2001 310 Sundancer Engine Problems Overheating Head Gaskets

[ksimmons]

Has anyone have any problems with 5.7 with bravo 3 blowing head gaskets ? Both engines only have 350 hrs on them both impellers have been changed by sea ray dealer I never got a overheated alarm & temp. Never got over 170 . Dealer replaced port engine first they did a sea trial everything was fine the next day starboard engine blows,they ( dealer ) was asked was if the other was fine they said yes we compression check it and we ( dealer ) trust it now $ 16000.00 later

 

[JediJD]

That is incredibly odd if its headgaskets on adjacent motors. It is hard to tear up two motors at roughly the same time if you are trying, much less accidentally, unless there is some catastrophic intervening force. Also, a headgasket, by itself, shouldn't require a motor replacement. Water intrusion possibly? Manifolds maybe? Do we have any history on the boat?

 

[ksimmons]

Lost the first motor coming back from St.Joe Michigan,had no warning last power couldn't get port side to run no more than 2500 rpm then it would fall on it face no power.We pulled in to New buffalo Michigan waiting for tech from dealer they did a tune up on that engine still ran ruff we limped it 10 mile to Michigan city they ( dealer ) tore it a part found the problem. We told them to total check second engine out
because we do long trips they tuned up second engine & did a sea trail and said everything was fine with boat and they would trust the boat on trips 2.2 hrs starboard engine blows with same problem, no can explain to me how this happen . Two new long blocks and $ 16000.00 later I'm not a happy boate

 

[kevin27]

I don't think this is odd at all. Think about it both engings were built in the same factory mabey just hours or days apart. Now they are installed in the same boat, same operation conditions and they both fail at the same time. It sucks but I found that when something fails you better replace what failed on the other side too. I had two engings fail with in 60 hours of each other with the same problem on my 270da.

 

[Steve500dancer]

Simply my opinion

Something doesn't sound right here. I have a hard time believing that with only 350 hours on the boat that both motors would fail. It doesn't matter if they were both built the same day. Each motor would have its own run life, lots of variables. I have built several gas engines and pretty much know them inside out. The only way you can have two failures at the same time is not going to be an engine wear issue even if you road them both hard and never maintained them. Something else has caused your issues. Risers, fuel, or something. Do you have any of the parts or oil left from the old engines? I would have oil samples sent in and see what it shows before I wouldn't run that boat again until I new for sure what the cause was.


Steve

 

[ksimmons]

I ask the dealers service mgt what had cause the fail he said it just overheated I have a little understand of engine when ask him what was the under lying problem he state it just overheated he acted like I wasn't trusting his worker

 

[Steve500dancer]

So they are saying that both engines overheated within a hour or two of each other yet you had no alarm and no shut down on the engines. What was the failure on both engines? Head gaskets? Even if that were the case. Lets just assume that you over heated both engines at the same time and they never shut down. Did the coolant get into the oil and seize the motor? What are they telling you? I would demand some kind of answer from them on what, why, how and what is going to prevent this from happening. I can't imagine replacing one block let alone both unless you wanted to do a re power or they had thrown a rod through the block.

Either I am really missing something here or something is just not right. I have rebuilt corvette motors that had been run completely dry of oil and overheated to the point of melting the wires to the block. A small block can be bored and rebuilt a few times before you even start to think about cylinder wall heat issues. **** I have a 283 in my 59 Corvette that is has been bored out 125 to a 302 and still runs 170 degrees on a 100 degree day.


Steve

 

[mwph]

I may be out of my league here but SOMETHING caused the failures, and I don't think your bad luck is the culprit. I agree with Steve 100 %. Until the tech can tell you what caused the problem, well the problem isn't solved. No telling what went on before you got the boat & no telling what the tech & his boss are up to but I don't like it. I don't like it one bit! Were the impellers changed before the problems started or after? Any chance you sucked up some mud, tore up the impellers & just missed the temp gauge. Perhaps the alarm isnt working.

Like I said, I'm out of my league & maybe I should not have posted, but It pisses me off when some one shrugs his shoulders & says "It just overheated".

 

[JediJD]

Respectfully disagree, but it is probably too late to do fault analyses and compare.

I don't think this is odd at all. Think about it both engings were built in the same factory mabey just hours or days apart. Now they are installed in the same boat, same operation conditions and they both fail at the same time. It sucks but I found that when something fails you better replace what failed on the other side too. I had two engings fail with in 60 hours of each other with the same problem on my 270da.

 

[insfnds]

The same thing happened to my 2001 310 Sundancer with the same engines, as I posted on the "Official 310 Sundancer Thread." Starboard engine blew in 2010 and then about 10 engine hours later, the Port engine blew this past July. Head gaskets blew right between the 4 and 6 cylinders. I have pictures if anyone wants to see them.

I blamed it first on the boat being over-propped (never got over 4200 RPM since new.) After further investigation think it may have been water intrusion due to broken exhaust flappers as both were broken on the 2-4-6-8 side of both engines. I also had water come out of the #4 hole on the port engine when I did the initial compression test.

I also read that its a common problem with Vortec V8s, even in cars/trucks. Apparently GM removed some cooling ports in the center of the heads which causes the center section to run hotter (this is BS off the internet - take with a grain of salt.)

I had both engines replaced with Merc remans and also changed prop size, going from 22" to 20" Boat ran a lot better, top RPM was about 4700 and gained about 4mph.

I wish I could blame Mercruiser or GM but after 8 or 10 years, they really can't be held accountable.

 

[ksimmons]

That was the first thing the service rep. said you know the boat is 12 yrs old it's out of warranty , it has only 350 hrs on it . He acted like I was wasting his time I'm not one of those people who could take things very lightly the dealer thinks I'm going to just hand over more money I Don't Think So I've found someone else who will do the work and stand behind his work