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Fastwins get locked up all the time. Don’t know why the power heads do that. Maybe the carbon seal on the bottom of the crank has let go. Maybe the head gasket is leaking a bit. Maybe the exhaust cover is leaking, although I never really saw that one on an FD/Fastwin, even in salt water. IS yours in salt water? If so, it could be the water jackets are failing. Speculation. First, divide and conquer: Pull off the lower unit and make sure it’s not the LOWER unit that is binding….Then report back.
Long live American manufacturing!
I know where Pawleys Island is—-right slap on the Atlantic Ocean. And I’ve got a pretty good idea what’s wrong with your motor. Salt water is getting into the powerhead. Not wanting to be a pessimist, but your motor probably is terminal. billw probably aced it. The three most likely water intrusion routes are the lower crankshaft carbon seal, and the head gasket and exhaust cover gaskets. And yes, the inner exhaust cover may have a pin hole corroded through it, which will squirt water right into the exhaust ports.
No matter what the leak is from, the water getting into the crankcase will rust the roller bearings over nite, and the motor is junk. You might get it freed up, and even run it, but if those bearings are damaged it WILL fail.
Sorry ’bout that.
I agree about the water intrusion and yes Pawleys Island is on the Atlantic. It’s weird but the mainland, where I live, has the same name as the island itself. The other thing is I live on what’s technically a peninsula. I’m 1.3 miles to the ocean and 2.5 miles to the Intracoastal Waterway/Waccamaw River. The river is fresh here unless there’s a really bad drought when it gets slightly brackish on high tides. I do 99.5% of my boating in fresh water and has been a really long time since this motor has seen salt. The previous owner lived on the river but I can’t really say if they ever took it over to the island and used it in the salt water creeks over there. That said I realize the crank could be trashed. It seems like there was only a very small amount of water, just enough to stick a ring or two. The first thing I did today was to remove the lower unit. It’s free. I suppose if it is the carbon seal, the water was sucked in right onto the crank. It so, that’s junk. Did they make the inner exhaust cover out of stainless in ’57? I’m going to do some experimenting with compressed air to see if I can locate the leak.
Thank you both for the advice and info!
Andy'48 Zephyr, restored '06, runs great
'54 Fastwin, restored '09, runs great
'57 Fastwin, unrestored, locked up in 2018I’m pretty sure the inner cover is aluminum. Does this look like the carbon seal has been leaking? I’ve never had one leak so I really don’t know what evidence can be seen here if any.
'48 Zephyr, restored '06, runs great
'54 Fastwin, restored '09, runs great
'57 Fastwin, unrestored, locked up in 2018You never know for sure whether a power head is trashed or not, until you take it all apart. Yeah, most times it is, but…..Recently I received an FD from member Fleetwin. The flywheel didn’t even ROCK, never mind turn. It was pretty obvious that the motor had seen salt. Even the steering was frozen. I wanted it mostly for the lower unit; but I’m not one to waste a single part, either. Based on previous experience, it was against my better judgement to even take the power head apart. To my surprise, when I did, I found that I could reuse every single bearing, worked really carefully and freed the rings and now have a power head that will be a great runner. Okay, the crank had some discoloration but no pits.
What I am trying to say is, if you like that Fastwin, don’t count it out just yet. If it were mine, I would first start by getting it running in a barrel on 24:1 mix, then fog it out, to preserve what’s left.. Then pull the power head and look at the carbon seal. If it’s broken, there you go. If the o-ring inside it is rock hard, maybe that’s all the problem is. At that point, you can decide whether to go further.
Regarding the my salty FD, this was the first time I tried using a small, battery-powered impact gun (Milwaukee) and a Snap-On, straight blade screw driver bit. I was AMAZED at how the very corroded, 1/4″ screws mostly just backed right out. In all the power head mounting screws and exhaust cover screws, I only broke ONE.
Long live American manufacturing!
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