A Thanksgiving disaster

I would love to upgrade to a v-8 but I think it is going to be way more expensive. We would have to redo the gearing and it would raise the quoted price from around 4,500 to around 15,000. Not worth it on our boat.
 
Vol, It's time to slow down and do some due diligence. A second opinion is more than required here. Hopefully you have a Trailer and a way to park your boat while figurin out the most practicle direction. The chances of a Push Rod destroying the engine are minimal. How many Hours does the current engine have? Did you buy it recently and from a private party or a Dealer? Keep us posted. Al W.
 
We are getting the boat checked out by another mechanic tomorrow and have talked to several. He seems to think that we could re power it with a 350 v-8 for about 4,000 and replace the block of the v-6 for around 2,000. We have decided to pull it out of the water for now while we look around at all the options. What does everyone here think? Should we just fix the old v-6 with 175 hp or should we upgrade to a v-8 with 300 hp. Is the price difference worth it. We are also looking at used engines. Is that a good or bad idea?
Thanks
 
Couple questions.

1. How long do you plan to keep the boat?
2. What is the cost benefit of the V8? What else are you going to have to upgrade?
3. How much do you really want to put into a 15+ year old boat?
 
Chuck

!. We will probably keep the boat for a few years. Right now it is perfect for us but the extra power would make a big difference.

2. The cost of everything we will have to upgrade is included in the price. We are going to try to find a used engine with all the out drive included. The main benefit would be the extra power. It would also have more power than was available new which might help out when we go to sell it.

3. We don't want to put too much money into an old boat but we do have to get it fixed. I think it might be worth an extra 2,000 to upgrade but I want to get some other opinions.
 
Vol Navy said:
Chuck

!. We will probably keep the boat for a few years. Right now it is perfect for us but the extra power would make a big difference.

Sounds like you've made your decision.

2. The cost of everything we will have to upgrade is included in the price. We are going to try to find a used engine with all the out drive included. The main benefit would be the extra power. It would also have more power than was available new which might help out when we go to sell it.

There are always surprises when changing power that much.

3. We don't want to put too much money into an old boat but we do have to get it fixed. I think it might be worth an extra 2,000 to upgrade but I want to get some other opinions.
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This is not money you will get back. It's not like a house where you can put money in kitchens / bathrooms and actually get it back and then some. You're replacing what is there. Even if you go with more power, your prospective buyer will discount it to you and take away the leverage. At best, it will make your boat sell first/sooner. Spend the money that will allow you to enjoy the boat for the time you intend to keep it.
 
Pirate said:
This is not money you will get back. It's not like a house where you can put money in kitchens / bathrooms and actually get it back and then some. You're replacing what is there. Even if you go with more power, your prospective buyer will discount it to you and take away the leverage. At best, it will make your boat sell first/sooner. Spend the money that will allow you to enjoy the boat for the time you intend to keep it.
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Big Ditto and well said:thumbsup: You hit the nail on the head and that is what I was getting at.
 
Here is a picture of our engine after it was taken apart. It ended up being a head gasket problem that we didn't know about that allowed water into the engine.

DSC03983.jpg
 
A Head Gasket alone is no reason for a new engine even with water getting into the Crankcase if caught in time. By checking oil via the Dip Stick tells us more than just the Oil's level. I suspect you had a Connecting Rod Bearing failure due to water intrusion and not a Push Rod failure. Honestly, I think this problem came with the boat. Put a new six in it and call it a day. Al W.
 
The boat is underpowered at 175hp. I had a 220DA (very similar) with a 260hp 5.7 V8 and would not have wanted any less motor in it. The 230 is a great boat ( my father in law has one). If it is otherwise sound I would put a V8 in it. It will greatly improve your boating experience and the fuel burn will be about the same (you will not have to push the V8 as hard to get good performance).You will thank me later when you are towing a tube with four or five onboard guests in the boat, and you are not having to run the hell out of the V6 just to stay on plane.
 
I am very strongly in the V8 camp for that boat. You will likely keep it longer with the improved performance.
 
I had something similar happen last year during our (Canadian) Thanksgiving. We had only had the boat about 2 weeks and I took out my wife's sister and her parents. When we got to the boat the batteries where dead as I shut off the inverter. When we did finally get out on the lake the seal on the heat exchanger on the Port engine broke and spilled coolant in the bilge and the engine over heated. Smartcraft saved any damage but we were 8 miles from shore. We made it back to shore on one engine to find someone was in our slip. Just a not perfect day. The weather was great however.
 
Quint4 said:
The boat is underpowered at 175hp. I had a 220DA (very similar) with a 260hp 5.7 V8 and would not have wanted any less motor in it. The 230 is a great boat ( my father in law has one). If it is otherwise sound I would put a V8 in it. It will greatly improve your boating experience and the fuel burn will be about the same (you will not have to push the V8 as hard to get good performance).You will thank me later when you are towing a tube with four or five onboard guests in the boat, and you are not having to run the hell out of the V6 just to stay on plane.
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i couldn't agree more, you will never regret the extra power and as far as resale goes yours WILL be the first one to sell. at the price of 4k for a V8 and all of the different parts (manifolds,risers ect.) that will be needed, it's a great deal just hope the price holds close for you. did you get a quote on paper?
 
Vol Navy:
Follow the old adage - get the biggest engine you can afford. It's tough for you to really get a sense of the boat's giddy-up with only 10 hours under your belt (on an engine that might have been performing poorly during that entire time). That's a tough call but I'd say that if the extra $2K is in your budget, go for it!
 
If a V6 is in order, I believe that for that size a boat, a Bravo III is a must. I would certainly not go with an Alpha.
 
Guys, you did notice the age of the boat and that he is not going to keep it for but a couple more years.

IMHO - No way I would put the extra money into it. Get it running again as cheap as possible, use it for a couple years then sell/trade up.
 
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Which one of you is Guy?
 
I was keenly aware of the age of the boat prior to my post.
 
I did not consider age when I repowered my '83. In fact, I pretty much put no thought into it when I was spending shovel fulls to restore/ improve it. I thought I would keep it forever. Just a short time later, I find myself likely to sell her.

Point being, plans can change. Also, as I said, the improved performance will remove one big reason to sell it.
 
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