350 mercruiser freeze plug

[The Stone]

Hey all,

I have a 1985 checkmate exciter with a gm 350 in it. I took the boat out for the first run of the season yesterday and it ran well, but i have a problem with one of the freeze plugs. The plug in the block, right under the starboard engine mount was rusty and blew a hole right through it. Is it possible the support the block with a cherry picker, remove the motor mount and change the plug? Or does the entire engine need to come out?

Thank you,
Christian

 

[Jimway]

It can often be done in place although I am not completely familiar with your boat. Support engine but remember that engine is attached to out drive so don't go lifting the engine any higher than installed height. You may give some thought to checking all of the core plugs along the lines of if one of them has corroded through, the others may be compromised also. You can quick google small block core plug replacement to get a visual of what it looks like and get some marine core plugs to go back in. If things get ugly they make temporary fix core plugs but I am not a big fan of that sort of stuff. Cheers.