chris268 wrote:
Beautiful boat! Sorry to hear about your engine. Do you have any info of when the original was replaced and the Re manufactured engine failed as far as hours go. I am always curious. would love to hear about the progress.
Thanks Chris! From the invoices that the previous owner supplied, the engine was rebuilt back in 2015. However, the engine wasn't used much at all (only about 20 hours), looks like the boat mostly sat until we purchased it. The lack of use on that engine should have been a huge red flag, lesson learned on that one. The invoices show that the previous owner had the engine rebuilt by a boatyard, so I question the experience of the mechanic that actually did the rebuild. From the look of the damage, I think that there might have been an issue with the thrust bearing.
In order to save on cost, we ended up going with a reman long block. The challenge was that most marine suppliers of reman engines were not familiar with the 6.0 engine, and the cost was outrageous from those that were familiar. This made finding the block difficult. I did a bunch of research to find out exactly what block the Crusader package was built on top of and was able to locate an engine rebuilder that specializes in these LS type blocks based in Texas. They custom built a long block for me with upgraded forged rods and pistons (I hope to have built an engine that is strongly that the original). It took about a month and a half to have it built, but I currently have the new (reman) long block sitting in my garage.
I also found a boatyard that was willing and able to pull the bad block and drop it in my truck. Since I pulled all of the manifolds and disconnected everything from the engine, removing the block only took them about an hour and a half. This has allowed me to build the complete engine at home and save on the total labor cost.
I'm still waiting on a couple parts but should have the engine ready to bring back to the boatyard by next Monday. It's been a frustrating experiencing, however I have gained a lot of knowledge that I think will be invaluable later on. I've also taken the opportunity to replace the oil/trans coolers as well as exhaust risers on the 'good' starboard engine.
I apologize for the long post, but it has been quite an experience!
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David
Fort Myers, FL
2006 Four Winns 348 Vista w/ Crusader 6.0L V Drives
Previous:
2010 Searay Sundancer 240
2015 Searay 190 Sport
http://crusaderblues.com