G-Daddy
Petty Officer 2nd Class
- Joined
- May 3, 2002
- Messages
- 197
Here are the details: Boat is a 1998 Sportcraft 252. Engine is a Mercruiser 350 MAG MPI. Serial Number is OL003715. Straight inboard with a Velvet Drive transmission. Boat was used in July/August on Lake Ontario and ran well when we put her back on the trailer and brought her home. Next time she was dunked was day after Thanksgiving on the Chesapeake. Going out of Crisfield to the Bay, we could only get her up to 2500 RPM and she would bog. Did some testing on the fuel system like checking fuel filter - clear fuel with no water or junk. Sprayed some gum cleaner in the spark arrestor at speed and it really bogged down the engine. Tried a remote fuel tank and same results as off our built in tanks. During the testing the condition gradually worsened and at the end we could only get up to 2200 RPM. Took the boat to a Mercruiser dealer and they tested it and said they believe it is a water problem - probably leaking from the exhaust manifold/elbow joint.
Their recommendation is to pull the enigine and run it on a test stand to fully diagnose the issue. Also suggested it might be time to replace the engine. When we bought the boat it was supposed to have a new engine that only had 500 hrs on it. Evidence indicates that if a replacement was done that it was a short block - not an entire engine replacemnt. We have put about 200 hours on her in the two years we have run her.
Cost estimates are $3500 - $4000 to pull the engine, test it, replace manifolds and elbows and reinstall the engine. Of course any othe rproblems they uncover would involve additional cost. Alternate is to replace the engine with a drop in full factory replacement engine. The new engine would be like the old engine except dry exhaust joints and a fuel cooler up on the engine rather than below it. Cost for replacement is around $9600.
Thoughts?
Their recommendation is to pull the enigine and run it on a test stand to fully diagnose the issue. Also suggested it might be time to replace the engine. When we bought the boat it was supposed to have a new engine that only had 500 hrs on it. Evidence indicates that if a replacement was done that it was a short block - not an entire engine replacemnt. We have put about 200 hours on her in the two years we have run her.
Cost estimates are $3500 - $4000 to pull the engine, test it, replace manifolds and elbows and reinstall the engine. Of course any othe rproblems they uncover would involve additional cost. Alternate is to replace the engine with a drop in full factory replacement engine. The new engine would be like the old engine except dry exhaust joints and a fuel cooler up on the engine rather than below it. Cost for replacement is around $9600.
Thoughts?