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My Engine is leaking water!


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So I took my 1995 Sunsetter out last night and after 15 minutes I noticed the temp gauge climbing I looked under the hood and heard a bit of a gurgle, shut off the engine and there is a pretty quick dropwise leak coming from the engine. See pictures attached! I don't have much time to work on it with my job but I'm leaving tomorrow for a vacation on a lake and was hoping to have a boat :). Is this something that a mechanic could quickly fix? I assume this is a little out of my league to fix myself. Any advice is greatly appreciated! To me, it looks like a corroded connection between two large metal pieces.

http://i1148.photobucket.com/albums/o572/goldiejamest/Mobile%20Uploads/20150812_1928380_zps9eddb003.jpg

http://i1148.photobucket.com/albums/o572/goldiejamest/Mobile%20Uploads/20150812_192823_zps9cc8758c.jpg

Edited by thomasjg23
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Well, that picture is your engine water pump. Leak could be bad gasket or coming out the weep hole because of a bad shaft seal. Neither one is likely to cause an overheat.

Most likely option is your raw water impeller is shot - second place would be that the engine water pump impeller broke.

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It sounds like there are two completely separate issues :(. It's only a two hour trip. Are these things a mechanic could do quickly if I towed the boat down? Are these things I should be able easily fix myself? Any and all feedback is welcomed!

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Is it just rusty paint flaking or did it rust out and develop a hole? Hard to tell from your pics. I believe that is the water pump housing. You could get a new one and a gasket pretty easily, I believe. You would pull the belts, pull the one pulley and then pull the housing. Not much to fixing it. Probably an hour total. If there isn't a hole, then it is leaking out the weep hole as stated above, but the fix is the same IIRC. You'll need to pick up a water pump either way.

If you are leaking out a new hole (rusted out) you could be sucking air or losing a lot of water and that could cause the overheat. Have you looked at it while it is running? Are you losing a lot of water?

Where are you located?

Edited by JeffK
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I would call some dealers where you are going and ask them what there turn around is. Even if its a one hour job to fix, the dealer may have a 2 or 3 week wait.

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OldJeep Thanks for posting!

Jeff, I didn't observe it for too long when running. there was more water coming out than when it's just been shut off. There is considerably more white exhaust coming out the back as well. I'm located in Pittsburgh, PA and I'll be headed to Deepcreek, MD

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Both the raw water impeller and the engine water pump are things that you could change yourself, but with an impending vacation follow the advise of Eagle River Mike and call to find out what the turnaround time is. I know that I can get overwhelmed with little stuff that needs to get done the day before I leave on vacation and now typically plan on an all-nighter just to get things done the way I want them done. The last thing you want to do is tear down parts of the engine right before you leave, run in to problems, and be be frustrated during your trip thinking you could have take care of it.

It sucks, but pay the premium to have someone fix it right and enjoy the boat on your vacation, it's why we work: so we can go have fun.

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OldJeep Thanks for posting!

Jeff, I didn't observe it for too long when running. there was more water coming out than when it's just been shut off. There is considerably more white exhaust coming out the back as well. I'm located in Pittsburgh, PA and I'll be headed to Deepcreek, MD

White exhaust? Pull your dipstick and see what the oil looks like.

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I think you have a lack of water. The white exhaust could mean that you are evaporating what little water you have with the engine/exhaust temps. If you can get someone to do it, great. Otherwise, you have a couple options. You can do it yourself, which isn't a big deal or an automotive dealership can change out the water pump, as it is the same one used in the automotive application. It looks like a direct drive so the mechanic will be happier working on this one as opposed to an automotive one or a v-drive because this one is very easy to get to.

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or an automotive dealership can change out the water pump, as it is the same one used in the automotive application.

Uh - no it is not the same. Automotive pumps have stamped steel impellers and steel back plates, Marine pumps have brass impellers and stainless back plates so that they don't rust apart in the lake water.

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@Thomasjg23: with the additional white smoke did you notice a change in exhaust tone? If louder or deeper, that would also indicate a lack of water being pushed through the system, that symptom implies a bad impeller or significant blockage in the system. If an impeller needs to be replaced, make sure the transmission cooler is cleaned on the inlet side as the impeller debris will get caught there (that might be a step an automotive mechanic could miss if not familiar with raw water pump failures).

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Woodski, the sound is definitely a tad louder/deeper. Just didn't sound right.

The oil does look fine. Still looks freshly changed since I did it in July and only took it out once since -_-

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I just called the 4 surrounding marinas and they are all booked back 3 weeks. Sounds like there will be no boat on vacation :(

Or it is time to break out some tools and try to diagnose the problem. Where are you located, maybe someone would lend a hand

1st step is to pull your raw water pump off so that you can check the impeller.

This is a v drive but shows the brackets being removed for your style pump. Skip all the other stuff they show being removed and just look at how they get the pump off.

Better view, but they only pull the back off the pump

Edited by oldjeep
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Unless the 'drip' is a spray, I'd inspect/change the impeller, check the tranny screen for debris (both things you should be able to do yourself) and see if that fixes the problem. Small drips can be dealt with later. Gurgling you heard could have been as simple as exhaust hoses filling back up with water....mine did that all the time.

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i agree. it is definitely something you should be able to handle on your own. Being a direct drive makes everything easy to get to.

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Uh - no it is not the same. Automotive pumps have stamped steel impellers and steel back plates, Marine pumps have brass impellers and stainless back plates so that they don't rust apart in the lake water.

Yes. You are correct. Wasn't thinking through the statement completely. Housing and installation should be the same. Was thinking more about the effort to install and that an auto mechanic could easily pull it off.

Edited by JeffK
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Could buy a marine circulating pump and have an auto shop install it (if that's the problem).

Don't be confusing people. There's a circulating pump and a raw/sea water pump. The sea water pump has a rubber impeller.

If you open your merc sea water pump to inspect/replace the impeller, be careful reassembling it. Tighten the bolts too much and it ruins the new impeller and housing. And don't mix up the inlet and outlet hoses.

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Unless the 'drip' is a spray, I'd inspect/change the impeller, check the tranny screen for debris (both things you should be able to do yourself) and see if that fixes the problem. Small drips can be dealt with later. Gurgling you heard could have been as simple as exhaust hoses filling back up with water....mine did that all the time.

First trip out I heard the gurgling of the exhaust back filling after a run and was convinced my new to me boat was sinking.
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