Just to be certain, I went back through and re-read the entire thread. You stated that only the exhaust manifold and elbow gasket were replaced, but you doubt that was an issue.
Correct, the exhaust manifold and exhaust elbow were taken off, looked at and the same units were put back on (with new gaskets). Dan said he pressure tested the manifold and elbow and they were fine. Dan did NOT say anything about the gaskets being bad. He just changed them because that is best practice.
Further, it runs, starts, and re-starts on a hose in the driveway and works great?
To my surprise, that is what Dan reported to me.
Sounds like the elbow gasket was bad, when they fail water enters the exhaust before the elbow, being hot could make the leak worse. In the elbow, the water jackets do not open to the exhaust flow until after the turn, or just before the flex coupler. There are no water passages in use at the lake that are not in use in the driveway on the hose.
I hope you are correct and the replaced exhaust elbow gasket will fix the problem, but Dan never reported the gasket was bad, so I don't expect that it will.
As for ignition, both the ignitor and flamethrower coil need full 12 v when running and cranking.
From the observations made over the last 2 weeks, the engine starts pretty easily, as long as there is no water in the cylinders. Unless the starter solenoid is bad, both the Pertronix ignition module and the Flamethrower coil should be getting a full 12V when the starter is cranked. This summer, I ran a wire to bypass the ignition coil resistance wire so the Pertronix module would bet a full 12V, at all times. So that should not be a problem.
Clearly, the next step is to lake test the boat and see what happens. I will expect to have water in the cylinders and so I won't shut off the engine unless I am at a dock or a boat trailer!
Eric
