Oh La La
Member
- Sep 12, 2019
- 68
- Boat Info
- 400 Express
- Engines
- 7.4 MPI Horizons
What a PITA! I have a water leak under my starboard engine that I thought was the hot water heater. Well the hot water heater was leaking and has been replaced. (Which by the way can be done with the motor in the boat, the outboard manifold and riser needed to be removed from the starboard engine and the circulating pump removed from the front of the engine, which gave enough clearance to get the old unit out and the new unit in place.)
The leak still persisted after the replacement of the hot water heater. Further investigation found a leak in the water lines running under the engine from either the raw water pump intake or discharge line. I removed both lines from the boat to inspect them because it is impossible to see anything under the motor or on the outboard side of the motor. This is where the PITA comes in, the room to get even your hand in there to loosen a clamp is ridiculous. I have the hatch over the motor out after moving the helm seat out of the way (as it were). But still could not get a hand passed the manifold to access the back of the raw water pump.I had to lie on my side in front of the motor and with one hand reach the clamps on the hoses. Then I find out there is a metal bracket holding the hose between the pump and the transmission oil cooler that is BOLTED to the flywheel cover.I needed 7/16[SUP]th[/SUP] inch wrench that I had to loosen a ¼ of a turn at a time BLIND. Oh did I leave out that the manifolds were still hot from running the engine to locate the leak in the first place!
With the hoses out, I am now able to speculate I have two possible causes of the leak: 1. The raw water intake hose runs under the engine with the wire-reinforced hose up till a plastic hose barb connects to a molded hose that seems to be used to allow the molded hose to reach the inlet side of the pump which is partially blocked by the motor mount. The leak MAY have been coming from the hose barb connection; 2. When I went to loosen the clamp on the transmission oil cooler end of the hose (also molded) that runs from the discharge side of the raw water pump to the transmission oil cooler, the clamp fell off into my hand and into the bilge in pieces.I suspect this was the source of my leak. The water was likely running down the hose and dripping off of the hose at that bracket I mentioned before into the bilge and pooling under the motor.
So, my plan is to: replace the molded hose, which is thankfully currently available (and I have already bought the one the supplier had in stock and ordered a second one for the port motor, just in case), between the discharge of the raw water pump and the transmission oil cooler. I am not sure if I will be putting that bracket back on the hose, but will see what my tolerance level is by then. The fact the motor will be cold should help though; and try to run the wire reinforced hose directly to the water pump and do away with the hose barb and molded hose on the intake side of the pump. My concern is the clearance around the motor mount.
Anyone tackle this task already?Anything I missed or that someone else found I should investigate while in this area?
I also plan to run some Barnacle Buster through the salt water side of the system while I have the hoses apart just to clean out the coolers and heat exchanger.
Thanks!!!Post #153 on here..
Harold R/R his water heater by removing exhaust and water circulating pump. So, it’s possible. PITA but, possible.
Zero experience on the dancers.