87 w/ 5.7 Mercruiser - what is a typical operating engine temp?

[CobaltRick]

I think part of the issue is that the brass sleeve sits proud a bit over the surface of the casting which means I need perhaps a 2nd gasket or thick single.. I’ve got a thick single but it isn’t setup for the water ports on this engine configuration ..

Maybe I need to remove everything and see if I can scrape any crap off the casting that is keeping the sleeve from sitting properly flush..

[CobaltRick]

Ok.. I think I’m gonna just leave the cork gasket out as it’s the cause of the brass sleeve not sitting properly.. once it’s removed, the sleeve sits perfectly flat and as expected. With my old one I don’t believe there was a gasket as far as I could tell..

Thoughts..??

[CobaltRick]

Ok.. this job is getting REALLY old now! Every time I think I’m done it shows me otherwise with a water leak! I’ve tried different gasket configurations and they all leak.. even the old thick metallic one. What’s the deal with this seemingly simple changeout..???! I’m done my fair share of t-stat changes over the years on various vehicles but this one takes the cake..

ANY suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!

[akorcovelos]

picture of the leak would help, like I said I had to double up the top hat gaskets to keep it from leaking just because the mating surfaces were worn down unevenly over 30+ years of use, overheating, whatever it lived through before I owned it.

Are you assembling it like the diagram below?

[CobaltRick]

Thanks.. Yes, I was assembling per the diagram, but when I add in the round cork gasket, the sleeve sits a bit too high I think, but now that I think about it, it was leaking with any configuration.. I visited a local West Marine today and bought a new cover plate (part #9 in the above diagram) which looked way better than the one I have which is pretty darned rusty -- I'd like to see how flat the mating surface is where it meets with the rest of the block surface. My hunch is that it's slightly warped in some way or another. However, if that doesn't fix anything I might take it back.. I don't know.. But I did buy a super fast setting gasket material while I was there that I'll consider using if nothing else pans out.

If its still leaking I'll take a pic for ya.. Thanks for chiming in!

[Big Block Power]

Of you use the silicone sealer let it set up over night. Good luck. Just a dumb question. Did you get all of the old gasket off the block. Take a file make sure it's flat.

[CobaltRick]

Ok.. Final message here.. I got the thing all sealed up.. I replaced the upper cover plate (as mentioned above) and ensured everything was as clean as possible and reassembled as shown in the diagram above -- and it works without leaks. The engine ran up to 160 and stayed there which was nice to see.. Thanks all for your help!!

[Big Block Power]

[akorcovelos]

Great, now get out on the lake and take some pics to post!

[AsLan7]

Ok.. Final message here.. I got the thing all sealed up.. I replaced the upper cover plate (as mentioned above) and ensured everything was as clean as possible and reassembled as shown in the diagram above -- and it works without leaks. The engine ran up to 160 and stayed there which was nice to see.. Thanks all for your help!!

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I bet that was a great feeling seeing that needle hover around 160 CRick.... I know it was for me when we had some overheating challenges two years ago.

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[CobaltRick]

yeah it was!! I was just happy that it wasn't crawling over 160... or sticking to 120 like it was before..