1987 Rinker Fiesta Vee

keithader

I inherited a boat from my father in law. It had been in a barn for 6 years when I got it. At one point he was very mechanically inclined but his mind doesn’t work like it once did. The engine is a Mercruiser 260. When I got the boat the thermostat housing had been removed and was all laying around the engine bay. I got it all together and running, but I noticed coolant leaking. The port exhaust manifold started leaking coolant, I found a hose barb on the bottom of the manifold with nothing on it, and no hose laying around. There also appeared to be water (clear) coming out of a similar location on the starboard exhaust manifold. My guess is that the cooling system takes the engine coolant and runs it through an intercooler (not sure where it is located) and then the seawater pump sends the water from the outdrive to the exchanger. I don’t know where the heat exchanger is (should be located) and I am assuming it is a closed loop system. Any help would be appreciated.

keithader

I think I figured it out. There are two drain plugs that I found in sump that should screw into the two places on the exhaust manifold that had the water coming out. After tracing the cooling lines it appears this is not a closed loop system and my father in law had poured antifreeze in the the thermostat housing as a winterization technique. Every seems to be running good now. Thanks for those who took the time to look over the post. 

reneechris14

Yup sounds about right welcome to the rinker world

jhofmann

Welcome to the forum. There is a wealth of knowledge on this forum, though not sure how many will have expierence with an 87 boat ( I was 5 years out of high school, and just finished 4 years in the Navy. What model is it? Would love to see some pictures, even dirty half apart ones!!