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Greetings Afourians! First post here, of what I hope will be many, many. And this one is gonna be a long one.
Folks, I need some advice. I'm just in the process of buying an Ericson 29 with some significant motor problems. The current owner is a great guy who's moving up, and he cut me a deal on the boat based on the need to pull and overhaul the engine. It's a raw water cooled, late 1970s A4. Pretty rusty outside, bolts looking pretty frozen, salt collecting around the water jacket plate on the side. There's also water in the oil - milkshake looking before and after an oil change.
That said, though, the motor runs pretty well - fired right up a few weeks ago and doesn't seem to be missing. I haven't had the chance to compression test it, and it's a couple of hundred miles away, so I can't right now. But I'm kinda casually assuming that if the water was leaking down through the combustion chambers she'd be running a lot rougher than she is, so I'm assuming (again, just casually) that the head gasket and exhaust are not the sources of water in the crankcase. So I'm assuming that there's a crack in the jacket someplace.
Just because of the general appearance of the motor, and the fact that she's been salt water cooled for 35 years, and because I like working on motors, I planned to rebuild in the off season. But now that there's water in the oil I need to make some choices soonish. I need to move the boat from NYC up the hudson to the erie canal, and across to Lake Ontario. I don't want to shell out for moving the boat, and I really want to take the cruise up river. So here's where I'm asking advice.
First, I know it sounds crazy, but how long might a motor with a crack continue to run? Minutes? Hours? Days? I have an outboard I can hang off the back to push her along in a pinch, but is there any serious chance that the motor might actually make it up to Oswego?
Second, if not, I'll probably buy a remanufactured block and put it in before taking off. Or, I might bring it along with me and do the swap wherever the old motor bites the dust. There's a Moyers Manual on the boat, but I'd like to kinda get my brain around what's necessary to R&R the motor. Is there a step by step that you all could point me to to start studying up on it?
And finally, probably a dumb question, but can I pull the motor out without hauling the boat out of the water? I'd be extremely bummed if I sank her at a dock someplace.
Thanks in advance. I await wisdom.
Chris
Folks, I need some advice. I'm just in the process of buying an Ericson 29 with some significant motor problems. The current owner is a great guy who's moving up, and he cut me a deal on the boat based on the need to pull and overhaul the engine. It's a raw water cooled, late 1970s A4. Pretty rusty outside, bolts looking pretty frozen, salt collecting around the water jacket plate on the side. There's also water in the oil - milkshake looking before and after an oil change.
That said, though, the motor runs pretty well - fired right up a few weeks ago and doesn't seem to be missing. I haven't had the chance to compression test it, and it's a couple of hundred miles away, so I can't right now. But I'm kinda casually assuming that if the water was leaking down through the combustion chambers she'd be running a lot rougher than she is, so I'm assuming (again, just casually) that the head gasket and exhaust are not the sources of water in the crankcase. So I'm assuming that there's a crack in the jacket someplace.
Just because of the general appearance of the motor, and the fact that she's been salt water cooled for 35 years, and because I like working on motors, I planned to rebuild in the off season. But now that there's water in the oil I need to make some choices soonish. I need to move the boat from NYC up the hudson to the erie canal, and across to Lake Ontario. I don't want to shell out for moving the boat, and I really want to take the cruise up river. So here's where I'm asking advice.
First, I know it sounds crazy, but how long might a motor with a crack continue to run? Minutes? Hours? Days? I have an outboard I can hang off the back to push her along in a pinch, but is there any serious chance that the motor might actually make it up to Oswego?
Second, if not, I'll probably buy a remanufactured block and put it in before taking off. Or, I might bring it along with me and do the swap wherever the old motor bites the dust. There's a Moyers Manual on the boat, but I'd like to kinda get my brain around what's necessary to R&R the motor. Is there a step by step that you all could point me to to start studying up on it?
And finally, probably a dumb question, but can I pull the motor out without hauling the boat out of the water? I'd be extremely bummed if I sank her at a dock someplace.
Thanks in advance. I await wisdom.
Chris
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