I chased all of the head bolts this morning and installed the heads. Got front and rear brackets back on as well? Anyone know what this sensor is for at the back of both heads? Is it for cylinder head temperature?
Coming from an Indmar it's funny how so much of it is exactly the same, yet certain parts are totally different, such as the knock sensor and IAC valve, but the biggest for me was the sea water pump. I'm sure there's a good reason for it, but I'm clueless.
Years ago someone said something about staying away from the wake boats with Mercruiser engines...I asked why and he said "if nothing else, the impeller changes."
I almost forgot that comment until looking for a Rinker, then after seeing how hard that was the first thing on the upgrade list was to swap it out to a crank driven pump. I reckon the swap was probably easier than a single impeller change, and now it takes just a few minutes and no busted knuckles. The only downside I see is if you throw a belt you need to momentarily remove a hose to reinstall a new one, except that you can zip-tie a new belt looped inside and onto the hose and if the old one shred, then just remove it and put on the new belt without removing any hoses. I know some don't have the space to do the conversion, but I'm sure glad I did.
Just curious why did you clean up the threads for the head bolts? Just good practice? what do the heads get torqued to? Looks like a brand new motor. If you ever upgrade & sell your boat someone will be getting the best taken care of boat in history. the quality of your work is amazing.
Thank you @captkevin ! The reason for cleaning the threads is to prevent any debris from dragging on the bolt and giving a false torque reading. I torqued the bolts in three stages and in a certain order. There’s another method to use a torque angle but I felt this method was fine. I even bought the tool to torque to a degree but heard stories of people breaking bolts. But I also read that method is for torque to yield bolts. The new head bolts I bought are not TTY bolts.
I ordered 8 new intake bolts. I cut the heads off of 4 of the old ones. I’m going to use these as guides for when the intake goes on. The intake is extremely heavy and you really only have one shot to line everything up and not ruin the sealant and gaskets. You don’t want to have to slide the intake around to get it aligned. This will line it up perfectly on the first shot. I painted the distributor hold down and bolt also.
He thinks an over heat. I did overheat once this summer and it might have put them over the edge. But it ran fine after it so I’m thinking it may have weakened the valves and got worse towards the end of the season.
Comments
https://www.mercruiserparts.com/bam/subassemblydetail/43949019/28193894
Years ago someone said something about staying away from the wake boats with Mercruiser engines...I asked why and he said "if nothing else, the impeller changes."
I almost forgot that comment until looking for a Rinker, then after seeing how hard that was the first thing on the upgrade list was to swap it out to a crank driven pump. I reckon the swap was probably easier than a single impeller change, and now it takes just a few minutes and no busted knuckles. The only downside I see is if you throw a belt you need to momentarily remove a hose to reinstall a new one, except that you can zip-tie a new belt looped inside and onto the hose and if the old one shred, then just remove it and put on the new belt without removing any hoses. I know some don't have the space to do the conversion, but I'm sure glad I did.
The reason for cleaning the threads is to prevent any debris from dragging on the bolt and giving a false torque reading.
I torqued the bolts in three stages and in a certain order. There’s another method to use a torque angle but I felt this method was fine. I even bought the tool to torque to a degree but heard stories of people breaking bolts. But I also read that method is for torque to yield bolts. The new head bolts I bought are not TTY bolts.
Regards,
Ian
The Third “B”
Secretary, Ravena Coeymans Yacht Club
https://www.rcyachtclub.com/
The boat has plenty of working room but many modern V8 engines don't have a ton of space under the hood to make that a simple process.
I also appreciate reusable bolts. Whenever possible I always switch over to arp studs or reusable hardware.
Did the machine shop give any indication as to what might have caused the valve failure (s)?