head gasket theory

[Tony]

Late last August my engine overheated, real quickly and real bad, and seized up with a thrown valve seat and damage to several cylinders.

My insurance company adjuster supposes that my engine was built for short bursts of speed, like for 1/4 mile drag racing or short oval tracks. He claims that small holes in the head gasket restrict the flow of cooling water, allowing the engine to warm up quickly for the "race" then cool down while waiting for the next short burst of speed. He points out the small holes in pictures and compares them to the larger holes in the heads as evidence. Result... "mechanical failure", not covered by my policy.

My contention remains that a plastic bag, and/or weeds, caused a blockage of my inlet, resulting in "sudden and accidental damage" (severe overheating), which would be covered by my insurance policy.

Any thoughts on his head gasket theory, or ways to counter this claim? My engine/boat was never raced, never had prior overheating problems, was carefully maintained, and had about 80 hrs on it.

[Looped]

Tony,
Since the motor must be broken down by the sound of the report that he has written up how about tracking down the engine part numbers. If you prove to them that the engine was built with the stock or close to stock parts (cam, lifters, pistons, valves, heads….) then no one in their right mind would just put on a quick heating type head gasket on a stock engine for some 1/8 to ¼ mile dragging. Sounds like the insurance company is trying to save some bucks during some tough times to me.

Just a thought,
Craig

[Gearhead99]

Sounds like a bunch of bunk to me. Go buy a factory headgasket and compare it to what you have. What do the holes look like?? Are they the same??

I'll bet they are. Sounds like an insurance adjuster taking the side step.

[MAXCAT]

Tony, That is the biggest buch of BS I have ever heard. A few of the reasons why the waterjacket holes are larger in the heads are:
1. Material shake out of retained core sand after the casting process.
2. Make the heads lighter since you don't need that much material on the deck face away from the fire ring sealing surface.
3. Save money - less cast iron.
As for the small holed head gasket theory - what is that guy smoking. If you can find a part number on the gasket, I can write you a letter stating that it came from GM. If it is something like a fel-pro you are on your own.

[MAXCAT]

oh yeah, I forgot if you have a ford I can't help you either. I just assume everyone has a chevy.

[HP 600SC]

Ok it's easy to prove if YOUR right.
The water pump impellor will be melted and
trashed due to no water getting to it.
Is it?
Ted M.

[BigGrizzly]

Racing head gaskets are no different than the stock ones as for cooling. Most hiperformance gaskets ate thinner or non existant and made of Copper or is a few cases Aluminum. This is BS. It does sound to me someone installed a seat in the head and made tolerance too loose. But did not cause the over heat condition.

Randy

[mattyboy]

this guy is wacked!
tony how long has that engine been in the boat with no problems? my point being you need to prove a trouble free history on the engine and how it performed with out any problem until the water flow was blocked do to an outside agent beyond your control! the plastic bag
hp-500 is right the impellor must be toast,
marine engines as a hole are designed to run higher rpms for a longer time than auto engines. what this guy talking about? and alcholol burning funny car or what.
he should check his head gasket or neck tie I think he has a restricted blood flow to his gray matter

Matt


hope this works out for you

Matt

[MOP]

Most importantly every post is quite correct, your adjuster does not know engines and related head gaskets. the holes asure even distribution of water throughout the engine. If the holes were all large only the areas of least resistance to water flow would get proper cooling and very bad hot spots would occur in the pooer flowing areas. TELL HIM TO PAY UP!

Phil / Long Island

[boldts]

I'll just add .02 because I work for an insurance co. Your agent obviously knows nothing about what he is dealing with! If your engine were as he suggusts, "Built for Short runs." The first time your engine was started and ran on the lake you would have had a problem. This guy obviously doesn't know Donzi owners either. We are not the start-um-up go 2 minutes away, shut-um-down types. We run our boats hard and in most cases for long periods of time. I think Ted is on to your best defense. Your impeller should be gone for the most part and you will want to be sure and change it anyways. You should in my opinion not have to prove anything to your agent. He should be going to bat for you. Not throwing the strike out pitches. We pay these mega dollar insurance companys a lot of money over the years and the first time we actually need them, they try every trick in the book to get out of paying a claim? That is wrong and shows how the quality of life has degenerated. Used to be a hand shake meant something, but not in todays world. Can you tell I've been down this road before? If this agent tells you he needs proof, send him here. Let him read what experts in all facets of life and buisness dealings are writing. 20 people saying the same thing can't all be wrong!

