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Water coming in through starter, yah the starter


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Went to take out my '04 Malibu Wakesetter LSV and noticed an excessive amount of water in the engine compartment. Once the bilge pump did it's thing, I didn't see or hear any water coming in, but with  the engine running, it became apparent water was coming in through the bottom of the engine block. I found water coming out of the starter!  How the heck can water be coming from between the starter and the engine fly wheel!! The starter is working fine.

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It's been used some, but it makes sense it's a freeze plug. I just patched another one on the exhaust manifold. Rust has been making those areas wear thin and make holes in the freeze plugs. It threw me off because it doesn't leak without it running.
This one isn't going to be easy to get to. I assume this one is likely on the engine block. 

Thanks for the assessment. 

 

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  • 11 months later...
On 6/27/2021 at 7:56 PM, chiefoh said:

Went to take out my '04 Malibu Wakesetter LSV and noticed an excessive amount of water in the engine compartment. Once the bilge pump did it's thing, I didn't see or hear any water coming in, but with  the engine running, it became apparent water was coming in through the bottom of the engine block. I found water coming out of the starter!  How the heck can water be coming from between the starter and the engine fly wheel!! The starter is working fine.

I’m having the same problem. Please let me know what you figure out as I’m kind of a moron with this stuff. Thanks

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I docked my 04 wakesetter at the marina overnight and the next morning the depth of the water was almost coming through the floor.  The swim deck was also under water and my bilge pump obviously wasn’t working.  The speed sensor on the through hull fitting is leaking pretty bad (ran a hose into the bilge when I got home).  There is also a much slower leak from the prop shaft.  
 

I say that to say this, could there have been so much water in the hull that it filled the engine to the point it was just trying to flush out the water?  I haven’t had a chance to run it again to find out.  Any help is much appreciated.  

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1 hour ago, KevinC said:

I docked my 04 wakesetter at the marina overnight and the next morning the depth of the water was almost coming through the floor.  The swim deck was also under water and my bilge pump obviously wasn’t working.  The speed sensor on the through hull fitting is leaking pretty bad (ran a hose into the bilge when I got home).  There is also a much slower leak from the prop shaft.  
 

I say that to say this, could there have been so much water in the hull that it filled the engine to the point it was just trying to flush out the water?  I haven’t had a chance to run it again to find out.  Any help is much appreciated.  

How high did the water get inside the boat?  Since you had a hull leak it is probably OK to assume that the engine is OK.  The next time you run it you should know for sure.

If the starter got flooded, remove it and take it apart, then get it dry inside.  It would probably be OK to loosen the end cap and pull it back about 1/4" and blow compressed air through it, then tighten the end cap.

The alternator may be a little more bullet proof.

If the steering cable got flooded, it will probably slowly die a death of getting harder and harder to move until you replace it.  It might be possible to remove the helm end (if you have a rotary helm) and inject some transmission fluid (used is fine) into the sleeve and work the cable a lot.  I would not replace it until you have a problem steering.

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MalibuNation

Let us know how your oil looks.  Hopefully ok.

My neighbor is fighting the same thing on his Merc 4.3 ... freeze plug &/or cracked block as water is leaking on his starter.

Good luck.

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