Water inside the engine

[river_runner]

Hey, before I bring in the boat to get it looked at, I was wondering if any of you know how to fix the problem I am having so I can save a few bucks .

I have a 1997 60 Mercury outboard that is getting water inside of it when I put the throttle high to full. It takes a while for the engine to warm up, and the discharge water stream is really weak when the engine is at idle. When ever I go from idle to high or full without running the engine for very long, it seems a bit boggish and slow untill after 30 seconds or so. A friend put his finger over the discharge hole to restrict the water flow to verify the discharge tube wasn’t leaking inside the engine compartment.

The boat and motor has been in storage for about 4 years. I have used the boat about 10 times this year, and I started noticing this problem a few weeks ago. Anyways, I hope someone can assist me here, and would greatly appreciate if so. Thanks.

[Valv]

First of all I would check compression to be sure nothing major already happened to motor.

I think you have a weak water pump and a leaky head gasket, both are not tough to fix but you DO want to know if it's worth it, and a compresion test will tell.

[marine_man]

I would definately do a compression test... it's possible that it's a leaky head gasket or a leaky block gasket where the powerhead bolts to the mid section of the motor also.

Can you dry it out and run it on a hose and watch where the water starts to pool?

marine_man

[wishing for walleyes]

I had my 40 HP mercury getting water in the motor a couple weeks ago.I hooked up the garden hose and found the problem to be it was leaking next to a spark plug.The problem was as simple as replacing the water housing gasket.

[iffy]

Thats the most probable leak, a water housing gasket. Or it could be the base gasket. Valv missed on his advice to you. As far as doing a compression test, That can tell you if the head gasket is blown, but not if its worth fixing. Its impossible to do a true compression test if the head gasket is leaking. If you cannot visibly see where the water is coming from, do a compression test. If thats normal don't bother pulling the head. If however, its low, pull the head and replace the gasket. They aren't that expensive. 30 bucks or so.