1989 43l

are these motors reliable and

are these motors reliable and easy to work on??? They look the same as the motor I had in my 1990 chevy s-10 many many moons ago if they are anything alike will parts work from chevy or no/ jsut a ? cause I just bought a 27' motor yacht with twin 4.3l Mercs and they have 345 hours on them and run great but just for future refference I was curious

"Pretty popular and reliable e

"Pretty popular and reliable engine. How hard they are to work on depends on access, which depends on hull configuration. Example, in my SeaRay hull the sparkplugs and oil filter could not be removed until I took a reciprocating saw to the built-in rear seat frames. Sparkplugs and oil filter had never been changed in two previous trips to dealer for that purpose. I paid for work but it was never done as it still ran smooth and they thought I would never know.

Engine by itself is no worse than any other, but make sure exhaust manifolds get really drained when you winterize, as the cast wall is thin and can readily freeze-crack."

"John...
Engines are similar,

"John...
Engines are similar, yes... the same No. Many parts look like will interchange, and they probably would bolt on ....but

Things like starters and alts will go right on but are not meant to be used in a marine environment. They need to be of a sealed nature to be able to deal with the high humidity levels around the lake and in the bilge. They also need to be sealed as not to spark up and light bilge fumes on fire.
Internal parts as cam shafts have different lifts and durations to put up with different extremes of demand.
An automotive 4.3L can't live it's whole life at about 5000 rpm.

Wrench"

good point wrench and I have t

good point wrench and I have two of the in an engine room with plenty of access to all side except the back of course

John:

I think it was one of

John:

I think it was one of GM's best builds; cut off 2 cyls. from a 350. Mine runs great w/a 2 BBL w/175 HP and easy on the gas. Spark plugs (back 4) are easy to get out while the front on each side need a little swivel head to get out.

I put a remote oil drain on it--easy to do and just hang the end of the hose up high in case the brass plug comes out. Also put a remote oil filter on it--what a bitch of a job even w/the exh. man. off; I was also replacing the exh. man. No offense to anyone--hire a midget or a short mech. w/long arms for the filter job.

I was given a SS 4 connector valve w/1 button to push for all 4 lines used for Wendy's soda drink dispenser cleaning by a friend. Plan on trying to hook it up to the 4 drains for easy block and mans. draining.