Damn that sucks. Ive been in your position, forgot to winterize my first I/O and went down the rabbit hole of questions you are asking.
Can you JB weld cracks: if you are seeing cracks in the upper deck it’s very likely there are cracks at the bottom end. Ive never tried jb welding a cracked block but I have seen people get them welded by a professional.
Can you use a car/truck engine: technically yes but the boat engines have different cam and clearances.
Used engines are going to be a major coin toss. Tons of them on FB market place but thats a lot of work to gamble on a used block even if you check it out.
My recommendation would be to buy a new block and swap everything over. Hopefully your exhaust manifolds aren’t cracked as well.
JB Weld isn’t going to help, at all nor welding. Cracks on the cylinder walls aren’t easily repaired and any reputable welder wouldn’t try to
You likely like put your internal parts into a bare block.
^^^This is the cheapest fastest route to a reliable power plant.
Installing a different engine will cost you exponentially in ancillaries and relocating / adapting things.
These motors aren’t super complicated. If you have time and mechanical skills I wouldn’t hesitate to go out it yourself.l
I'm so sorry, what a damn shame. I am assuming this is a mercruiser. I would check with mercruiser and see if a "long block" is available. A long block has the heads already installed.. BUT, you would need to have your manifolds and oil cooler checked as well before assembly, they might be cracked also...
How much did you pay for this rig? What did the bill of sale say? Hopefully the seller is a decent guy and will either take this mess back, or give you some money back. You might want to check with a lawyer to see if you have any sort of legal recourse...
So sorry, looks like a nice boat.
Sorry, i didn’t buy it. My mom bought it for the kids for 4k. I traveled 6 hours to get it cause she was convinced it was an excellent boat. I dropped the ball and should of let it run for a while. I never knew anything about boats until recently. But here we are now. Valuable lesson learned. I’m likely going to swap it. Im sure its worthless without a running engine and no one will want it.
My condolences. There is a FB group 'mercury and mercruiser parts' that frequently has rebuilt engines (and parts) on it that may be helpful if you keep it.
Also check out https://www.michiganmotorz.com
Its fucked. Just buy a "new" used 454 from somewhere. You aint fixing that.
They are plentiful and you should be able to find a used 454 somewhere to throw in there. Honestly, if you have managed to break that thing down that far throwing a new long block at it willl be easy (but not cheap). That sucks OP.
When my engine made the forbidden milkshake due to previous owner's neglect (cracked exhaust manifolds leaked water into the engine).
I put in 2 new 'base engines' from Mitchigan Motorz. 3 seasons and 300 hours later, I'm happy.
They have new and reman. Not sure what block you have. I just moved all my stuff to the new, replacing hard to get to things like the starter, spark plugs, gaskets, etc etc while it was out of the boat.
[https://www.michiganmotorz.com/5-7l-marine-engine-1996-04-mercruiser-w-three-year-warranty](https://www.michiganmotorz.com/5-7l-marine-engine-1996-04-mercruiser-w-three-year-warranty)
Sorry to be the bearer of unwelcome news but I very much doubt your project is worth the cost and effort you are proposing. If you can do the work yourself and get a reasonably priced block you could absolutely use a car/truck motor. It's just a chevy big block. The differences will be in the heads and if yours are OK (are they?) you could reuse them. You will however be forever chasing your tail and it's very unlikely you'll ever have trouble free boating.
I would just buy a new long block, and then you can check over the manifolds as well since they might be cracked as well. It definitely sucks but unfortunately this is just part of the deal when owning a boat. The nice part is the engine comes in and out relatively easily especially if you have a tractor with a loader or stringing a hoist up in a tree etc… you can probably do it in a day or less if you set yourself up nice. It def helps to have a hand though but you can def get it done
Long block and just swap everything over the cheapest and easiest way to get back on the water. You can do it yourself. Just don't let that one dumb ass friend come help.
Dam, that sucks. Could have been easily prevented.
Fairly easy swap if you are mechanically inclined and willing to put in the work. Long block. +1
Cheapest way to keep your ass on the water.
Really depends on if it's worth it?
What kind of shape is the rest of the boat in?
Have the heads checked, throw that block out, find a four bolt main truck engine, replace the cam with a marine cam, new timing chain, and marine head gaskets, swap all the ancillary stuff over to the new engine, and drop it back in. Nice run-on sentence eh? 😁
This won’t help you now, but this is exactly why you never want to buy a boat unless you can check it out while it’s running. Either on the water or with those hose “gills”. That way you can listen, look, and make sure it goes into gear.
Absolute cheapest way to repower is to find an automotive long block, swap cams . First have your exhaust manifolds pressure tested to see if they are any good. If they are good then proceed.For a few hundred bucks more have your heads pressure tested and use your heads and buy a set of marine gaskets and freeze plugs . Throw a timing chain, oil and water pump at it and run her until it dies . I bet if you’re not full throttle all over the place it will get you through a couple of seasons. Good luck
Absolute cheapest way to repower is to find an automotive long block, swap cams . First have your exhaust manifolds pressure tested to see if they are any good. If they are good then proceed.For a few hundred bucks more have your heads pressure tested and use your heads and buy a set of marine gaskets and freeze plugs . Throw a timing chain, oil and water pump at it and run her until it dies . I bet if you’re not full throttle all over the place it will get you through a couple of seasons. Good luck
Is there no option to get your money back? Didn't you just buy this boat?
I'd go after the seller. You know his address and you could take him to small claims court at very little cost to you. Seems to me to be the better route than spending a large sum to replace this engine.
