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lily

lily
in This Old Boat

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lily

lily

Posted
Posted

I have a 27 ft searay sundancer with a 454 single screw mercrusier that I puchchased last year from a dealer. The boat was bought used and at this point I'm not going to slander the dealership for they don't know about my problems as of yet. Anyway I purchased the boat in October of last year and brought it home and rigged it for fishing. I pit it in a slip on cayuga and fished out of it 4 or 5 times during October and then took it back to the marina I purchased it from to have them winterize it and go check every over to make sure it would be good for this year. This year before putting the boat in the water in mid may I started the boat at home on the muffs and ran the antifreeze out of the engine as I was instructed to do by the marina that did the winterization. I checked the oil charged the batteries and then took boat to cauga lake an launched it. I fished out of it for. 1 day back at the end of may and put it back in it's slip at Frontenac marina. That day everything ran great had no problems. Yesterday 6/19/19 I went to fish and went threw my standard pre launch check. Started boat up let it idle for a while while I was getting things ready to go un tied the boat and idled out of the marina. About a 1/4 mile out of the marina I started to try to get the boat up on a plane and boat was lacking in horsepower at full throttle boat would not climb over 3500 rpm. I backed of the throttle and tried again to come up on a plane this time the engine climes to just about 3500 rpms and completely dies and won't restart. Open the motor well smells of burt fuel almost like diesel smoke. Bilg was clean of any gas spray or oil. Spark arrestor on the carborator Semmes to have a black film on it. I had to be towed in from the guys at Frontenac marina and I give a huge thanks to them free of charge for people who slip with them. Anyway they called me yesterday and told me there mechanic looked at the boat quick and said my oil dip stick was dry. I never received a low oil alarm nothing over heated. I know my oil presher alarm works. It goes off if the key is left on and the boat isn't started. It looks like my season has ended before my first whole day on the water. I've logged 4 hrs fishing time this year. Thanks for any advise

 

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TyeeTanic

TyeeTanic

Posted
Posted

Hard to say what could have happened as there's not really enough info.

So is the suspicion that the oil was low before you took it out? Or do you think the oil leaked somewhere?

I'd imagine if it leaked, you would see a slick all over the water ... unless you have a slipped ring.

 

On a boat I had, brand new mercruiser ... the ring on one piston didn't seat properly and as a result I was losing about

a quart of oil every time out (4 to 6 hours).  I had to keep an eye on it, until they eventually replaced the engine.

 

I'm assuming this is an older engine and you had no issues last season?

 

When the mech says it's low in oil, how low?  Can you check for yourself ... just pull the dipstick (in fact this should be part of your

pre-start routine anyhow, especially for a new boat).  As you become more confident in the boat, you should still check oil, but maybe less

frequent (once per every 4 trips??).

 

Also, didn't you get any engine temp issues?  Is your raw water impeller working okay, you have coolant pressure?

 

I hope you find the problem ... is the engine done or can it be fixed?

 

Lily 2

Lily 2

Posted
Posted

I'm not sure about the motor. I never lost oil presher. Motor has run for maybe 4 hrs this year. Checked oil when I put it in the water in mid may and it was good. Always have had good oil presher like I stated before all alarms work as they should on the boat. No oil slick ever noticed behind the boat I'm hopeful that this wasn't a catastrophic failure of the motor. Last year ran fine. Had water pump replaced.when the boat was winterized

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Frogger

Frogger

Posted
Posted
Did they do an oil change and forget to fill it with new oil? Just a thought?

I was thinking the same thing but he mentioned he had checked it this year so I’m assuming he had oil which would take the winterization out of the equation. I would think to lose all of your oil you would have a complete mess from a catastrophic failure in engine box area and highly unlikely you burned it up in that short period of time without noticing a bellow of smoke while running. Hate to think vandalism as a potential. Hope you get back on track with it.


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Lily 2

Lily 2

Posted
Posted

Engine compartment is clean all.fluids were checked by the marina during winterization and oil was checked by my self before I put boat in the water in mid may. Frontenac marina has it now and that is where it is kept. Frontenac is not the same marina that did the work to tho boat or the marina that the boat was purchased from. They have been nothing but helpful

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mr 580

mr 580

Posted
Posted

A 454 Mercruiser has an oil capacity of 7 or 8 qts including filter.  You need to look at dipstick to figure what it read when you checked it in May then see what it reads now.  If there is little or no oil in it, then where did oil go?  The burnt diesel smell seems like a sign of overheating- why was water pump changed in the fall and were temps normal during operation?  My advice would be a face to face discussion with the service personnel at the marina where you keep the boat.  You need to know what kind of shape motor is in now, then figure what might have caused the issue.  As others have said checking oil level before operation is a good idea with an engine especially one you are not familiar with.  Good luck with the engine.

mr 580

mr 580

Posted
Posted

If temp was normal and you didn’t overheat, then it is back to figuring out what oil consumption was and what might have caused it.  Seems like an awful lot of oil to be used.  Might even check and make sure the right dipstick was in the motor.  The wrong dipstick might cause crankcase to be under filled so you were low on oil without knowing it.  Really need to compare level you saw originally with what tech saw when he checked it.  Do an oil change and put correct amount of oil in and see what level reads.  Check for metal in the oil you drain out.  Hope engine isn’t hurt bad-sometimes you can luck out.

Lily 2

Lily 2

Posted
Posted

I know I have electric ignition but as far as a brand I guess I don't know. I guess I'm at the mercy of the gods at this point I'm waiting for the mechanic at Frontenac to look closer at the boat they were swamped with other things and he hasn't been able to run any diagnostic tests on it yet. If it is a blown motor would it be possible to go back on the marina/ boat dealer that sold the boat to me. It seems that in selling a boat if you market your self as a boat dealer/ broker you would be held liable for some period of time for majior repairs especially when the consumer has been reassured numorus time everything is mechanically sound and in proper working order. This wasn't a road side deal on Craigslist from a private seller. Like I stated before Fronanac marina on Cayuga lake is not the issue here I in no way want to mistakenly slander there business. They have done everything they could so far and plan to work with me in the future when there schedual frees up. Has anyone ever had luck going after a boat dealer for selling a poor product. That is a worst case senario

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Lily 2

Lily 2

Posted
Posted

The same marina/ boat dealer was the business that did the winterization and replaced the water pump for me last November. They were the last people to do any kind of mechanic work on the boat what so ever except me replacing a battery

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GAMBLER

GAMBLER

Posted
Posted
12 minutes ago, Lily 2 said:

New crate motor installed for a big block is about 10,000. If any one has any recommendations I'm all ears. Thanks.

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Find a good block and have it rebuilt.  Mine cost me $3,700.00. 

Decoy Hound

Decoy Hound

Posted
Posted

The first thing you have to decide is the boat worth putting the money into it? If so you could try Michigan Motorz.

Lily 2

Lily 2

Posted
Posted

That's the thing just bought the boat. I hate to have it be a lawn ornament on one hand. It will never sell the way it is now. On the other hand 10,000 dollars is the install price for the new crate motoralmost doubling what I played for the boat in the first place

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whaler1

whaler1

Posted
Posted

I understand they have no obligation. But a little goodwill would go a long way.
I would contact them, reiterate that they have no obligation, but allow them the opportunity to participate.
Could be a great opportunity to get some great social media word of mouth.


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