This spring while the boat was on the hard, I turned the motor (Beta 16)over to flush out the antifreeze from the water intake prior to the boat going into the water. I heard a loud thumping noise and realized that I had knocked the gear shift lever into reverse when entering the boat. Stopped the motor in put into netural.
When the boat was in the water started the motor and left to run in gear at the dock.
After an hour the motor shut down on its own and I noticed that the oil pan was scalding hot.
Changed the oil and it came out black.
I am thinking that the connection rod bearings on the crankshaft may have been damaged.
It certainly sounds like you have a failure of some kind. Without seeing the installation and knowing what type of oil etc you are using, it is impossible for me to say exactly what happened. If the engine overheated because of a failure of raw water flow through the heat exchanger (thru-hull or impeller or blockage?), it could have caused serious damage. The only way to find out for sure is to check for the cause before removing the engine and taking it apart.
The transmission being in gear had no effect on whatever has happened to the engine. This will affect the cutless bearing and the stuffing box.