[MOP]

Hi second post, I found this for you to give to your inspector.

Phil / Long Island
http://www.onthenet.com.au/~billzila/engother.htm

[Tony]

Thanks a ton, everyone! The impeller looks decent...apparently indicating a partial blockage instead of total. I'm preparing some documentation to go back at them, I'll post again when I find out anything new.

[donziclassik18]

what insurance company do you have? we have state farm and when the baja sank at the dock in july of 2k, the insurance paid all but the dueductable. they even paid to get all the scratches on the boat fixed.
good luck to you

[Rootsy]

The holes in the heads and block are larger than the head gasket just for the fact that all the sand from the casting core must be shaken apart and removed. The head gasket doesn't meter the flow of coolant THIS is the thermostat's job... it opens and closes (increases / decreases coolant flow) depending upon temperature of the coolant passing through it. A headgasket is nothing more than a seal to keep combustion gases inside cylinders, water inside the water jackets and everything else out. SBC's tend to suck water into the cylinder and hydraulic lock when a head gasket goes. A SBF on the other hand lacks the 5th head bolt per cylinder like the SBC has and especially in high performance applications where high combustion chamber pressures and temperatures exist can fairly easily warp a head, stretch a bolt or blow a head gasket, usually on one of the 2 center cylinders. (3 times on the 289 til i studded the heads) If a thermostat sticks closed it'll overheat the motor, if the water pump impeller in the sterndrive or the belt driven one fails the motor will overheat... if the circulation pump on the front of the motor siezes or the belt breaks or comes off it'll overheat, if you have an obstruction at the sterndrive it'll overheat... or if you blow a head gasket it'll likely overheat. If you find no evidence of any of these and you see that you lost a valve seat look closely at that cylinder for a CRACK in the head...

unfortunately i have tooooo much experience in this area.... hope this helps....

[Dennis]

Maybe I missed something but no one cought the fact that marine head gaskets DO have small holes to hold the water in a litle longer and let the engine come up to operating temprature WE DON"T HAVE RADIATORS Compare Automotive Head Gaskets to Marine there is a difference!!! you can check by part number and spot that as well as price. I payed EXTRA for Marine Head Gaskets when I did my rebuild and thats why. I wanted the right stuff!! Then call your agent and teach him what he SHOULD know! GOOD LUCK!!!

[Blewbyu]

I have two friends who cooked SBCs,and I smoked one myself.None of the 3 had any impeller damage VISIBLE immediately following engine destruction.All 3 sucked pieces of clear plastic around lower unit at high speeds,all 3 of us heard the exhaust note change and shut down immediately,all 3 had very short exposure to 230-260 degree temps,and all 3 blew head gaskets and warped heads(mine were the only aluminum heads).All 3 of changed impellers and kept the old ones,which got quite brittle in about 2 weeks.At the end of about 4 weeks,you could snap the impeller blades with your finger.Sudden overheats SUCK!Sometimes you eat the bear,sometimes the bear eats you.I have survived 2 other same type deals,probably by shutting down 3 seconds sooner.If your exhaust note turns hollow,turn the key off before you even pull the throttle down....you could be lucky.Do a compression check as soon as possible following incident,leakdown test too if you can.
Tell your ins. guy to pay up,he's blowing smoke up yer skirt!!!!! :mad: :mad: :mad:

[Klingon]

I really hate this tactic taken by some agents/insurance companies, all they want is to cheat you out of what is due to you. I have been down this road many times dealing with insurance companies in my bussiness of auto repair very much the same as boat repair.
The truth will always win in these situations.
If he is saying your boat was designed for "short runs" make him back up the claim with some documentation. The worst line a liar will want to hear is "prove it and put it in writing and sign it" I cannot tell you how many times an insurance or other party has tried to get out of a settelment by some obscure reason and all I say is that just back up what you said and put it in writing and sign it. I have always found that they try to fool you and put you on the defensive but in reality they need to prove thier point. I cannot stand people who will lie for their own personal gains and not do the right thing and be honest and fair.
Alan