smoke from the exhaust

Hi Gary and welcome to the forum!   Let's see some pics when you get a chance

But first, what did the smoke look like - i.e. was it really white or with a blue-ish tint? I wouldn't think it would be fogging oil because while it can be fairly thick at first, it dissipates fairly quickly and wouldn't cause any temp issues.   
Second, the stick should have shown something .... the boat would have had to been at a heck of an angle not to register anything but still be within acceptable range. However, if the smoke is oil, then it's getting into the cylinder (s) somehow which could be several issues. While dealer could have shorted the fill or forgot it all together, this in and of itself wouldn't cause the smoking. If they forgot to fill it though, you'd have notice within 60 seconds after starting the engine, seeing as how there would be no lubrication for anything. The high water temp is no doubt caused by high heat which in turn was likely cause by lack of lubrication. Maybe start by pulling the plugs to see if their color/ condition. If you have a compression gauge, I'd check all the cylinders as well. If it was very hot for a while you may have some ring/ valve damage after the fact even if there was still a bit of oil in there.
Also, check your raw water pump to be sure there isn't a problem with the impeller. Again this wouldn't cause an oil burning issue directly, but it could lead to super high temps that could then lead to cylinder scoring, etc.

Thank you for your replies. The boat is at our lake cottage and will be back up this weekend to investigate further. The smoke was more of a white smoke and my first thought was fogging oil, but then I realized that if it were fogging oil it would have dissipated in a matter of a couple minutes. The rubber boots coming from the exhaust manifold were extremely hot, which leads me to believe now that it was water/cooling related. Will keep you posted.

Most likely your impeller went bad or someone closed the thru hull valve for the raw water supply. Get a new impeller as you most likely need a new one, check/replace as needed, Check/fill the oil, ensure thru water valve open, fire up and watch strainer for water flow, look for leaks/melted hoses, drain plugs missing, etc. Hopefully nothing got cooked and you should be OK.

Thank you. I have a call into our boat person.

ski bum wrote: Thank you. I have a call into our boat person.

Gary,
If this is the person who winterizes your boat, ask him if he closes the thru hull valve that CQ mentioned.

Hate to be the guy bucking the trend, but all that speculation about the impeller - whether it turns out to be toast or not - still doesn't explain the 'no oil' in the oil pan. I've had a toasted impeller that caused an overheat issue and I've got some friends that have had the same and while they can get hot enough to melt hoses, rubber & the like, I have yet to hear of one that will start burning away the oil, especially to the point of draining the pan.   I'm still thinking there has to be more to the solution than an impeller or closed valve.

If it was the raw water impeller failing the lack of cooling water in the exhaust will cause the exhaust tubes to collapse. This is a design feature to shut the boat down in a overheat situation. Once they collapse they are toast and need to be replaced.   I hope yours are OK as they are expensive hoses.   Hope the engine is OK.
White smoke is normally steam.   If it runs with no oil the engine starts making very bad sounds very quickly. Rattles, then tapping then knocking. All very bad noises from an engine.

Fresh oil can be hard to see on the dipstick, but of course check it again when you're calm and nothing is going wrong...

What boats have the "thru hull valve" mentioned above?

Duane in Indy wrote: Kinda looks like my stupid post a couple of years ago about having a water pressure gauge is not so stupid now. Lose of water pressure is the FIRST thing that indicates disaster. Nearly all bass boats have them. Yes, I realize they are outboards but a toasted engine is still expensive inboard or outboard.    [IMG]smileys/smiley5.gif" align="middle[/IMabout G]

I've thought installing a water pressure gauge as Duane mentioned. I had one in my old outboard barefoot style boat and it was very useful.

JQ

I think a water pressure gauge would, in fact, be one more means of assessing the normal operation of all systems. The more important thing learned from all of this, as was posted earlier, is to put a complete checklist in place, and visible on the boat at all times.

Hollywood wrote: A temperate gauge will, in fact, avoid severe overheats as you experienced. The problem with gauges is someone has to look at them once and a while.

The same would be true for a pressure gauge.