Port Engine Fluttered?

[mjk1040]

1998 Fresh water cooled Crusaders, 7.4L XLI's @ 600 hours
The last evening booze cruise my port engine faltered. We were cruising
around 1800 and she acted like  I got a slug of water? I had just fueled up
a day or two before the cruise with a can of sea foam in each tank,and we were running both engines on the aux. tank. I switched over to the side tanks, yet the port engine didn't
feel just right. The temps were running at the 140 mark and oil pressure
was at 70 psi. However the port oil pressure gauge flickered and still
flickers even after annual oil change with 40W, and still does. Port engine
seems to warm up faster than the starboard engine. Hooked up the code
reader and there are no fault codes. Most certainly going to change out the
fresh water impellers and fuel filters before launch this spring just so I
know. When the incident happened, the port exhaust seemed to have a little
more steam coming out of it than the starboard engine. Will check for water
when I change the fuel filters and drain them into a clear contain.
Another thought just came to mind, to check wire harness and gauge connections and possibly change out the oil sending unit. Like I said the oil gauge still flickers at the 70 psi mark, when prior to this incident it was always steady.

[Viper]

Mike, I forgot to touch on your exhaust. The steam may or may not be an issue. This can be caused by low raw water flow or a restriction in the exhaust elbows. Instead of a large stream of water exiting the elbow and mixing with the hot exhaust, a restriction at the elbow would spray water into the hot exhaust which would burn off easier and cause steam. Also consider that this is typically more prevalent at this time of year with the colder water temps. Again, this is something you'll have to check after the impellers are replaced in the Spring and you're launched.

PS; The same water temps will exist at Spring launch. After the impellers are replaced, see if you still get steam. Check the exhaust hoses, they should not be getting hot. Proper water flow should keep the temps down. You have the other engine to come to. AN IR temp gun comes in handy here.