Home › Forum › Ask A Member › yet another 15hp question › Re: yet another 15hp question
Like Bill says, it doesn’t take much of a little opening left in the grommet for the telltale to show water.
But, in this case, the engine has two water tubes and two grommets. The second water tube is actually a short exit tube that is directed into the back of the exhaust hsg. So, it is possible that the intake water tube grommet is OK, but the exit water tube grommet is crushed. That would explain why the engine seems to pump like crazy when the thermostat cover is removed, the exit water tube is being bypassed by just letting the water dump into the engine pan.
In any event, I would bet my last nickel (if I had one), that the grommet(s) are crushed. The engine seems to show water at the telltale, and removing the head didn’t show any crusty salt.
But, this is a big job even though the grommets are only a few bucks. You might want to question the owner to make sure the grommet job hasn’t been done recently. True, this engine did have "improved" grommets, but they still were no match for salt water. Let me know what you decide to do, I will show you how to trim the new grommets a little further to make sure there are no further grommet issues.