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Salt water in the engine, what's next?

C

CaboJohn

Regular Contributor
Crusader Captain's choice, 2002 5.7 MPI. Noticed reduced power over 3000 rpm on port engine. Checked fuel pressure at high rpm and it was to spec. Put the boat on the hard and pulled the spark plugs. #4 and #6 looked like they ran but were pretty ugly. I did a compression check and during that I noticed salt water drops and mist coming out of #4 and #6. Immediately knew I had a bad elbow and put 4 new ones on order. (They are 3 1/2 year old Barrs. I was going to change them next trip in the fall. Lesson learned there.) Compression checks out good. Took off the right valve cover and all valves working as they should. Pulled the elbow and the exhaust manifold and peering into the head I can see the valve stems are crudded up (it's been leaking for a while) but when the valve is depressed the newly exposed portion (that goes back into the guide on closing) is still bright and shiny. Looking into the cylinder with a bore scope I don't see excessive rust but there is some (Hard to see much with those things....). I am thinking the power loss is either a clogged injector (sent the two suspect ones out for cleaning, one had rust stains on face) or more likely the two very dirty plugs, which will be replaced. Cap and wires were replaced last year. The other plugs look great with perfect tan color.

So I may have dodged a bullet. I really do not want to pull the head unless necessary, and that is the big decision right now. Other than clean the dirty valve stems and any salt off of the piston or head, I am not sure what I would do if I did pull the head. I can't think of anything in there that might have caused the power loss. And running in the ocean I get some salt mist sucked into the engine all the time so its not like the motor has never seen it. So right now I am inclined to reassemble as is (but with new elbows), fire it up and go fishing. Or is this a bad idea? Might the large salt exposure bring long term problems? And if so, how far would I have to tear down the engine to really get it clean?

Any comments, advice, or experiences to relate? Have I missed something? The Crusader manual advice of "take it to your dealer" isn't going to work for me in Mexico.
Thanks for your help.

CaboJohn
 
Is there any water in the oil pan? Your loss of power may be the plugs that you said were pretty ugly. If there is no water in the pan, I would try changing out the elboes, the plugs, and run a can of top end cleaner through it. if you want to go old school try dumping a can of mystery oil into the tank and running that through, though I don't know how that would affect injectors. Needless to say if there is water in the oil pan then you have another problem. Good luck!
 
2X on checking the oil pan..and oil analysis may also give you worthwhile insight.

Beyond that, if the compression is good, bolt the elbows on, top off the coolant, and go catch some tuna...
 
Best thing you can do for an engine that's had water in it is to (1)find out how it got in & fix it (2) get it running. Once its running do like Mark said go fishing.
 
No sign of water in the oil. I think it was just a drip from the bad elbow that would accumulate above the exhaust valve or in the cylinder (if valve was open at shutdown). On start up most would be thrown out. I never noticed the start up hesitation one might get if there was a lot of water in the cylinder.

Thanks for the encouragement. When the elbows arrive I will be ready to fish. But I think I will change the oil just to be sure.

CaboJohn
 
John,

In case you are not aware, Crusader recommends using wing plates, both the pass-thru and block-off type with two gaskets between the manifold and riser (if equipped) and between the riser and elbow. Check the MPS web site for details.

Erich
 
@Erich
I have two new gaskets and a new block-off plate coming for each elbow. Is the current thinking to put everything on dry, or do most people dress the gaskets with a thin layer of Permatex? I have always done this but have heard say that is a bad idea and it is more likely to leak. I could not find any advice on the Crusader website but maybe I don't know where to look.

CaboJohn
 
John,

I guess it depends on whose gaskets they are. Crusader gaskets have a special graphite-like coating on them and do not need any sealant. The Crusader block-off plates are called "wing" plates because the inside edge has a lip that faces up and is there to catch and boil off any small amounts of water that may drip down the inside, especially from condensation (according to Crusader/PCM). The OSCO and other after market gaskets, which may be more prevalent from suppliers, are supposedly not as good and don't have the wing.

Erich
 
New elbows made it across the border and arrived today. I went with the genuine Crusaders, which have another inch or so rise as compared to the Barr's, which are apparently a copy of the older version elbow by Crusader. But to follow directions I must clean the new shiny paint off of the sealing surfaces so that should occupy most of tomorrow morning.

The Barr's that were on the boat only lasted 3 1/2 years. But interestingly, when I pulled the small drain plugs at the bottom of the castings near the sealing surface, two of the elbows did not drain salt water. These were the failed one, and one on the other engine that it turned out also was leaking. I don't know where elbows usually fail, but in these cases it had to be near or at the gasket or there would have been some water there. So maybe the elbows were fine but the gaskets were not. One of the non-failing elbows was one that I had taken off several years ago when I did a head job. I had forgotten that I had used the new style graphite gasket with no sealer. It came right apart and the gasket and metal all looked like new. Only two years but I was impressed. Glad I have eight of the new style gaskets for all surfaces now. The other three old gaskets (actually six) looked pretty groady.

Not sure of what torque is needed for elbows. The exhaust manifold to the head is 22 ft-lbs so I will use this unless someone chimes in with a better number. And, as you know, the nuts on the two studs are a guess anyway since only a small box wrench can fit in there.

CaboJohn
 
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