1999 454 Mag MPI just quits - videos

370Dancer said:

The only reason I was going to pull the block is because the lip of the timing cover had a fresh break on the lip that goes over the oil pan gasket, and the pieces went into the oil pan. Now that I have all the pieces, I don't HAVE to yank the block. We're taking another hard look at it to make sure there is nothing else to consider. It might still come out, but at this point it's not mandatory.

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Isn't that the type of timing cover that is supposed to go on first before the oil pan?

techmitch said:

Isn't that the type of timing cover that is supposed to go on first before the oil pan?

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Exactly what I thinking. You have to drop the pan to get that off. Once you disturb the pan, it's going to leak unless you replace the gasket. I'd still recommend pulling the motor.

techmitch said:

Isn't that the type of timing cover that is supposed to go on first before the oil pan?

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Yes. Some guys will cut the rear lip off the back of the timing cover to get it in there. No thanks... Too much work to find a leak when you're done.

HawkX66 said:

Yes. Some guys will cut the rear lip off the back of the timing cover to get it in there. No thanks... Too much work to find a leak when you're done.

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That is exactly why I mentioned it, that lip is there for a reason. Seen those hack jobs before... They no longer work here! If the bean counters could have done away with it, it wouldn't be there.

Looks like I'm smarter now........
Thanks for the heads up.

370Dancer said:

Looks like I'm smarter now........
Thanks for the heads up.

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You won't regret doing it right.

Just had the same boatporn problem the Exhaust valve is bad and sucked water.

Not so sure that electric oil filled radiator is such a good idea in a gas boats engine bilge (the lowest point) on the boat. Please tell me it has some kind of ignition protection that I've never heard on those or, your going to get it out of there ASAP? Please be careful!

No, I don’t leave the heater , it’s dangerous only when I work there, but it has protection.

You got that engine running yet??

Having a hard time getting around to yanking the block. Did confirm that the timing cover's not going on unless the oil pan is taken off, so here I sit. Stacked up at work, so not much play time. Debating bringing a boom truck in and pulling it here, or one engine it over to what's left of our yards, and yank the whole thing for a bottom paint (which it doesn't really need), and hull wax (which it really does need). Only time and money. But on the bright side, I do have 4 other boats, so never without a way to get on the water.
Maybe I'll hire Scoff to come lift it out for me, and then bark at me on what I'm doing wrong while putting it back together. Gonna run over to N.E. Taylor's today or Monday and see what the lay of the land is there. NOBODY lets you work on your own shit in the yard anymore.

D-Day is Monday at 3pm, my place. I'll see if I can get someone to shoot some pics as I will be busy on the dumb end of the lift, trying not to beat the boat up in the process. Then, it's off to the races. I literally have everything except a replacement oil pan gasket and a new oil pump, because..... as long as I'm in there.....
Let's hope for smooth bearings.

BTW so far, smarter guys than me are calling a leaking head gasket for the issue, and my water intrusion wasn't necessarily salt. I will say I had some disappearing coolant over runs. Time and sweat will tell.

Just saw this, if I can be of any help let me know I;m close by.

scoflaw said:

Just saw this, if I can be of any help let me know I;m close by.

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Thought you were being awfully quiet. Hopefully no damage with recent storm activity down there. We barely got rain.
You are welcome anytime to have a look at what's here. Probably cracking the pan mid week next week to have a peek at the bearings and oil pump. Still working on last minute details of where I'll be working the block, but probably onsite.
I'll start a conversation with you for details.

OK, as I close in on the removal, something is coming to mind here.
The engine is torn down to the block, i.e. no heads, intake manifold or bolt ons.
Block to bell housing, to V-Drive transmission. one set of engine mounts to the block, the other set on the transmission.
what do I hang the engine from? I have plenty of choices in the front where the bolt on's were, but now how about the rear? I didn't want to take the bell housing with me if I can help it, but I may have no choice.
I know the guys in the yard back in 2017 accomplished it, leaving the bell housing on the transmission, and then also put it back like that. but they had heads to bolt the lifting chain to.
I'm leery about using a head bolt into the block at the angle they are at compared to the lifting force of the chain.
The only 2 clear choices I see are put the heads back on and quit whining, or unbolt the bell housing from the transmission (4 bolts, but knuckle busters) and take it with the block out of the engine.

