My first V20

[Dschaffer]

Originally Posted by scook

Hey Spareparts, when you’ve survived the storm, can you verify whether I’m correct.

I believe the 3.7, the 470 and the 170 (that’s mine) are all the same engine. Yours looks exactly like mine from what I can tell from your pictures.

It was a project to do but it was satisfying to beat it into submission and I knew my engine a lot better when I was done. I made a puller to remove the harmonic balancer (crankshaft pulley), which also carries the magnets for the integrated alternator. That worked fine and I was able to clean up the alternator (which later died anyway) and that gave access to the cover that houses the water pump and then the fun really began. I’m pretty busy right now but if you can’t find a manual, I’ll look in mine and see what I can find to pass along.

Whatever you do, don’t forget to drain the heat exchanger if there’s any chance of freezing - I mentioned that before - it’s an expensive mistake that I made.

Thanks again for the insight. If there are any “must use” write ups on this repair, please let me know. Also, any sources for parts would be nice. If there is anything else I should do while I’m in there as preventative maintenance, I would appreciate the heads up. Thanks again to all who have chimed in.

[cfelton]

Hey D, look up Sterndrive.com, Mercruiser 3.7 coolant leak. Its pretty good info for what you're getting into. I had to replace my seals and pump cover gasket once. Wasn't too bad. My camshaft was ok not grooved, just the seals were old and had hardened from sitting up. I did it in an afternoon, you can do it! Scook is on the money with sleeving the camshaft if its grooved, its been done with good success. I had found some info on sleeves and seals but just needed seals. I'll try to dig up some info on seals and sleeves for you when I get off nights at work.

[cfelton]

Ebasicpower.com had the parts you probably need. two cam seals FED471570 and a Cover Timing gasket kit @ 14.95. Check em out, they deliver fast!

[scook]

A comment about getting the seals in place over a sleeved camshaft. There are a couple of locator pins sticking out of the engine to locate the cover when you put it back on and I screwed up one seal fighting those pins. Spareparts advised pulling them out and replacing them after the cover was in place - it saved my sanity, what there was of it to start with. One of the pins REALLY didn’t want to come out but several days of applying penetrating oil (I don’t recall what I used- may have been Kroil but use the best stuff you can find),I finally got it. Grabbed on with vice grips (the pins were so hard that the pliers didn’t make even a scratch), harfed up and down, more penetrant, over and over and finally it budged a little and I knew I had it - definitely the hardest part of the job.

By the way, I didn’t know the seal was screwed up until I took it out for a test run and it overheated again. Had to do the whole job again. Pull the pins and be very careful to get the seals in right the first time, particularly if you need to sleeve it.

[Dschaffer]

Some great news! I was able to store the boat in a neighbors pole barn for the winter. That means I will be able to make the repair before boating season begins!! If there are any other tips y'all can think of, please let me know. Any special tools or do's/don't s are always appreciated. Maybe I'll take some pics of the project to help out folks in later on. Please let me know of any other mods I should do. It is a unique opportunity for me to have a roof over my head to work on the boat. I'm looking forward to it. Thanks in advance

[scook]

If the water pump impeller in the out drive is over a couple of years old, you should replace it. If you decide to do that, post it here and I can send a plan for a very useful jig that clamps in a vice and holds the lower unit so it’s easy to work on. It even provides a flat area to set a few tools and parts while you’re working on it.

[bgreene]

Trim tabs - absolutely.

Tabs down and you can run on slow plane through chop without pounding.

[Destroyer]

Originally Posted by scook

If the water pump impeller in the out drive is over a couple of years old, you should replace it. If you decide to do that, post it here and I can send a plan for a very useful jig that clamps in a vice and holds the lower unit so it’s easy to work on. It even provides a flat area to set a few tools and parts while you’re working on it.

Scook, would love to see that plan for the holder. Wondering if it can be adapted to an outboard lower unit?