1992 Mercruiser 3.0L Crack under manifold and milky oil - Replace motor?

[jerrybossard]

Hello Boating Fans!

I have a 1992 SeaRay 180 with a Mercruiser 3.0L SN: 0D607011. I have a crack in the block under the manifold (water leaks out) and milky looking oil (oil changed during winterization and only has been test run with water ears running for about 5 minutes).

I'm looking to replace the motor (hopefully without changing the outdrive), but I was curious to know if I have to stay within the 1990-1994 3.0L or 1990-1995LX years because of my outdrive? I've found a couple of motors on craigslist and ebay, but some are pre-1990's and some are newer than 1995. Can I drop a 1996-1999 Mercruiser 3.0L/LX in the boat without changing the outdrive? I'm 99% sure the fly wheel is 12.5" so anything after 1999 would require additional work/modifications to the boat and outdrive change?

Any help or pointing me to another thread with the answer would be great.

All the best,

Jerry

 

[jerrybossard]

Re: 1992 Mercruiser 3.0L Crack under manifold and milky oil - Replace motor?

I've found some late 1980's motors that are fully dressed in good condition. Can I replace my 1991 3.0L with one of them?

Thanks,

Jerry

 

[Bondo]

Re: 1992 Mercruiser 3.0L Crack under manifold and milky oil - Replace motor?

I've found some late 1980's motors that are fully dressed in good condition. Can I replace my 1991 3.0L with one of them?

Thanks,

Jerry

Ayuh,.... Basically, Yes, any vintage 3.0l motor can be adapted to fit yer application...

 

[jerrybossard]

Re: 1992 Mercruiser 3.0L Crack under manifold and milky oil - Replace motor?

What would I need to adapt to make a 1985 3.0 motor fit?

Thanks.

Jerry

 

[Bondo]

Re: 1992 Mercruiser 3.0L Crack under manifold and milky oil - Replace motor?

What would I need to adapt to make a 1985 3.0 motor fit?

Thanks.

Jerry

Ayuh,... It's own Flywheel... The bolt pattern on the crankshaft changed in 1990...

 

[jerrybossard]

Re: 1992 Mercruiser 3.0L Crack under manifold and milky oil - Replace motor?

Ok. If I found a boat with a late 1980's 3.0L motor in it, but the boat is trashed would I be able to mix and match to make it work in my 1992 Sea Ray?

Thanks for all your help,

Jerry

 

[Bondo]

Re: 1992 Mercruiser 3.0L Crack under manifold and milky oil - Replace motor?

Ok. If I found a boat with a late 1980's 3.0L motor in it, but the boat is trashed would I be able to mix and match to make it work in my 1992 Sea Ray?

Thanks for all your help,

Jerry

Ayuh,... Should be able too....

 

[jerrybossard]

Re: 1992 Mercruiser 3.0L Crack under manifold and milky oil - Replace motor?

Ok. That sounds like good news. I'm assuming my outdrive should fit the motor?

Thanks,

Jerry

 

[Howard Sterndrive]

Re: 1992 Mercruiser 3.0L Crack under manifold and milky oil - Replace motor?

the outdrive doesn't 'fit the motor' per se, because it attaches to the rear of the transom/gimbal system.
the engine attaches to the front of the transom housing part of the drivetrain

so there's no issue there - the outdrive will mount back on the same gimbal it's on today - nothing will change outside the hull

you do have to remove the outdrive to swap engines, but the driveshaft will slide back into the coupler on any 3.0 from about 1973 to present just fine.

you'll need an alignment bar for aligning the new engine to the gimbal housing.

 

[jerrybossard]

Re: 1992 Mercruiser 3.0L Crack under manifold and milky oil - Replace motor?

That's great news! Thanks for that answer. I have the alignment tool, so that's not a problem..

So, what if I want to be crazy and put a V6 4.3 instead of a 3.0? Would I need to change the transom/gimbal system and/or change the outdrive?

Thanks,

Jerry

 

[Bondo]

Re: 1992 Mercruiser 3.0L Crack under manifold and milky oil - Replace motor?

That's great news! Thanks for that answer. I have the alignment tool, so that's not a problem..

So, what if I want to be crazy and put a V6 4.3 instead of a 3.0? Would I need to change the transom/gimbal system and/or change the outdrive?

