Wait. Why does a 10 year old engine need replacing?

Mine is 50 years old and still reaches full rpm at WOT.

 

Probably same reason some people live to 90 and some have a heart attack at 50.

 

Check MichiganMotorz.com

 

If you do go with a remanufacture engine I suggest you avoid Mabco Motors.

 

I’d take a step back. What really happened? You might not actually need a rebuild. You said something in the lower unit let go, are you saying the bottom end or something in the drive?

I thought I spun a coupler a couple years ago, turns out I blew the lower on one of the drives instead. Still sucked, but an easier fix than pulling the motor. I’d say do some diagnostics first, it might not be so bad

 

First, the engines have been very well maintained. Fluids have always been kept up and oil changes every year etc. A mechanic already took a look at it and we can hear something metal in the oil pan as we turn over the crank by hand. It's either a rod or a bearing that let go and as you turn the crank over by hand you can hear it bounce in the oil pan.

I'm looking for quality remanufactured/rebuilt engine suppliers. Recommendations?

 

I'm also looking for advice on replacing the long block by myself and a mechanic. My mechanic is a friend that has rebuilt engines from the ground up but out of trailered boats. It looks relatively straight forward but are there any gotcha's or tricks in pulling the 496's that require special tools etc?

 

Yes, the outdrives were new 2 yrs ago and we had them off last year just to inspect but when we pull the boat and drop the outdrives we will check again before we pull the engine. I am considering doing this ourselves as "good" mechanics are 100 miles away.

 

I'd pull it out and tear it down to see exactly how much damage you have first.

 

To answer your question as asked, I recently went through a similar issue. I had a piston melt and take out much of my lower end on the starboard side. I had just done a complete valve job on the other engine two weeks before, which had depleted the disposable income a bit. I decided to take a plunge, and got a long block from enginesdirect.net. The cost was about $3,800 shipped to me. They were easy to deal with, and the engine appeared to be very solidly put together. It is in the boat currently with 20 or so hours and no issues. Time will tell if it was a good decision in the long run. I also replaced the gen 3 fuel module, external cooler, manifolds, etc. All in all, I had about $7,500 in parts into it. On mine, I used the fork lift to stand the hatch straight up with rams detached and get the engine out easily. My engine was heavier, as it was engine and tranny due to v drives. Good luck!

 

Thanks for the direct input. Just to clarify, you used a forklift to open and hold the engine hatch straight up without detaching it and then something else (lift truck?) to lift the engine out? Also curious why you replaced the fuel pump? The only thing not new on my engines are the fuel pumps and power steering pumps.

 

Not quite. I used the fork to lift it up to 90 degrees. Then we tied it off to the mid cleats going forward and the stern cleats going back. We removed the table base to allow looping the line around the top of the hatch, and used ratchet straps to get things taught. Then we used the fork to lift out the engine and trans.

As to the fuel pump, prior to my piston meltdown, I was experienced an issue where the engine would not run at lower rpms after it warmed up.(would run all day long at plane, etc) That is indicative of a bad fuel pump. As the melted piston could also be caused by no fuel to the cylinder, I not only put a new pump in, I serviced all the injectors.

 

Very good, thanks for the information. I didn't think about the fuel injectors. Also curious how many hours you had on the engine?

 

372...not nearly enough.

 

I'm getting ready to pull the boat and the engine. I am looking at Michigan Motorz, Jasper and PPT for the long block replacement. Does anyone have any comments on these or someone else not mentioned? Most of the negative comments are in regards to warranty. Obviously I don't want to be replacing the new engine either under or not under warranty.

 

I bought a pair of 5.7’s and a bunch of other stuff from Michigan Motorz to repower my old 300 Sundancer about 8 years ago.
The owner was great and gave me a lot of guidance and valuable information. Their prices were very competitive too.
After speaking to the owner and making up my shopping list he handed me off to a salesman to place the order.
The salesman was a nice enough guy, but shipping took longer than he told me it would and there were some missing and incorrect items that came with the order.
It was difficult to get the salesman on the phone to deal with the problems with the order which added to delays.
In the end, I got everything I was supposed to get but not without a little bit of aggravation.
I think the problem was with the particular salesman who had little motivation to deal with me after the order was initially placed. Stupid way for a salesman to be and insured that I wouldn’t refer anybody to him.
But I think the company itself, and certainly the owner (who ultimately resolved the problems), is pretty good.

 

Could be wrong about this but my understanding is 8.1 blocks can not be rebuilt due to the relatively small amount of thickness in the cooling passages. If you bore them they overheat. As you know, they are no longer available which is a shame because they are great engines. Hope I'm wrong but I have heard this a number of times and when you look around for 8.1 blocks it is slim pickin's.

 

I'd pull it out and tear it down to see exactly how much damage you have first.

To follow up, I pulled the boat and the engine was fine, it was the new Bravo 3 outdrive. This one is going to be very interesting. There is a bolt missing on the upper cover. The drive won't even turn. It doesn't look like the bolt was ever there as the bottom paint is over the entire area.

So now I'm in the market for a reman Bravo 3 seacore drive. Does anyone have good sources for rebuilt drives?

 

New or rebuilt ? Easier fix than an engine.