57 ltr muliproblem alpha

"hello boaters,
I own a 1996

"hello boaters,
I own a 1996 maxxum 2300sr, purchesed it 2 seasons ago from a dealership and have had nothing but trouble since.....forget warenties ans questions like that, their all out. I got about 4 hrs on the original motor and it shreded a piston [yes first engine] pulled it apart found a piston all over the motor an let it sit for the winter. bought a brand new 5.7 ltr crate from Michigan marine [engine supplier] and put it in myself. i didnt like the way she was running so i took her to a marina and had them go through all the fine tuning. long story short and a whole lot of he said she said, they left the engine housing open and the carb cover off over the weekend in a 4 inch rain and the brand new motor hydrolocked.......i replaced the rod and new gasket set from the engine maufacture [only did the rod because the motor had less than 1 hour on it under 2000 rpm] then this motor craps the bed ....getting water in the oil ...multiple gasket sets later and she's sitting at another marine mech still getting water in the oil and ignition trashed ....we have checked it for cracks and such finding no obvious damage ...question is, do i rebuild the original motor, do i rebuild this motor, do i buy yet another motor ? I just want to boat and im getting frustrated with 4000 different opinions on what to do about this, the cost of marine motors and repair is considerable as you all know , thanks - PS even with all the trouble I wouldntr trade boating for anything and have a couple other boats in the family that we use but this is my baby and frankly the nicest one in the fam,lol"

"Al:
Get thee to an attorney

"Al:
Get thee to an attorney quickly. I am not an attorney, but it sounds like the DA that left it uncovered owes you an engine.
Guy"

"guy,
almost a year has go

"guy,
almost a year has gone by and at the time he told me my exhaust baffles were bad and it "flooded" by wakes coming in as it set in the slip ....now you and I both know this is BS ...my only solstice in this matter is that I know of 5 good customers of his that have left because of this....... im thinking the head gaskets are the main issue now and of course the ignition....i have put a brand new mallory and a new MSD distributer in there the MSD was factory bad and they replaced it with the mallory and the mallory didnt handle the timeing curve correctly ...so at the end of this last season we were messing around with different merc distributers and ignitions and the last time the mechanic tested her she ran but not well and he found water in the oil again ....she was drained and shrink wrapped and there she sets ...im just trying to get a clear head and maybe a jump on repair but really dont know where to start...im almost tempted to pull out the motor and take it to a local speed shop and say call me when its right ......but i get nervous about car mentality and marine mentality crossing up....thank you for your response, Al


I Absolutley trust this Mechanic and he has done a lot of work for no more than he's charged me..... [he gained 3 of the 5 that left the "DA" that trashed my motor, lol - - but although he's a great guy i can't expect him to fix it for nothing and i dont want to throw money at it ignorantly ....make sense?"

"Al:
After reading your thre

"Al:
After reading your thread, the engine that was hydrolock probably caused more damage than you know about.

Did you pressure test the engine's water jacket and the rest of the cooling system with the head, block and manifolds together? Using just compressed air will tell you if there is a tiny crack in the block or warped head.

Did he perform a cylinder leak down test? It can tell you if there is a defective head gasket. A warped head is found with a straight edge.

It's your money, but before I bought a 3rd. engine, I would carefully recheck the new engine; could be something simple as gaskets.

If all else fails, get a reman. long block to cut your losses. There are a number of good reman. engines on the market, especially from the sponsors on this site.

As for the ignition, stick with OEM parts.

Good luck. Guy"

"Guy,
Thank-you very much

"Guy,
Thank-you very much for the advise......no i didnt do any of the testing you mentioned,I found and obviously bent rod in a new motor and fixed it. call it tunel vision or what you will, but thats basically all i did then i bought the gaskets from an automotive supply house and the problems have been lining up from there, I have a friend who has done a lot of big power boat work for a couple different people, I think i will pull the motor {im getting pretty good at that,lol] and have him disassemble it, testing it as he goes and then order a set of OEM merc gaskets and try again. I'm so deep in diferent repair thoughts and attempts that it is probably time to start from sxratch - see what I have and don't have and go from there, any good out lets for the proper gaskets? {the gaskets have been a plague to me from the start} and yes i will be going back to oem ignition, Al"

"Al:
"gaskets from an aut

"Al:
"gaskets from an automotive supply house and the problems have been lining up from there"

Aparently the above supplier sold you automotive engine gaskets--they won't work very long in a marine environment. The bent rod you found may have damaged the crankshaft. Your mech. should have it checked by a crankshaft company for any damage caused by the force of bending the rod apparently when it hydrolocked. Check the suppliers on this board for a gasket set.