Thanks,

Jerry

Ayuh,..... ALL of it....

 

[jerrybossard]

Re: 1992 Mercruiser 3.0L Crack under manifold and milky oil - Replace motor?

Ok. That solves it! I'll stick with replacing the 3.0 with another 3.0 or 120 or 140 from 1980 to present.

Thanks everyone for all your assistance with this! Greatly appreciated. Now I can give my wife an answer so we can get back on the water. "A happy wife is a happy life!"

Jerry

 

[Howard Sterndrive]

Re: 1992 Mercruiser 3.0L Crack under manifold and milky oil - Replace motor?

I replaced my 1991 3.0 with a V6 (3.8L/4V, not 4.3). I used the same transom/gimbal assembly. I replaced the drive with an SEI unit of proper gear ratio (1.81) and bought a new Y pipe off eBay (along with some nice new dry joint 4.3 manifolds).
I made my own front steel mount pads and lagged them to the stringers.

I did it as a project. not a quick way back to the lake by any means.

I didn't want the 4.3 because I
a) couldn't find one without power steering and I didn't want to mess around adding p/s.
b) had a free 3.8

 

[jerrybossard]

Re: 1992 Mercruiser 3.0L Crack under manifold and milky oil - Replace motor?

So, what if I want to be crazy and put a V6 4.3 instead of a 3.0? Would I need to change the transom/gimbal system and/or change the outdrive?

Ayuh,..... ALL of it....

So back to Bond-o's point about changing all of it... I found a boat on craigslist 1988 with a rotton transom but a good working V6 4.3 with a good working lower unit that was rebuilt last spring.

With that said... would I be able to pull everything out of my 1992 SeaRay (motor, lower unit and transom) and be able to put in/on everything from the other trashed boat? Would the transom bolt on the boat the same way? Obviously I would probably need to figure out a way to support the motor on the inside, but are there any other reasons why this would not work or be a bad idea?

Thanks,

Jerry

 

[Howard Sterndrive]

Re: 1992 Mercruiser 3.0L Crack under manifold and milky oil - Replace motor?

yes, but easier to stay post 1991 (Gen II Alpha)

pita ripping out the transom plate and gimbal etc. as well as power trim ..if not necessary

 

[jerrybossard]

Re: 1992 Mercruiser 3.0L Crack under manifold and milky oil - Replace motor?

yes, but easier to stay post 1991 (Gen II Alpha)

pita ripping out the transom plate and gimbal etc. as well as power trim ..if not necessary

Ah... ok. I'd rather not touch the transom plate.

What year was the 3.8L/4V?

Thanks.

Jerry

 

[Howard Sterndrive]

Re: 1992 Mercruiser 3.0L Crack under manifold and milky oil - Replace motor?

haha.. good question...1984

but I left the transom assembly alone and bought a gen II drive, as well as gen II Y pipe and manifolds, and you could do the same with that 1988. But you can not use the supposedly "good lower unit" from the 88 on you 1992 transom assembly.

so my drivetrain is 1984 in front of the y pipe, and 1991 from the Y pipe to the propeller

and I only did it that way because the engine was free.
If I was shopping, I'd look for 1992-2012 engines, and either figure out how to ditch the p/s pump on the engine or add p/s to the boat. (some 3.0's had p/s)

 

[jerrybossard]

Re: 1992 Mercruiser 3.0L Crack under manifold and milky oil - Replace motor?

If I was shopping, I'd look for 1992-2012 engines, and either figure out how to ditch the p/s pump on the engine or add p/s to the boat. (some 3.0's had p/s)

Any reason why I could not just drop a 1985 3.0 140 hp in? I have found two (one on craigslist and one on ebay). My engine is a 1991 (found out from Mercury with serial number) and it is not an LX so I'm not sure about the p/s (I'm assuming it is not p/s). I'll need to check that.

Thanks,

Jerry

 

[Howard Sterndrive]

Re: 1992 Mercruiser 3.0L Crack under manifold and milky oil - Replace motor?

Any reason why I could not just drop a 1985 3.0 140 hp in?

none that I can think of, as long as if has the flywheel on it

 

[jerrybossard]

Re: 1992 Mercruiser 3.0L Crack under manifold and milky oil - Replace motor?

Ok. Thanks again for your assistance.