V8 overheating problem ( 5.7 mercruiser)

[Franco]

Hey Bassarama, I had a 5.0L Volvo, One time I was about 15 miles south of the inlet and 3 miles out. I had some old a s s manifolds and risers on my boat and that particular day the port side manifold decided to quit flowing water, I ideled it in the whole way. No damage to the engine. Another time I'm about in the middle of the chesapeake bay, 7 or 8 miles out of lynnhaven inlet and my raw water pump came apart, barley pumped any water. Again it got hot, but I idled in again and didn't popa head gasket. If that was the first time it got hot I wouldn't worry about it too much. You really have to scorch one to burn one up. And usually there are other symptoms. If you lose a headgasket you usually will find signs of coolant in the cylinders, just pull a couple of plugs and look for really clean plugs. With the plogs out, turn over the motor and see if it pumps water out of the cylinders. If none comes out, you have a good chance of no problem with the head gaskets. Those motors are pretty rugged, although the manifokds and risers take a beating.