engine repair costs

[sherman51]

I had my old 305 228 hp engine replaced at Michigan motorz with a 350 vortec 315 hp engine back in 07 and its still going strong. these are new marine engines and are worth the money over a rebuild job in most cases.

[rodnut]

Maybe I can help you. My profession is engine rebuilding. I have a complete machine shop locally. That's all we do. We specialize in gas and heavy diesel of all kinds....Passenger car, industrial, off road, marine, etc. 419.350.5455
Tom

[wakina]

Jim
The vast majority of marine engines are based on either Ford or GM long block engines, the same blocks found in automotive applications. The Volvo, OMC(and their replacements), and Mercrusiers are mostly Gm Based engines. They are typically just a regular automotive block that has been what most identify as marinized. The main difference is the use of brass in the water jackets in areas such as soft plugs and a high efficiency oil pump. The upper engine is where there are major changes made to make the engines suitable for marine use. Heads(sometimes), camshafts, intake manifolds and fuel delivery systems are the main areas that are changed to produce the the needed HP and Torque for the marine engine and the electrical systems, mainly the starters and alternators as they have to be USCG approve for spark containment. Here is a site that I have used for three different engine replacements both new and re-manufactured, I have never had a problem with any of the engines that I have purchased there. Sometimes it is easier and more cost effective to replace than to repair.

http://www.michiganmotorz.com/

On Edit: I have seen engines go on as little as 200hrs and as much as 6000+hrs. As an owner you can only do so much to prolong the life of your boats engine! Following the recommended maintenance schedules and allowing for extra time to get to where you are going does wonders in the longevity of your engine, so many people run their boats a WOT, change oil and filters on an irregular basis and then wonder why they have engine problems after a few hundred hours of use.

[branhamautomotive]

Mass produced reman engines with a few year warranty are always attractive. I though prefer to have a good reputation machine shop build. It's nice to know and actually talk to the ppl doing the work. Plus they are again not u singing the lowest cost parts they can get ahold of. Not saying all are that way but to many a penny saved us a penny earned. But that being said spending a few extra bucks on good bolts and better pistons goes a long way in the way a motor last too. You can run the correct way, do all the proper maintenence but if built with substandard cheap parts from over seas benders problem will most likely be close behind.

If rebuilding, good arp bolts, not bottom dollar piston, quality oil pumps and bearingand rings and even switching to roller cam lifters adds some money to build, but if only doing once as compared to twice starta to figure in the extra 750 or so bucks is alot cheaper than another build a few years later.

Good quality machine work is just as important too. There is a big differance in a motor balanced to 2 to 3 grams as compared to 20 to 25 like some of these mass producers do

[wakina]

All very good points!

Had one rebuilt several years ago and after tearing down and the baking(cleaning) the shop found a crack in the block in a bad area, I ended up with the cost of the original tear down and the cleaning and still had the cost of another block on top of that plus magnifluxing the second block and the actual cost of parts and labor to assemble.

On the last engine I replaced it was hard to not to look at the cost of a brand new GM engine(long block) with roller cam and lifters manufactured by the GM Marine engine division which cost $2699.00 3 years ago, I also drove to the business and picked up myself so no shipping costs were incurred! I did the switching of the parts from my old engine to the new engine myself so there were no costs involved there except for new bolts for intake and flywheel.

That engine is still running strong! Then again I did not have the option to rebuild as a head and the block were both destroyed between the #3 and #5 cylinders. It had burnt (melted) a channel in both the head and the block.

[ebijack]

Some charter boats would have their eng's rebuild/gone thru around the 2500hr mark. Having multi charter boats, this helps spread out maintance/replacement instead of having more than one boat/yr down and costs involved. This also helped reduce chances of an engine failure while on a charter and having pissed off customers and having to be towed in. Just as insurance so to speak. Also this was on carburetor engines. Carb engines run ALOT richer than injected ( at some load points more than triple of an injected engine), the excess fuel gets past the rings, washing down the cyl block walls, dilutes the oil, which increases internal bearing, cam wear dramatically. Just compare average engine life on older carbureted engines vs todays tightly fuel controlled injected engines. Your spark plugs, dist. cap/rotor, appearance of the oil on your dipstick can tell quite a story. Along with oil pressure readings, vacuum gauge, engine performance etc.

[pimplepounder]

Ditto's on everything ebijack said. When sequential fuel injection came about, the efficiency on engines went way up as did wera and tear. We have to reply a lot more on software and electronics, but this is how just about everything works today. I never thought about having more than one boat. That would be a problem for business if you had down time and had a lot of clients booked.

[branhamautomotive]

Sometimes there is no choice but to replace. But it pays to way all the options outs for sure. It is always nice to save a few bucks by being able to fix things yourself or with friends. Plus the pride in knowing g you did it. There is no way to know what way is best, though sometimes the condition of the parts in hand dictate which way we go.

A good used motor is another way to save money, if you can find one. Over the last 15 years I have put hundreds in cars and only had small number less than 10 ever be bad when I put them in. So less than 1%.

But no need to do any if his motor still has good life in it. Cause no way around, reman, rebuilt, used it's a large bill to get it back up and going.

Jim if you have any questions about checking the condition of yours out just pm me and I will do what I can to help you check it out

[jiginitis69]

My Mechanic. Recommends Wolfs Head oil. I have Chevy 454's and he believes 100% on Wolfs Head. FYI

Sometimes there is no choice but to replace. But it pays to way all the options outs for sure. It is always nice to save a few bucks by being able to fix things yourself or with friends. Plus the pride in knowing g you did it. There is no way to know what way is best, though sometimes the condition of the parts in hand dictate which way we go.

A good used motor is another way to save money, if you can find one. Over the last 15 years I have put hundreds in cars and only had small number less than 10 ever be bad when I put them in. So less than 1%.

But no need to do any if his motor still has good life in it. Cause no way around, reman, rebuilt, used it's a large bill to get it back up and going.

Jim if you have any questions about checking the condition of yours out just pm me and I will do what I can to help you check it out

[branhamautomotive]

More hp does not have to come at the expense of higher compression of more fuel. You just have to use what you have most effectly. Alot of tines there is more fuel due to bad adjustments, thst us not being burnt or wasted. Doing things to make the motor more efficient makes my hp without adding more compression or heat. In fact burning all the fuel the correct way will actually decrease temps. Things like correct cans having enough lift and duration matched to head flow. Heads thst flow better or actually have more velocity will mix the air fuel better making more hp. You can add 20 to 50 hp to most 260hp 5.7s and not have to touch pistons. Alot of time 205hp can be gained in just carb and intake. Another 20 to 30 easy with heads and valve work done correctly. Nothing about cam and pistons changed. And carbs can be set up to be quite effenent. But they take work and adjustments where fi just does all that for you