Are you using an alignment tool for the engine and outdrive when you connect the two? Very, very necessary step when connecting them together.
Good luck--let us all know when it is running again. Guy"

"Guy,
will check for marin

"Guy,
will check for marine gaskets for sure and have the crank checked . . fortunately i have the crank from the original 350 so if this one is bad i might have a chance of having another good one [piston exploded in that one and the wrist pin scored one cylinder pretty good, and bent a valve, the plan at one time was to rebuild it for another project, lol seems like the project found me] question: i see alot of these posts saying that marine 350 and auto 350's at the heart are the same.....so can i take my crank to an engine builder and have it micked? [sp] as far as aligning the motor and final drive no i didn't use a tool for it i assumed if i took a 350 out and didnt move the "leveling nuts" that another 350 would go back in in the same position.....not true?"

"Al:
The engine builder sho

"Al:
The engine builder should be able to check the crank. As for the alignment of the OD to the engine, what did the female spline gear on the engine coupler look like? The splines should be square cut. If the splines have a rounded edge, then the coupler is worn due to a lack of lube service and/or OD and engine misalignment. Time to replace the coupler if it is worn while the engine is out.

Are the engine mount bases w/the leveling nuts solid and not wet or soft with rot? I would pull the outdrive before putting the engine back so it could be serviced; i.e., lube u-joints, replace all the bellows and water hose if it was never done, clean, inspect and lube the gimbal bearing--replace if needed. Change the lower unit water pump if over a year old while you are there. Sounds like alot of unecessary work, but it is required PM on an 11 year old boat if you want to keep it in tip top condition. The last thing is OD and engine alignment and you are on the water again.
Guy"

"Guy,
Thats the dishearten

"Guy,
Thats the disheartening thing about all this, not only do i have a boat down , but i have an absolutley beautiful boat down,lol.....the splines are in very good shape, the stringers are like brand new, basically im pretty fortunate as far as boat condition goes. I have changed the water pump in the OD once before but will definatley do it again when i reassemble along with bellows water line and exhaust flappers other than lubing everything really well...this should be good {along with changing OD fluid of course .....like ive stated , im getting to good at pulling and installing this motor, bought a lube kit for changing final drive fluid already ....just a note:it sounds like you've been on and around at least a couple of boats, this maxxum is a "european hull" it has the swim platform cast right into the body of the boat....so of course this means the motor has to be lifted 4 inches then moved forward before it will clear the engine well RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR lots o fun .......have a good one my friend, Al"

"Al: since 1981, I am on my 5

"Al: since 1981, I am on my 5th boat--bought cheap w/a solid 4.3L Merc. but knew it had hull problems. Last year was my trial by fire concerning refurbishing a boat. Had to strip the hull to the fiberglass core and rebuild it from there. It took countless personal manhours of hard and dirty labor stripping the hull. The fun part was fabricating the transom, stringers and fiberglass work that I had never done.

I replaced the fuel tank and hoses, all wiring, relays, switches and gauges and completely rebuilt the shift controller w/new trim wiring and switches. Also added automotive fuse panel and LED lighting in every cubby hole, engine compartment and indirect floor lighting. Add to that new pair of captains' chairs reinforced w/a 1/4" SS underfloor plate that I had drilled and tapped to the seat base bolt pattern--seat base will never give way--used never sieze on the SS bolts to eliminate the possibility of any corrosion. Installed larger bilge vent blower with dual air intake at high and low levels and put in a bench seat with a hidden livewell and removable fishing seats that can be placed on the engine cover--replaced the doghouse with a 4'x6' platform. Rebuilt all the upholstery myself. Did more but too much to list. Would I do it again? Depends on the boat!
Guy"

"Guy,
sounds like a cool pr

"Guy,
sounds like a cool project, i love doing stuff like that, as a matter of fact my stepfather and I are in the middle of a 1970 21 foot Morrison cuddy, good solid hull and transom and the friggin 37 yr old 305 purrrs like a kitten, upolstry is shot and side cubbies are rotted away, after tear down we found that someone had put a new floor right over the old one ...so she's stripped to the stringers right now and on hold as its like 2 degrees here today, lol but she'll be a beauty this spring ....i dont care for cuddies but would love to find an old 25-30 foot chricraft fiberglass hull with wood top to rebuild into an over nighter for the river.....also in the middle of a 74 jeep cj5 frame off and i just sold my 7th {older} Porsche ...like i said, i love the project....seems to be that when their done i sell em and start another ....the maxxum is the only one im interested in keeping, shes a great all around ski, tube, cruise, go reasonably fast machine........lol oh yeah we have 21 foot 2006 pontoon with a 75 hp 4 stroke yami on it ....love the new outboard technology ...out all day [8-10 hrs] on 30 gallons or less .......sure beats the 70 gallons in 4 hours the maxxum eats .....AL"