Need new motor

[quister]

The motor in my '88 Overnighter over-heated and I now have water in my oil pan...not good. The motor is a GM 224cid, 3.7L, 180hp Mercruiser. In searching the web for remanufactured marine engines this block seems quite uncommon. I found only one site out of twenty that even listed it. I hoping you guys can help me source this one. I am an avid mechanic and did autobody and paint for ten years (I just rebuilt a CJ5 Jeep) and have all the tools, hiosts, etc for a project like this, I've just never pulled the motor in a boat before. I have the shop manuals for this boat (outdrive and motor manuals). I've replaced motors and trannys in a half dozen auto projects. I prefer to let a pro build the engine and I take care of all the bolt-ons and instalation. Any feed back on this will be appreciated. I wish I knew about this site earlier. I moved to NC in '98 and bought my GW from an older gentleman at Wrightsville Beach in '99.

 

[bayrat]

Did you check the compression? Maybe you just blew a head gasket. It sounds like your assuming that a cracked block let the water in or do you know that for sure? Head gasket, exhaust manifold maybe oil cooler (if you have one) could also be possibilities. Check it out and see if you can find out why the water intrusion. Whats the downside at this point? Good luck

 

[quister]

Thanks bayrat, A compression test is certainly a good place to start. This motor has run well over the years but now that it's 22 years old I think something more major is going on now. After it overheated I ran it for awhile with the water in the oil pan (unknowingly) while we limped back to the dock, refilling the reservoir with a jug of water as we went. The cause of the overheating was a freeze plug in the rear of the head had corroded through to make a pinhole leak. It would not show up until after running the engine at full power for a half an hour or so...then enough coolant had been lost to cause steam to bellow out of the engine compartment when things were really warming up. The temp gauge never got over 220 but I'm not sure there's not something more to worry about now. It still turns over but I have a feeling I need to pull the motor, tear it down and look over everything now. Running it with watery oil (or oily water) can't have been a good thing. But I will do a quick compression test. Thanks for your thoughts. Quister