well my motor is shot!!

[Kitt82]

Hi guys Im in desperate need of advice!! I bought an older boat with a merc 150 from a guy 2 months ago and it has blown up on me. My mechanic said it had a blown head gasket and got water in the motor. Where do I go from here??? Is a new power head the way to go or a used motor??

 

[Faztbullet]

Re: well my motor is shot!!

Rebuild or replacment depended on damage............

 

[Kitt82]

Re: well my motor is shot!!

Where would be the best place to search for "new" engine?

 

[grandpaclint]

Re: well my motor is shot!!

Where would be the best place to search for "new" engine?

your friendly neighborhood-over priced outboard motor dealer

 

[SeaKaye12]

Re: well my motor is shot!!

What exactly happened? Did it throw a rod? When people say that their engine "blew up"; it can mean most anything.

Maybe it's not as bad as you think?

Chuck

 

[j_martin]

Re: well my motor is shot!!

You need to learn a lesson from this. There's no way you ran with a blown head gasket without symptoms. At that point you were looking at head gaskets, maybe a used head, depending on what went wrong, and probably catching up on preventative maintenance, like a water pump impeller.

Now yer in the market for an engine.

These engines run reliably on the hairy edge of destruction all the time. At the rate they burn fuel, they will live for seconds with a cooling failure, and similar time with oiling failure. they will fairly quickly melt down with a "minor" fuel problem. They are engineered with a bit of margin, like phat fuel mixture for instance, but if you run them over the edge, they will grenade.

The lesson. Maintenance is cheaper than breakdowns.

 

[Kitt82]

Re: well my motor is shot!!

I have only had boat for 2 months so I cant tell you how it was running before that. On test drive ran fairly well just "needed carbs cleaned" Im not a mechanic and unfornutantly took the guys word for it. Found a vac line off ran fine for 3 trips out then it wouldnt power at all. Took to local shop and thats when he told me about head gasket and the damage.

 

[SeaKaye12]

Re: well my motor is shot!!

What sort of damage was done exactly?

You must have a V6; eh? The old(er) inlines don't really have head gaskets; just water jackets.

What symptoms did you (or should you) notice? With a blown head gasket I would expect to have low compression in the affected cylinders. I guess water got in and hydro-locked somehow?

Lets all learn as much as we can from your misfortune. Thanks for sharing.

Chuck

 

[Kitt82]

Re: well my motor is shot!!

Like I said I only took it out like 5 times and had a vac line off for 2 so it was running terrible but I was thinking it was carbs needing cleaning I found that before taking to the shop. Ran fine the next 3 times but then all of a sudden I it didnt have any power. Im so not a mechanic so I took it to local shop and he called me back with the bad news. I havent even gone to pick it up yet to see just how bad it is. Its a shame people are not honest anymore. I only got the boat to spend more time with my son....

 

[convergent]

Re: well my motor is shot!!

Well you could certainly get a second opinion. I think I would do that for something this big. Around here there are a lot of boat mechanics that are mobile and will come to you. If you get someone like that, then you can be there when they look at it and hopefully they can explain things to you.

 

[sschefer]

Re: well my motor is shot!!

Kitt82 - If you trust the mechanic you took it to then he's the one to stick with. He should be able to get you a remanufactured powerhead and install it. You can plan on that costing you in the neighborhood of 1/3 the price of a new motor.

You should first have your mechanic evaluate the entire engine assembly including the trim/tilt and lower unit. If everything checks out then I would replace the powerhead and be back boating with your son before the season runs out.

If the entire motor is on it's last leg then you can find some really good deals on lightly used motors here on iBoats. If you have the money and plan on keeping this boat for a long time then just go with a new motor with a warranty.

 

[Kitt82]

Re: well my motor is shot!!

I really appreciate all the help guys. I really dont know what Im going to do. I will know more Friday when I pick the boat up and talk to the guy.

 

[Kitt82]

Re: well my motor is shot!!

Oh yeah J_martin you should really learn a lesson about being a smart (well you know the rest). I just asked for help didnt need the preaching!

 

[Wingedwheel]

Re: well my motor is shot!!

Kitt82, Don't be offended by John, he means well and has a wealth of knowledge. Just read between the lines and take his advice for the value. Like everyone on here, its free. We all know the frustration having a problem can cause. Thats what brought us all here in the first place.

 

[chum1]

Re: well my motor is shot!!

I'll second that motion!

 

[Barnacle_Bill]

Re: well my motor is shot!!

Why don't you do a little trouble shooting yourself? First thing is do a compression check. Its easy to do and you can borrow a guage at your local Advance Auto. If compression is good check for a strong spark at all plugs. You get the idea? At least do the compression check. If it does have a blown head gasket the check will show it.

 

[j_martin]

Re: well my motor is shot!!

Why don't you do a little trouble shooting yourself? First thing is do a compression check. Its easy to do and you can borrow a guage at your local Advance Auto. If compression is good check for a strong spark at all plugs. You get the idea? At least do the compression check. If it does have a blown head gasket the check will show it.

And at that point you can take the head off and take a look. You'd be surprised how tough these things can be.

Sorry yer offended. If you hang around here till yer skin toughens up a bit, you can learn a whole lot from about a gazillion man years of experience on your motor.