Sick 200 Opti with two holes in Crankcase Cover.

[Old boy]

About 7 years ago my friend, Peter re-powered his 28ft twin hull flybridge fishing boat with 2 new 200hp Opties.

Peter was cruising down the river heading toward the ocean when the Port motor started making an odd sound. He called me on the phone and told me about the problem and I said, shut down the motor and return to the ramp using the remaining motor only.

I have since discovered, relative to top cylinder of the Port bank, toward the top of the crankcase cover, there is a brand new hole in the crankcase cover about 10mm x 15mm. When I looked into this hole, not only can I see the crankshaft, you can see straight out through another brand new hole located on the other side of the crankcase cover!

Not only that, Peter said, whilst the motor was still running and he and another friend were trying to see where the odd noise was actually coming from, Peter managed to locate the hole simply by the volume of water flowing from it??

Yesterday, I removed all of the spark plugs from the motor in order to obtain a little more of a clue. All spark plugs are good condition, except spark plug from the top cylinder on the Starboard bank, which is heavily oxidised with traces of salt present. Sure, this motor has only ever seen salt water but it's religiously flushed with fresh water after every single outing.

I'm OK with I6 and the likes, but definitely no experience in tearing down a V6. I'm guessing this damage the result of an end cap or something else letting go. The water has me baffled, may be there is underlying damage near the water jacket as well. I'm also guessing this is getting real expensive so far..

Have anyone ever seen anything like this?

Many thanks.

[racervboat]

Remove said powerhead and tear it down now and find out why?? our your going to have a rusted out anchor very quick . 7 yrs ago no WARRANTY

[racervboat]

But you did not say how many hrs on the rig ?

[Old boy]

Yeah, the nearest Merc Dealer to us is saying "Far Too Busy" bring it back to him some time in the new year.
Yes, I'm fully aware you can't expect warranty.
We've blasted Inox type stuff, into the 2 holes in the Crankcase Cover and all of Spark plug holes.

As for hours.. around 250 - 300 I seem to recall. I'd have to ask my friend to find out exactly.

Thanks for your comments.

[flabum1017]

Sounds like it threw a rod taking out the block and breaching a water jacket. The cause is the next mystery

[racervboat]

yep if your not capable of the tare down it will be a salty within a week if not sooner, its probably junk anyway as far as saltys go and it threw a rod so the parts are gold there in aus so the question is repower? to match the other motor that has a lot of life in it or is it just so salty to get two more motors?

[Old boy]

Sounds like it threw a rod taking out the block and breaching a water jacket. The cause is the next mystery

That is exactly what I thought of. But how do you throw a rod at such low RPM?
I don't think his boat was even on the plane when the noise started.
It's a 7800lb boat with 19" Trophy's. 1 x Counter and 1 x Clock.

I just might have to bight the bullet and tear it down for him. Bugger, I'm very time poor as well right now. Maybe I'll have to do it in my sleep?

[flabum1017]

That is exactly what I thought of. But how do you throw a rod at such low RPM?
I don't think his boat was even on the plane when the noise started.
It's a 7800lb boat with 19" Trophy's. 1 x Counter and 1 x Clock.

I just might have to bight the bullet and tear it down for him. Bugger, I'm very time poor as well right now. Maybe I'll have to do it in my sleep?

All you need to do is lose an oil line to a cylinder or have it run lean and stick. things happen at all RPM

[flabum1017]

300 hours in 7 years is very low hours..... a lot of bad things can happen from not using the boat.

[phillnjack]

so 7 years ago he got the motors. but when did this go wrong ? this week or 7 years ago ?
if its been a week you have a chance of saving some stuff, if its been 7 years dont even waste your time just get another powerhead.

[Old boy]

so 7 years ago he got the motors. but when did this go wrong ? this week or 7 years ago ?
if its been a week you have a chance of saving some stuff, if its been 7 years dont even waste your time just get another powerhead.

I'm so sorry, yes my initial post in this thread certainly does read a little ambiguous.
Peters motors were brand new when they were bolted to his boat by the Merc Dealer about 7 years ago. I agree, the motors do have low hours for their age, but some outings they only get 20 or 30 mins of running.

The motor started making the strange noise during an outing last Sunday.

Thank you all for your input.

[phillnjack]

ahh , now it makes sense.
I was thinking if this happened 7 years ago your gonna lose the fight to save it.
but if that recent you have a good chance of fixing it

[johnboy 88 vegas]

2-strokes don't like water.Get them to a mechanic asap if they have any water intrusion if you want to save the motor.

[flabum1017]

With two holes in the block, you'd be better off getting a reman powerhead and some injectors.

[Old boy]

We removed the power-head last week. During the process, we discovered some water in the little oil bottle which located on the port side of the block. Some how water has entered the main oil reservoir in the back of the boat.
It's very easy to guess what occurred from there on.

Thank very much you for all your thoughts and comments.