$4000 later

[Moor]

Pardon my ignorance but an engine is an engine first and foremost. Sure, the 460 is not standard to these boats but at the end of the day, it works the same way as every other engine should in theory. Mix gas with air in the proper ratio, add spark and there you go. There is always the byproduct of heat from the combustion process and that is what you are having issues with. I can speak from experience because I stored my boat without the old pump over the winter and when I put the new one on, I put it on backwards, figured it out really fast that I did and as soon as I fixed the rotation my exhaust risers and tubes were cool enough to touch which sounds exactly like your problem that you are having. If I were a professional mechanic and I installed the pump backwards it might be a blow to my pride but no reason to get an attitude about it like the general tone of the email from your mechanic reads in my mind.

I agree with Jetlink. The problem is NOT that its a 460 truck engine in a boat. This is not the first boat to have an automotive motor swapped over to a marine application. The 454 in my sunsport was a truck motor before the marine world adapted it to boat applications. An engine is an engine, it doesn't care if its in a boat, truck, or car. There is another problem. I'd suspect the raw water pump, like others have said.

[crystal waters]

Any chance that previous owner had impeller break up and pieces are lodged elsewhere in the cooling system and need to be cleared.
Often a common problem ie blockage

[lively]

there seems to be alot going on here .. what do you know besides its getting hot ?

go buy a IR thermo gun and read the head temps ...

remove the plugs and take pics of what they look like , you can tell alot about a engine buy its plugs

everyone is right the impeller goes both ways , and the impeller pump "housing" or the impeller "cam" which makes the suction could be worn past spec causing cavitation and not allowing proper flow ..

remember this is not pressurized water , if it still gets hot with no T-stat then start checking head temp and make sure you suck from a bucket ...

report back

[Outsick]

Have you pulled the hose off the trans cooler and stuck your fingers in there to feel for old pieces of impeller and or possibly plugged up exhaust elbows.

[Ptownkid]

Does anyone know if there's some kind of diagram that outlines where all the water passages are?

[Awill10291]

Finally got ahold of the Mechanic in person. Went to the shop. According to him multiple different "rods" were jerry rigged into the engine, which was causing it to backfire. They replaced with all 460 rods and there is not longer a misfire. The took it out again and it IS still over heating. They checked everywhere for blockage. You would think this is the first thing they would have mentioned, noticed, BUT the raw water pump is from the old engine which is a small block. He now says that a big block 460 raw water pump would provide much more water flow and would most likely solve this issue. (Not sure why this wouldn't have been the first darn thing to look into when we took it in months ago.) I am to do some research and find out what BRAVO?? water pump is available and meant for a ford 460 BIG BLOCK. Can anyone direct me to a website to purchase the correct raw water pump to hopefully solve this overheating issue? Thanks.

[UKandH]

As far as i know, there is no dedicated designed marine engine in an inboard ski / sports boat, All are based upon road car / truck engines, so your mechanic is a knob

RWP's can be bought from almost anywhere, what capacity / flow rate do you need?

[UKandH]

Try one of these http://bpi.ebasicpower.com/pc/CRURA057028/PLE3C

[wotan2525]

Finally got ahold of the Mechanic in person. Went to the shop. According to him multiple different "rods" were jerry rigged into the engine, which was causing it to backfire. They replaced with all 460 rods and there is not longer a misfire. The took it out again and it IS still over heating. They checked everywhere for blockage. You would think this is the first thing they would have mentioned, noticed, BUT the raw water pump is from the old engine which is a small block. He now says that a big block 460 raw water pump would provide much more water flow and would most likely solve this issue. (Not sure why this wouldn't have been the first darn thing to look into when we took it in months ago.) I am to do some research and find out what BRAVO?? water pump is available and meant for a ford 460 BIG BLOCK. Can anyone direct me to a website to purchase the correct raw water pump to hopefully solve this overheating issue? Thanks.

Sorry but your mechanic is A) Full of shit. and B) Completely wrong.

The size/flow-rate of the small block and big block pumps is exactly the same. The only difference from engine to engine is how they mount and how they are driven.

I believe that (AT THE WORST) your raw water pump is fine but needs to be rebuilt. You can confirm that if you can get the part number/stamping off of it and post it here.

I also believe that it's much more likely that your mechanic (who has already proved himself incompetent, as well as a liar) is unable to diagnose the real issue and is just shaking you upside down to see how much money will fall out of your pockets before you tell him to get stuffed.

You've paid him FAR too much for FAR too little. This guy is a crook.

[scottschmitt]

If the risers are too hot to touch, there is not enough water flow. Obstruction seems more likely than needing a bigger water pump.

Someone correct me. I know the 302/351 ford head gasket must be oriented correctly. I don't know what the 460 gasket looks like or whether it could be installed in such a way as to block water flow.

Alternatively there is junk (bits of impeller, small rocks, grass, plastic) stuck somewhere in the water flow system.