4.3L engine ID and year?

[Caddy_Kid]

I bought an '87 Sea Ray with a new to the boat 4.3L Vortec engine.

I would like to be able to get some numbers off of the engine and do my own research and see if I can corroborate the story and know for sure what the heck it is. That being said, I don't know where to find the numbers on the block that I need, nor how to read them when I do. On my 454 in the jet boat it was easy to find all of that, but this one seems to be a bit tougher. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[thumpar]

EFI was rare in boats until the 2000's. Even today the 3.0l can come with a carb if it is old stock. What exactly are you looking for? Without a Mercruiser serial number you might have to piece it together.

 

[achris]

Heads and block have a casting number, usually 8 digits. The block one is on the back of the flywheel housing flange, and the head numbers are under the valve covers. Once you have those numbers, just use the web-thing and do a search, plenty of good information. There is a site called hotsixes, that has the full history of the GM V6, including casting numbers and years. It's a good read, and very informative.

HTH,

Chris........

 

[Caddy_Kid]

My goal is to figure out the year of the engine and if possible what it is as far as a commercial/industrial engine, truck engine, car engine, etc. I know when I researched the block and head numbers on my 454 it was able to give me all of that good stuff, so I'm hoping I can get the same for this one, since I don't have first hand knowledge of the engines history and pedigree.

I'll have to check out the hotsixes site and see what I can get from it. With any luck the engine numbers wont be too buried, will try to get a look for them this week. Thanks!

 

[Fun Times]

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...vnYjLYIojYw8E8HP2rAF56Q&bvm=bv.71667212,d.cGU

 

[Bondo]

I bought an '87 Sea Ray Pachanga 19 with a new to the boat 4.3L Vortec engine. The seller was a marine mechanic at a local boat shop that bought it on the cheap because it was missing the engine. Apparently he bought the engine in it now from a guy that was going to put it in a rock crawler (but never did) and he in turn got it out of a 2011 propane fueled forklift. Runs like a champ with no lifter noise or anything funny, so seems to be in decent shape. It is not fuel injected and does have 2-bbl carb, so the carb intake rather than EFI might make sense with the propane forklift story.

I would like to be able to get some numbers off of the engine and do my own research and see if I can corroborate the story and know for sure what the heck it is. That being said, I don't know where to find the numbers on the block that I need, nor how to read them when I do. On my 454 in the jet boat it was easy to find all of that, but this one seems to be a bit tougher. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Ayuh,.... Have ya found Any ID tags, anywhere,..??
Any names on anything,..??

Post some pictures,....

 

[Caddy_Kid]

I just got home from work and checked it out and here is what I found at a glance:

On the Port side this is STAMPED into the block by the bell-housing:
4.3L 61911

Since its stamped rather than cast, I'm not sure if this is a date code or just another GM code.

On the Starboard side CAST into the block by the bell-housing is:
GM 4.3LG
12600234

It looks to me like I would need to remove the exhaust manifold to get the valve covers off to check the head numbers, but the valve-covers themselves do say VORTEC on them, for whatever that's worth.

When looking around, I did notice that the crank position sensor was on it, but with the wires cut. So perhaps it hasn't been a carbureted motor for all that long.

 

[achris]

2006-08 Vortec engine block.

 

[Caddy_Kid]

Well nuts, guess it isn't a 2011. But at least it is still in the 2000's I guess. I did remove the oil fill and was able to see that it does have roller rocker heads, so that's a plus at least. Thanks!