May have ruined my engine! any ideas?

[OUI]

My 89 Saltare hydro-locked, and it came through the exhaust. From what I've learned, without the flaps, if you rev the motor and then shut it off quickly it will siphon water through the exhaust and into the cylinders. If you do a power reverse and shut it off quickly, it will siphon water through the exhaust. There is a diverter in the riser that will prevent that, but with older boats that diverter can rust and become ineffective. A hydro-locked motor, however will not turn over, because the cylinders are full of water. So, if it turns over, hydro-locking is not the problem. If you have milky oil, it can be a head gasket, a crack in the exhaust manifold or a cracked block. A crack in the exhaust manifold will only bring water in after the motor is turned off. If you change your oil run the motor and it is not milky, turn it off and wait a day. Start it and run for a while, if it’s milky it’s a exhaust manifold/water jacket. To check for a blown head gasket do a compression check. If it’s blown, you’ll have two, or more cylinders right next to each other with no compression. A cracked block will show blue smoke at the exhaust, low compression and poor performance.

[wotan2525]

Also -- Leakdown test will help you pinpoint exactly where the problem is.

[supracalifragilistic]

I wasnt familiar with a leakdown test but i just researched it a little and sounds like a good idea. thanks for the advice

[supracalifragilistic]

OUI are you saying when you hydrolocked your saltare you ended up with milky oil?
I only tried to start the boat maybe three times after we stopped and then thats when i noticed the water in the oil, but as you said with hydrolocking the boat would not turn over

[OUI]

Mo Milky oil. When I pulled the plugs water gushed out of the spark plug holes. Then I turned it over to get the rest of the wate out. Plugs back in and it ran fine. I was lucky I didn't bend a connecting rod.

[supracalifragilistic]

i got a compression test done today. the first two cylinders on the left side and the first one on the right side read 90
the last two on the left side and the last three on the right side read 60
any ideas on what this may mean (sorry i am not mechanically inclined at all but have a fealing im going to learn alot with this boat)

[cadunkle]

Sorry but your engine is toast. It may run, but it will be down on power and not be all that smooth. Generally you want a 10%-15% difference highest to lowest at most, and good pressure is over 100 psi. Those ones at 60 psi are just along for the ride and not doing much work.

Do note that your low compression could be from rings or valves, or likely some combination. A leakdown test will tell you where you're losing the compression. Could also be head gasket of course... Which is a possibility since the lower ones are all the same psi and next to each other. My course of action if it were my boat would be to pull the engine, pull it apart and assess whether you can get away with a freshening up (hone, rings, bearings, lap valves) or if a full rebuild is required).You'll be looking at things like bore taper, piston condition, skirt wear, crank journal wear, valve guide and seat condition, etc. Sucks to deal with it right when you're gearing up for the season, I feel for you.

[wotan2525]

i got a compression test done today. the first two cylinders on the left side and the first one on the right side read 90
the last two on the left side and the last three on the right side read 60
any ideas on what this may mean (sorry i am not mechanically inclined at all but have a fealing im going to learn alot with this boat)

I'd move on to the leakdown test. I think smart money is on a head gasket.

Sounds like the engine is tired, but I wouldn't be pulling it quite yet.

[supracalifragilistic]

i was feeling a little ambitious today so i got most of the engine pulled apart.
this is my first time doing anything like this so i took about 100 pictures of everything and bagged and labeled all the bolts. i didnt perform the leakdown test before doing this.

what would you guys suggest my next step be?

[Supra-in-steamboat]

The next step is not losing those photos. How much did you take apart?