Repairing 4.3 GXi with SX-M

[lonewolf41]

I bought a 2006 Regal with a 4.3GXi-F and an SX-M. I knew when I bought it the engine needed work...possibly replacement. I got it home and began looking at it and it needs replacement. It was used in salt water and has been sitting in salt air (Florida) for quite a while it looks like. At least 3 cylinders had water/rust in them. Couple of questions. For the outdrive (which has a coating on it and looks good), is there anything I need to do to it besides change the gear oil? If it looks good and can pass the vacuum and pressure tests, can I just fill it up and motor on? I will of course be replacing gimbal bearing, bellows, etc, while I have the drive and motor off the boat.

Secondly, since I have to spend at least $2500 to get my motor going again (longblock, risers, manifolds and other misc. parts), I found a 5.0GXi-B complete for $3000. For a few hundred more I could upgrade with more power and be ready to go with less effort I think. I have about 8"-10" of clearance in front of the motor now and it looks like the engine mounting pads have about 7" more room in front of the current mounts. I am thinking it would be plug and play with new motor mount holes in the stringer. Anything vital/critical I am missing with this line of thought?

Lastly, why do they run raw water through the fuel pump? That is just one more thing to get eaten up by the salt water and have to replace. I don't know how the guys in Florida do it. I can barely keep my stuff going in fresh water.

Anyway, thanks for any feedback/suggestions,
-Keith

 

[Bondo]

I found a 5.0GXi-B complete for $3000.
Anything vital/critical I am missing with this line of thought?

Ayuh,.... I believe you'll find the V8 requires a different, taller gear ratio in the drive,....

 

[lonewolf41]

No Title

He has the drive unit too so I may see what his ratio is and/or see how much they want for it as well. Mine is a 1.66. I think 1.60 is common for the 5.0 so I may not be too far off. What about my drive unit? The splines and bellows looked good. The gimbal bearing was very smooth so I don't think there has been any water up there. The input shaft and prop all turned easily and there wasn't any grinding noises, just normal gear sounds.

I did drain the oil and it looked brand new. In fact it sot of made me nervous that someone just changed it to make it look good. When draining, there was a slight trail of brown in the oil (see attached pictures). Wondered if it was some rust residue draining out with the oil. If it passes a vacuum and pressure test, is it good to go? Do I need to take anything apart to check? Not sure where to go from here. Thoughts?

Thanks.

 

[lonewolf41]

No Title

Try a better picture of the one.

 

[Augoose]

Every year when I drain my gear oil it looks as new as the day I put it in - and that's after about 75 hours of running per summer. My 5.0 has the 1.60 gears I believe as well. As for the brown trail, by chance did you run your finger through it and feel for any grit? How did the drain screws look? Any mush or metal flakes? How are the u-joints - nice and smooth? How do the threads of the shafts look? If all of those areas check out and the drive passes a pressure test I think you are safe to assume it was taken care of and is good to go.

 

[lonewolf41]

I did not feel the stream for grit or anything. The screws looked fine . A minute amount of black smutz, but no large scale metal chunks or flakes. The u-joints look good. No rust and feel smooth. Not sure what threads you are talking about.

Thanks.