2004 F225 Water in cylinders 1 and 3

[choogenboom]

2004 Yamaha F225 Engine, 900 hours, running rough and not making top RPM. Today found water in cylinders 1 and 3, top two cylinders on starboard cylinder bank. Compression check OK, bottom cylinders dry, oil clear. Guessing head gasket? If not, any other guesses? guessing not exhaust plate corrosion as best I can tell the indicator of that is water in bottom two cylinders? Is that correct? If head gasket, can it be replaced at my dock? Most major repair I have done at dock is removing the injectors to clean them. If head gasket, could it still be corrosion related? Seems these engines can have major corrosion issues?

Thanks in advance to whomever can answer my questions!

[rodbolt17]

my guess.
corrosion ate a hole through the head.
take it off and have a look.

[boscoe99]

2004 Yamaha F225 Engine, 900 hours, running rough and not making top RPM. Today found water in cylinders 1 and 3, top two cylinders on starboard cylinder bank. Compression check OK, bottom cylinders dry, oil clear. Guessing head gasket? If not, any other guesses? guessing not exhaust plate corrosion as best I can tell the indicator of that is water in bottom two cylinders? Is that correct? If head gasket, can it be replaced at my dock? Most major repair I have done at dock is removing the injectors to clean them. If head gasket, could it still be corrosion related? Seems these engines can have major corrosion issues?

Thanks in advance to whomever can answer my questions!

Major understatement. Are you British?

[choogenboom]

my guess.
corrosion ate a hole through the head.
take it off and have a look.

Thanks. Have you seen this before, is it common? If so is the solution to replace the head? And guessing my other 3 heads are likely going to fail the same way? The dutchman in me feels like I may be putting my finger in the dike (of corrosion).

[choogenboom]

Major understatement. Are you British?

Parents are Dutch ... about 50 miles off across the channel

[rodbolt17]

have I seen the heads corrode?
yes. some with less than 200 hours.

time doesn't care about engine hours.

is it common? no.
I have some commercial 02-05 F225s running about with over 5000 hours.

do you freshwater flush the motors after each use?
do you change the internal anodes with religion?

[choogenboom]

Flush - sometimes
last internal anode change - 2010 (anodes that came our had lots of life/zinc left, guessing they were original, I still have them)

forgot to mention one other odd symptom. At idle, lots of water coming out the above the water exhaust port on one engine (the one with water in the cylinders) and not the other engine. Is this a indicator of something? (Poppit/Poppoff valves also replaced in 2010)

[choogenboom]

can the cylinder head be removed without removing the power head, and is it doable at the dock?

[rodbolt17]

yes and technically yes.
don't drop anything.
means removing the timing belt,removing both cams and the cam chain and tensioner.
lots of opportunity to drop things.

[choogenboom]

Turned out to be a corroded/blown head gasket. Appears the head gasket corroded through. There is very small pitting on the block at the point of failure and no pitting in the head at the point of failure. Quick check with straight edge and flashlight and head does not appear warped, so scratching my head about root cause of failure. Zinc anodes have a lot of meat on them. Do not want to replace the head gasket and not address root cause. Any theories?

Pulling head at the dock was surprisingly easy and access was very good. Almost easier than pulling the injectors.

[rodbolt17]

root cause?
saltwater and aluminium and a stainless steel gasket.

the anodes are a totally useless good idea.

about the 3rd time they dry and get that white calcium coating, they are electrically isolated and totally useless.
just more metal along for the ride.

[choogenboom]

root cause?
saltwater and aluminium and a stainless steel gasket.

the anodes are a totally useless good idea.

about the 3rd time they dry and get that white calcium coating, they are electrically isolated and totally useless.
just more metal along for the ride.

Agree. Case in point, stainless steel is "stainless" because it forms a protective layer of oxidized metal which prevents further oxidation, same as what you are describing. There must be a better solution.

[choogenboom]

I'd like to see a freshwater cooled outboard with a raw water heat exchanger.