www.iFourWinns.com

It's my first season with my 1998 Volvo Penta 4.3gi and when i winterized the water system in the motor (removing pipes etc) the inside of the manifolds, water pump had that rusty and pitted stains all through it, sort of like looking inside the radiator of a 1978 Chevy. Is this a normal thing with marine engines? I assume it is considering water sits in there between uses. Is there any cleaning technique anybody is aware of?

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1998 Sundowner 195,
4.3Gli Volvo Penta.

Yep its normal especially for marine use, hence why manifolds & risers are effectively disposable items. They will last 3-5 years on average in saltwater. If you have them off its worth rodding them out (clean them out)

I can see salt water doing this very easily but my boat has only ever been in fresh water so i was a little curious.

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1998 Sundowner 195,
4.3Gli Volvo Penta.

Cast iron rusts even in fresh water. There will always be rust in manifolds and in the engine. Thats why I fill up the engine and manifolds with -100 marine antifreeze when I winterize it.
This is why I feel that inboads should have at least half closed cooling system, if not a whole system that includes the exhaust manifolds.
Inboard engines were designed to have ethylene glycol in them 100 % of the time, when run on raw water they will all rust.

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88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

It does surprise me that with the huge cost of these boats when they are new that they don't all come with closed cooling except maybe the very basic entry level boats. An add on is in the ball park of $1000 for a V8. You would think it would be pretty cheap at cost for the manufacture. I would also think it is a good sales pitch saying "Our boats" all come with closed cooling and will last for ages.
I am thinking of adding partial closed cooling on my next manifold/riser change. They are also easier to winterize and don't need to worry about cracked blocks.
Oh the search for the "perfect" boat never ends.... And thats why boating is sooo much fun. It never ends.

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--2002 3880 Regal Flybridge | Twin Merc 8.1HO **Seven**
--2003 AB 13 VST Console Inflatable | Tohatsu 40hp TLDI **Phish'n ski**
--310 Mercury Inflatable | 1982 9.9 Johnson

$1000 on the price of a $60-$75K boat is really nothing. People pay tons of money for all kinds of frivolous stuff and typical options like sound systems are grossly overpriced on most boats.

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88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II