested and they are confident that hank knows what he is talking about even though michigan motorz are not aware of the one piece manifolds being troublesome. Phil at mich motorz said if i buy the manifolds from them he will chuck in an inlet manifold and gaskets aswell so that if all of that is replaced there really isnt anything else that can be at fault.

Any suggestions anyone??

thanks
grant