70 merc melt down!!!!! :(

[Barry&Lori]

well I got my boat out in the water finally after fixing the one carb that was gummed up! the girl got up to 32mph yahoo I said this is just great. went around the lake and was making my way back to the wharf, and got 3/4 on a mile away and herd a ticking sound and then the motor died. huh I said.. tried to start it and no go .. well to make a long storie short I melted the top piston... took it into the merc dealer to find out what happend and how much this was going to cost.. well it seem to be not that bad. the piston is gone and the cylinder walls were not damaged... so my Question is what caused this and does a 1000.00 buck sound to much to fix this or is that a good deal... signed one sad boater

 

[kevlar3000]

Re: 70 merc melt down!!!!!

Hmmm,<br /><br />That just happened to me last Wed. There is a fantastic post on glassicglastron.com Go to the message board, you will have to go to<br />the next set of posts on it but he had great<br />perspective on rebuild vs used, the post is titled Mercury L6 info, or something similiar<br />to that. It is helping me thru my thinking...<br /><br />Sorry to hear about the engine.

 

[thirdm]

Re: 70 merc melt down!!!!!

barry&lori,<br /><br />i am going thru the same thing w/my truck. it is not that difficult of a job (technically). however, you have to have a lot of tools, and a fairly good bit of knowledge of engines. about the only way you could save money at this point in time would be to remove the motor yourself and take it to an engine rebuilder to have it rebuilt (which you might as well do if you have piston damage - your block is damaged & there is a chance your head(s) are too. anyway, i just spent $900 and some change getting a "head job" on my truck - i had it for approximately 36 hours before i realized that the smoke out of my exhaust wasn't going away. looks like i am renting a car this weekend! $1000 sounds fair to me just because of the labor (time) involved in getting to and repairing piston damage. by the way, if you did take the engine to have it rebuilt... look @ spending anywhere from $1000-$2500 depending on where you are and who you go to. if anyone wants to dispute this i have absolutely no problem with that. .....just my opinion<br /><br />mason