Boat peeps! Help! Freeze Plugs popped out?

[shakindablock]

Before i start, the boat is a 2007, Moomba lsv, LS1 engine.

Ok so im here in san antonio studying for my finals and my dad calls me acting like someone died. Hes out at the lake running the boat for the first time this season. Besides him texting me every 2 fucking seconds asking dumb ass questions like "wheres boat keys", "what number storage unit", "what storage unit code", "why isn't bildge working", he calls saying, "is it normal for water to be shooting out 2 sides of the engine?"

lolwut, no?

So apparently the boat is shooting water of two holes on the exhaust manifold he says, into the inside of the engine compartment.

The last time we rode before winter i didn't winterize it properly, and by properly i mean i didnt fill it will anti-freeze or whatever. We live in Texas, i haven't winterized it like that before and it was ok. Well apparently it got buttfuck cold this winter and froze. Now before you say, manifold froze, expanded and broke, everytime i pull it out of the water i let it run and hit the throttle a few times until water stops coming out of the exhaust, then i shut it off.

Now back to the issue at hand, he says the manifold where the water is coming out, is coming out of 2 holes, one on each side. He says they feel like perfectly drilled holes, not mangled breaks. Do some boats now come with emergency freeze plugs? He said the holes didnt feel threaded, but they could be. He didnt have a chance to check the engine compartment for plugs laying around since it had a bunch of water in it at the time.

[Denaliano]

Bad news is, they're not "freeze" plugs. They're casting plugs.

They're not designed to "pop" out when it "freezes"

"Contrary" "to" "popular" "belief"

[fatkidkustomz]

Bad news is, they're not "freeze" plugs. They're casting plugs.

They're not designed to "pop" out when it "freezes"

"Contrary" "to" "popular" "belief"

:rofl2:

Good news is, they're usually replaceable. They're a pain in the ass, but it's possible.

[slinden]

God I love FL!!!!

[brianZ71]

Are the exhaust manifolds on boats water cooled?

[Denaliano]

They are on my 5.7L Merc

[brianZ71]

Nifty. Makes sense since the engine is in an enclosed compartment.

[85mcss]

Are the exhaust manifolds on boats water cooled?

yes



and on an LS block the freeze plugs are screw in IIRC.

get some new plugs, and hope for the best.




OH, and heated garage mod FTW.

[shakindablock]

Ok cool, thanks guys. My dad said he couldn't tell if the holes were threaded. If they were, how would these pop out so easily? Im still not understanding how they came out, the block shouldn't have had any water in it when i stored it. Not something i want to happen again, especially in the middle of the lake.

[HankScorpio]

Ok cool, thanks guys. My dad said he couldn't tell if the holes were threaded. If they were, how would these pop out so easily? Im still not understanding how they came out, the block shouldn't have had any water in it when i stored it. Not something i want to happen again, especially in the middle of the lake.

Well for starters winterize the boat properly. Just running it until you think there is no water in the manifolds is not good enough. Once the impeller runs dry it not moving anymore water. So there would still be water sitting in the manifolds.

[brianZ71]

you could always tap it and thread a short bolt in there regardless of it's initial state, if there's not a simpler solution.

[BLK OH7]

Ship the boat to me and I'll take care of it for you :D

[fatkidkustomz]

Well for starters winterize the boat properly. Just running it until you think there is no water in the manifolds is not good enough. Once the impeller runs dry it not moving anymore water. So there would still be water sitting in the manifolds.

:word: Probably exactly how it happened. One of my friends found this out the hard way, even after I warned him. And it wasn't like down there where you may get lucky... dead winter here is often in the single digits or lower at night.

you could always tap it and thread a short bolt in there regardless of it's initial state, if there's not a simpler solution.

Theoretically yes, but they're pretty big holes usually. Probably be more of a pain in the ass than just pressing new ones in.

[brianZ71]

Theoretically yes, but they're pretty big holes usually. Probably be more of a pain in the ass than just pressing new ones in.

didn't know they could be pressed in. I was thinking it was a "replace the manifolds" kinda deal.

[fatkidkustomz]

didn't know they could be pressed in. I was thinking it was a "replace the manifolds" kinda deal.

The plugs are in the engine block. That's where the OP was talking about the water coming out of the engine from. The manifolds generally don't hold water, although they are water cooled.

[brianZ71]

I got the impression the holes were on the manifolds

[shakindablock]

the holes ARE in the manifolds. The manifold goes from one big tube, to 2 smaller tubes that exit the boat. theres one plug in each smaller tube.

I will see the boat in a few days a report back if i have more issues. Asking my dad to look for the plugs is like pulling teeth.

[Tiki]

Hmm. Best let me take it for a test drive.

[shakindablock]

well looks like we dodged a bullet this time. Brought it to the dealer, both manifold plugs were out and one plug in the block was halfway out. Had the block had anymore water in it at all, it would have cracked. Thank god it didnt, dealer said 7k for a new engine if it had.

[HankScorpio]

well looks like we dodged a bullet this time. Brought it to the dealer, both manifold plugs were out and one plug in the block was halfway out. Had the block had anymore water in it at all, it would have cracked. Thank god it didnt, dealer said 7k for a new engine if it had.

Spend the extra time to winterize it next time. I know it sucks but its totally worth it.

[85mcss]

Spend the extra time to winterize it next time. I know it sucks but its totally worth it.

And even after winterizing, run a heat lamp in the engine compartment during the winter.

Cheap insurance:imo

[tbj]

I was about to say that it sound like the pitcocks for draining the water out of the manifolds, there are one in each manifold and one on each side of the block that are a pain in the ass to remove depending on the amount of room you have to work with.