What say you, smart people? gotta figure this out by Saturday.

Head bolt holes, 7/16 bolts might bend a bit but no biggie

Would these work in the heads like scoflaw suggested

Williams EB-24T 7/16-Inch Shoulder Eyebolt https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007YRA5LG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_Z68DX7YBEM3AQ7XFP8WY

I used a couple of 1.5" 7/16-14 grade 5 bolts that were fastened to the top row head bolt slots. My chains had an L shaped bracket on one end which wound up being a perfect angle to the hook, so no bending or thread worries.
The boom truck showed up, put his legs down, and in less than 30 minutes, even with me forgetting about the bottom bolts of the engine mounts, it was all over. Surgery complete, and the block is hanging on my engine crane in the garage. Scof, rain tomorrow afternoon, and still planning on having it on an engine stand Wednesday, flipping it over, and checking the bearings. You are welcome to come check it out, along with the cylinder walls. Still looking for the "right" shop with the "right" schedule, so it may sit around for a bit before we go to high gear.
I didn't even have time to take a picture. Oh well, I guess it didn't really happen then.

This woke me up last night.
The decision to replace the heads was based on 2 things. The likely hood that the valve train was weak, allowing the valves to float at 3200+rpm, which caused the engine to fall off until rpms reduced to 2000 or so, and then back strong. The other was telltale signs of water intrusion in the cylinders, which I was chalking up to reversion. Other that that, especially if you read the entire thread, By the time we got to this point, the engine started fine, idled fine, shifted fine, ran fine. This side rattled a little at dead idle out of gear, which could be anything from misfire to damper, to "oh, that's normal".
Getting into the heads revealed that the head gaskets did exhibit some signs of not being completely seated (dark between the cylinders instead of shiny silver, and I did find a head bolt or 2 that were definitely not torqued down to spec.
We looked at the cam, and found some scratches on #8 lobe. Not big, but hey, we're this far...... Remember this is the one that had a ball tip come off the top of the pushrod, and punch through the rocker once upon a time. (2018. I replaced the pushrod and rocker).
When removing the timing cover, we were presented 2 things. One, the inner lip of the timing cover was broken off in a couple of spots, and the pieces were lying in the oil pan. So, whomever went into this motor before I got it, had cracked or broken the timing cover lip trying to get it off or on without dropping the oil pan. For us, it just lifted off. I didn't even know there was a lip until I flipped it over and saw the missing pieces. The other thing, which I haven't spoken about may be the most important. The timing chain was so loose, I could almost get it off without removing the camshaft gear!. So, here's what woke me up:
A loose timing chain would probably rattle a lot at low speed. Is that what I hearing, and the rattle had nothing to do with the transmission?
A loose timing chain would also retard the timing, would it not? The faster you go, the more pronounced the effect?
The ECU wouldn't reflect this because it's firing when it thinks it should, but the mechanicals are lagging. Could that have caused the fall off at cruise speed?
Gawd, I hate/love/hate/love motors.....

But, it just doesn't matter what I pondered in the previous post. Pulled the pistons and crank today.
#1 cylinder wall has a bit of galling. We'll see where that leads for how far over, and pistons.
The oil pump pickup screen has a hole in the middle of it. On purpose? I doubt it.


The front main bearing has some uneven wear and the crank is scratched some. so, I guessing that will earn a 10 under. We'll see.
The number 4 or 5 piston bearing had pieces coming off of it. Ugh.


So, in the end, I'm glad we moved forward, I'm not glad the bill's going to be somewhat higher.
Still, it's time to do it right, 'cause I'm not doing it again.
The whole pile is off to Innovation Marine early next week to see if we have any more surprises pop up.