Old Man In The Sea Ray
Member
- Dec 15, 2021
- 46
- Boat Info
- 2003 Sea Ray Sundeck w/496 HO Bravo III
- Engines
- 496 HO Mercruiser w/B3 drive
Long story, longer.
I recently purchased a 2003 270 SunDeck with a 496 HO sterndrive (my first I/O). I don't have a trailer so I arranged to have a nearby marina haul it out, put it a bunk, and let me replace the lower shift cable. My lift is located in a shallow silt bottom canal. I quickly mired in silt and the engine temp rose to 210. I admit it smelled hot. I restarted the engine and quickly saw it was still rising. I pulled the end caps off the heat exchanger, started the engine, and no raw water came out. I sat for 1/2 hour and noticed the bilge pump came on roughly every 5 to 10 minutes. Water was coming into the bilge from who knows where. Got a friendly tow to the marina and got it on the bunks where I pissed around doing my best to find the leak. That engine is wedged in and I mean wedged. I'm paying the marina by the day so I decided to at least change the shift cable and worry about the problem tomorrow.
I have no idea where the water was coming from. I can't imagine the raw water system getting hot enough to build pressure. No coolant in the bilge so I have to assume it was raw water. The hoses are, of course, buried and near impossible to find, let alone examine. I've opened a can of worms and don't know where to start. I know it's going to be a bitch pulling the pump off and I really don't want to, if that not the propblem.
So I see two problems: 1) why did it overheart? and 2) what's leaking? My plan tomorrow is put some muffs on it and watch it before it overheats. Beyond that, I'm stumped. HELP.
One more thing: I under stand the Bravo 3 has no pump in the lower unit. What circulates the coolant thru the engine? Separate pump?
TIA
Russ
I recently purchased a 2003 270 SunDeck with a 496 HO sterndrive (my first I/O). I don't have a trailer so I arranged to have a nearby marina haul it out, put it a bunk, and let me replace the lower shift cable. My lift is located in a shallow silt bottom canal. I quickly mired in silt and the engine temp rose to 210. I admit it smelled hot. I restarted the engine and quickly saw it was still rising. I pulled the end caps off the heat exchanger, started the engine, and no raw water came out. I sat for 1/2 hour and noticed the bilge pump came on roughly every 5 to 10 minutes. Water was coming into the bilge from who knows where. Got a friendly tow to the marina and got it on the bunks where I pissed around doing my best to find the leak. That engine is wedged in and I mean wedged. I'm paying the marina by the day so I decided to at least change the shift cable and worry about the problem tomorrow.
I have no idea where the water was coming from. I can't imagine the raw water system getting hot enough to build pressure. No coolant in the bilge so I have to assume it was raw water. The hoses are, of course, buried and near impossible to find, let alone examine. I've opened a can of worms and don't know where to start. I know it's going to be a bitch pulling the pump off and I really don't want to, if that not the propblem.
So I see two problems: 1) why did it overheart? and 2) what's leaking? My plan tomorrow is put some muffs on it and watch it before it overheats. Beyond that, I'm stumped. HELP.
One more thing: I under stand the Bravo 3 has no pump in the lower unit. What circulates the coolant thru the engine? Separate pump?
TIA
Russ