Cracked engine block

[usteirich]

We purchased a 97' deck boat with a Yamaha inboard/outdrive engine on it. We put the boat in the shop to have the transom replaced. They had to pull the engine to do this. After replacing the transom the tech called me and said it should be ready in a couple of days. They were going to take my boat out and make sure they checked all the leaks. I also asked them to check the engine and make sure everything worked find before we got it back. His reply was that the engine was in perfect condition, no problems. The next day they called back and said no leaks but that the engine did overheat while they had it out and they needed to put a new waterpump on it. I told them to go ahead and he said eveything else looked great. Called yesterday and said he had bad news....the engine had a crack in it and we needed to replace it. Big $$.
He said he checked the oil when we first brought it in and it was clean. Checked oil yesterday and it had water in it. We took boat out in March and ran engine for 4-5 minutes when we noticed water coming in around the transom. That is when we took it in for repairs and checked oil and said it was clean. If the engine had crack in it prior to taking it in for repair would it not have gotten water in the oil at the time we first took it out? And also would they not have seen the crack when they pulled the eingine to replace transom? Could the engine overheating because of bad water pump cause the engine to crack? We just don't want to get taken and we are afraid that maybe they are trying to take us. Please help.

 

[Navigator_Victory]

Re: Cracked engine block

Second opinion is all I have to offer......sorry for the bad luck....

 

[boat1010]

Re: Cracked engine block

First of all WELCOME. Sorry to hear of your bad luck. I thought stuff like that just happens to me. I will give you my two cents worth. I do believe that the motor could have had a crack in it prior to you getting it. Running it 4-5 min might not have been long enough for the crack in the block to expand enough enough to get water into the oil. The next thing is how much did it over heat? Just enough for them to notice it or did it get very hot. If they let it get very hot then it could have cracked the block then. But if they are reputable and say they noticed it overheating and shut it off then chances are it was cracked before. As far as seeing the crack, probably not. It sounds like it is inside the motor so they couldn't have seen it. Hope this helps you a little.. I know the cost of a new motor. Just had mine replaced last year.

 

[usteirich]

Re: Cracked engine block

Thanks for your reply. The tech told us that he only had the engine on for 1 1/2 min prior to replacing water pump. He said the alarm went off when engine was overheating. He said he noticed water in the oil when he was checking the oil after replacing water pump. I don't know if he was checking oil before we picked the boat up or if he was suspicious that maybe he caused the crack? He said he checked oil when we first brought the boat in and it was clean. Please try to reply to this. Refer back to original post which should be my first one.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Cracked engine block

I suspect you already know this but you bought a boat with some serious issues. Bad transoms and cracked blocks point to serious neglect. Hope you bought it cheap. However, the mechanic had no way to know the block was cracked. He did the transom repair, fired the engine and within a minute or so it was hot. He was mostly right thinking a water pump change was needed but before doing that he should have investigated further. Perhaps he did check the oil and it wasn't milky so went for the pump. That probably cooled sufficiently until the crack opened up allowing water to enter the oil. Not everyone troubleshoots the same way and you need to give the tech a little slack. Look at it this way. You knew nothing about the boat (apparently) and he has had it in his possession only for a transom repair then later during a test run discovers issues. Sort of like a Doctor that gets to see you for 15 minutes and determine what's ailing you. Most of the time they get it right. Sometimes not so much!!!