Re: Catastrophic failure? Should I cut my losses???Please help!
I have the exact same motor in a 21 foot Maxum. A few years back I had the same problem with water in cylinders 3 and 4. That summer, I replaced the head gasket and exhaust gasket separately and still had water in the cylinders - not at first running, but by Day 2. Really frustrating. It sounded like a weak battery or bad starter, because the motor would hardly turn over when this happened. Turned out that there was so much water in the cyclinders, they were literally locking (because you can't compress a liquid). In the end, we pulled the power head, replaced both gaskets at the same time, and it's been doing fine ever since. These motors are very heat sensitive, and I'm concerned with the number of times you've mentioned overheating. Does your alarm sound each of these times? The mechanic I rely on for the really serious stuff said that if you run these motors with the temp alarm blaring for more than a minute or two, you're gonna replace the head gasket - even if it looks brand new. I thought he was just cleansing my wallet when I saw the old head gasket still looking spiffy and new, but it obviously wasn't cutting it. Another thing: I have the actual shop manual from Force, and it's a godsend. It makes working on these rigs very straightforward. Anyway, the manual makes serious reference to the need for an absolutely flat cyclinder head. When you lay the head on a piece of thick glass, is there any play at all? The spec was like, if you could insert a piece of paper anywhere between the head and the glass, replace the head. Looking at the pitting on your head, and hearing about the overheating issues, it could be the case that you're not getting the kind of seal that's necessary for a light-cast 2-stroke to be really tight, even with a new head gasket. In answer to your overall question, I think these are great power plants. They're quick for their horsepower, and easy as hell to work on. It's true that parts are getting harder to find, and I'm starting to stockpile things I think will need replacing. In '03 I had the gearcase rebuilt for a nasty $3 grand, and earlier in its life we paid about the same to have the power head rebored etc. Last year, the u-joint housing seized up, and I rebuilt that over the winter for about $900 total. But in between these big repairs, I've had 3-4 years in a row of inexpensive boating. All things considered, I've calculated it costs $1000 a year to run this outfit, and we get a lot of enjoyment for many weekends each summer. You know what BOAT stands for? Break Out Another Thousand! Dollar-for-dollar, I say it's cheaper than golfing (at $50 a round), and my whole family gets to do this with me. My rationale is that fixing this machine is still my most cost-effective solution. But I love hearing everybody trashing the L-drive - means more parts will be coming available as people sell them off! Ha!