Advice please

[Landshark]

I'm new to I/O's. Im looking at a 23ft boat with a Mercruiser 488R 190hp. Is that a good motor? Plenty of power? Gas Guzzler? I know it has an 8 on the picture of the motor. Any help? Thanks fellas

[StormFront]

i had that motor in a 1987. 4 cyl right? if so, its a 454 big block basically cut in half. great motor, will run forever. it has those huge 454 size cylenders in a 4 cyl motor. great for trolling, but in a 23ft boat i don't thik you'll win any races. if its more than 4 cyl than its not the motor i'm talking about.

[Landshark]

My buddy seems to think its a big block 8. I really have no clue. It does have a big 8 on the back of the motor.

[rustyrat]

My V6 is rated at 200 HP. Big block 8 should be 250 hp at least.

RR

[traveling man]

It is a mercruiser 470 with a quadrajet on it. It is a 4 cyl. probably early to mid 1980's. Some people think they are not a very good motor.

[borderline 350]

Dear LandShark,

A Mercruiser 488R is 198 HP 4 cylinder engine. This engine/drive is early 1980's. The engine is unique to Mercruiser. It's basically 1/2 a 460 Ford V8, with a 4 cylinder block (aluminum block produced by Mercury Marine, cast iron head by Ford) Not a power house but adequate up to a 20 ft boat. excellent on gas when in good tune, but in a 23 ft. boat....UNDERPOWERED! Typical of entry level boats sold in the early 80's for very little money. This engine had some head gasket problems that if let go will cause internal engine problems. This engine vintage/age and internal condition should be examined closely before venturing out on the big pond. Check the antifreeze level in the closed cooling system. If you are losing antifreeze slowly, you need to change the head gasket NOW! If the engine needs replacing, VERY EXPENSIVE deal because of the unique aluminum engine block and it's very high price!

Sincerely,

Jet Boat Bill

[Landshark]

ok now im getting somewhere, thanks guys for the input

[StormFront]

the other posts seem like they are talking about they same motor i was. the big block 4 cyl, so to speak. i though it was a great motor, but i seem to be the only one saying so, so maybe i just got lucky. sounds like you should be careful before you buy it. mine was 190hp and my boat did 45mph. however, it was a 17ft Larson open bow. with those huge pistons, it idled and ran around 1000 RPM like a dream, so i;m sure it would troll great. with a few guys on board, you might have trouble even getting on plane though.