2002 5.0 vs 2003 5.0 Mercruisers

[Maxxthedog]

I am looking at two Sea Rays.
One is a 2002 5.0 with 260 HP the other is 2003 5.0 with 220 HP.
They are both in 20' bowriders.
Obviously I would want more HP, but what is the real difference between these two engines? How do they get the extra HP, different pistons or stroke?
Any repair issues with either of these. Both engines have about the same house and both have Alpha 1's.
Thanks.

 

[jkust]

Re: 2002 5.0 vs 2003 5.0 Mercruisers

The 220 has a carb and the other MPI.

 

[Maxxthedog]

Re: 2002 5.0 vs 2003 5.0 Mercruisers

And the MPI is much more worth it then Carbed I'm assuming?

 

[krisnowicki]

Re: 2002 5.0 vs 2003 5.0 Mercruisers

carb is simpler to work on when something breaks and is less expesnive to fix. The MPI will break less but cost alot more when it does.

 

[jkust]

Re: 2002 5.0 vs 2003 5.0 Mercruisers

And the MPI is much more worth it then Carbed I'm assuming?

The MPI would have been a relatively expensive upgrade over the carb. Common sense says carbs shouldn't even exist anymore but the reality is they do. I would prefer an MPI every day but some suprisingly prefer carbs since you can modify them.

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: 2002 5.0 vs 2003 5.0 Mercruisers

but what is the real difference between these two engines? How do they get the extra HP, different pistons or stroke?

The bore and stroke on the motors are exactly the same, they are both 5.0s after all. (3.74" bore x 3.48" stroke, btw)
They get the extra HP in the 260hp model with the camshaft and the intake manifold.

MPI is absolutely worth the extra over the carburetor, in my opinion. Not to mention the extra 40 horses!

And don't worry, MPIs don't usually go bad for no reason, and very rarely does more than one component at a time fail. A sensor here, a bad injector there. But GM MPI technology has been around since the mid 1980's and it's pretty good.

 

[180shabah]

Re: 2002 5.0 vs 2003 5.0 Mercruisers

Which boat do you like better?
Which one is in better condition?

 

[Commissionpoint]

Re: 2002 5.0 vs 2003 5.0 Mercruisers

I have the 5.0 MPI in my Sea Swirl, I love it. It makes the same HP as the 5.7 in my old Sea Ray Monaco (1987) and burns less gas doing it. I love the starting reliability of the MPI system too. Start-up is lightning fast and no pumping the throttle or any of that jazz. It sure is a whole lot simpler than the ritual I have to go through to get the 318's in the Trojan to light up. In the future I think I will be sticking with the multi-port when I get the choice to.

 

[Maxxthedog]

Re: 2002 5.0 vs 2003 5.0 Mercruisers

Thanks All,

I'm going to look at the boats this Sunday in person (I saw them on line) to check the condition.
I do not think I'll have enough time to get them on the water, but plan to before I make a purchase.

 

[MikDee]

Re: 2002 5.0 vs 2003 5.0 Mercruisers

I was thinking that maybe the difference in HP was due to one of the engines having vortec heads, & a hotter cam.

 

[180shabah]

Re: 2002 5.0 vs 2003 5.0 Mercruisers

Same heads on both, the big part of the difference comes from the better flow of the intake manifold on the MPI.