Baltimore MD: Newport 30

[jumpdart]

Hello all.

I am the new owner of a '79 Newport 30. Sunstorm. I am keeping her at Bowleys Marina off of Middle River. I got her on the cheap and while the rigging is in good shape, the old direct drive a4 engine may not be. I bought a kicker to use the boat over the summer, but plan on getting the inboard back running over the winter. I will go into more details and ask whatever questions I need then.

The guy I bought the boat from made it sound like there are some overheating issues and some fuel issues that might not be that hard to address. All I have done is replace the impeller but that came with replacing a gasket on the heat exchange that didnt seem to stop the heat exchange from spraying water. I put things off at that point since I already bought the 9.9 kicker.

Anyway, this seems like a great group and I look forward to participating in more conversation on here and learning more about this engine going forward.

[Al Schober]

Heat exchanger spraying water? They're not supposed to do that!
Curious whether you're planning to work on the engine in place or take it home for the winter? I'd recommend the latter course.

[edwardc]

Welcome jumpdart. We're just down the Bay from you on the Patapsco. Perhaps we can get together sometime.

We had our heat exchanger fail in this same way while coming north on the ICW this past spring. Removing it and wire brushing the base of the hose barbs revealed the leak. I was able to effect a temporary repair with epoxy, but ultimately replaced the HX.

[jumpdart]

spraying heat exchange

haha yeah after I took the cap off to fish out all the impeller parts, It was leaking after I put it back on. Not surprising since the gasket was pretty crunchy. But after I ordered/installed a new gasket, It was still leaking. So It might not be in that bad of shape. I just decided to put it off and use my kicker for the rest of the season since I am pretty much right on the bay and only really need my engine to get in and out of the marina. I will take some pics. The guy mentioned I should replace the ignition and coils as well, but it seems to start right up.

I will probably work on it in the boat. One thing I liked about this boat was all the access to the engine. Even though, just getting the water pump opened to change the impeller wasnt exactly easy because of the way it is positioned.

[joe_db]

I have a spare HX setup I can sell cheaper than a new one if you need it.

[capnward]

I had my HX spray over the engine, from the raw water exit tube joint, as did Edward and you. Neither epoxy nor silver brazing worked for long; the only solution was a new HX. The boat had come with a HX that was about four times the size of the one sold by Moyer, and took up too much space. The raw water pump was not replaced with the HX, although it created twice the flow needed for the smaller HX. I believe this high flow eroded/corroded the inside of the exit tube joint. Now I have a pump with half the flow, and the smaller HX is holding up fine, so far. Your HX and pump may have similar issues. I don't know the flow of your pump, but it may be more than necessary for the HX. Or it may be the zinc in the HX had dissolved and remained unchecked.
Good Luck with your A4, they are great engines once you get to know them. Your overheating issues are probably in the fresh water part of your cooling system. There is a separate pump and impeller on the back of the engine for that. Glad your access is good.