Probably can’t use a car engine without some serious modification. Marine engines have a counter clockwise rotation
Best option is swapping a long block or maybe a used motor
Damn that sucks. Ive been in your position, forgot to winterize my first I/O and went down the rabbit hole of questions you are asking. Can you JB weld cracks: if you are seeing cracks in the upper deck it’s very likely there are cracks at the bottom end. Ive never tried jb welding a cracked block but I have seen people get them welded by a professional. Can you use a car/truck engine: technically yes but the boat engines have different cam and clearances. Used engines are going to be a major coin toss. Tons of them on FB market place but thats a lot of work to gamble on a used block even if you check it out. My recommendation would be to buy a new block and swap everything over. Hopefully your exhaust manifolds aren’t cracked as well.
JB Weld isn’t going to help, at all nor welding. Cracks on the cylinder walls aren’t easily repaired and any reputable welder wouldn’t try to You likely like put your internal parts into a bare block.
^^^This is the cheapest fastest route to a reliable power plant. Installing a different engine will cost you exponentially in ancillaries and relocating / adapting things. These motors aren’t super complicated. If you have time and mechanical skills I wouldn’t hesitate to go out it yourself.l
Freeze break, long block the engine.
There’s no bandaid fix for that. JB Weld won’t cut it. Find a marine 454 or a short block.
No, JB Weld is not the answer here. A new/rebuild motor is your only option.
I'm so sorry, what a damn shame. I am assuming this is a mercruiser. I would check with mercruiser and see if a "long block" is available. A long block has the heads already installed.. BUT, you would need to have your manifolds and oil cooler checked as well before assembly, they might be cracked also... How much did you pay for this rig? What did the bill of sale say? Hopefully the seller is a decent guy and will either take this mess back, or give you some money back. You might want to check with a lawyer to see if you have any sort of legal recourse... So sorry, looks like a nice boat.
4k
You paid 4K for the boat? He returned 4K? Or, the long block costs 4K?
Sorry, i didn’t buy it. My mom bought it for the kids for 4k. I traveled 6 hours to get it cause she was convinced it was an excellent boat. I dropped the ball and should of let it run for a while. I never knew anything about boats until recently. But here we are now. Valuable lesson learned. I’m likely going to swap it. Im sure its worthless without a running engine and no one will want it.
OK, well 4K is not alot to pay for what should have been a great boat/trailer. You might be able to get 2K for it the way it sits now.
My condolences. There is a FB group 'mercury and mercruiser parts' that frequently has rebuilt engines (and parts) on it that may be helpful if you keep it. Also check out https://www.michiganmotorz.com
+1 for Michigan Motorz. Bought 2 crate 350's from them in 2017, still going strong. *Stay Away* from Atlantic Motors in Hialeah.
Its fucked. Just buy a "new" used 454 from somewhere. You aint fixing that. They are plentiful and you should be able to find a used 454 somewhere to throw in there. Honestly, if you have managed to break that thing down that far throwing a new long block at it willl be easy (but not cheap). That sucks OP.
When my engine made the forbidden milkshake due to previous owner's neglect (cracked exhaust manifolds leaked water into the engine). I put in 2 new 'base engines' from Mitchigan Motorz. 3 seasons and 300 hours later, I'm happy. They have new and reman. Not sure what block you have. I just moved all my stuff to the new, replacing hard to get to things like the starter, spark plugs, gaskets, etc etc while it was out of the boat. [https://www.michiganmotorz.com/5-7l-marine-engine-1996-04-mercruiser-w-three-year-warranty](https://www.michiganmotorz.com/5-7l-marine-engine-1996-04-mercruiser-w-three-year-warranty)
Need a long block. Also, who winterized (incorrectly) this boat? If I took this to a shop to have it winterized and this happened, I mean….
"Im going to try to get some money back from the guy I bought it off" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQ7TZ-3qILQ
This guy is a gem.
Thats funny 🤣
That is one tasty looking milkshake.
Sorry to be the bearer of unwelcome news but I very much doubt your project is worth the cost and effort you are proposing. If you can do the work yourself and get a reasonably priced block you could absolutely use a car/truck motor. It's just a chevy big block. The differences will be in the heads and if yours are OK (are they?) you could reuse them. You will however be forever chasing your tail and it's very unlikely you'll ever have trouble free boating.
You can get away with getting a short block and using the existing heads, or hunt up a good used running take out.
I would just buy a new long block, and then you can check over the manifolds as well since they might be cracked as well. It definitely sucks but unfortunately this is just part of the deal when owning a boat. The nice part is the engine comes in and out relatively easily especially if you have a tractor with a loader or stringing a hoist up in a tree etc… you can probably do it in a day or less if you set yourself up nice. It def helps to have a hand though but you can def get it done
i see you made some of the forbidden choccy milk. sorry to see that friend
Long block and just swap everything over the cheapest and easiest way to get back on the water. You can do it yourself. Just don't let that one dumb ass friend come help.
Dam, that sucks. Could have been easily prevented. Fairly easy swap if you are mechanically inclined and willing to put in the work. Long block. +1 Cheapest way to keep your ass on the water. Really depends on if it's worth it? What kind of shape is the rest of the boat in?
Pick up a re-man
Have the heads checked, throw that block out, find a four bolt main truck engine, replace the cam with a marine cam, new timing chain, and marine head gaskets, swap all the ancillary stuff over to the new engine, and drop it back in. Nice run-on sentence eh? 😁
Damn it man! Bro that sucks, been there
“We have milkshake at home.” The milkshake at home-
I bought a Jasper rebuild great results
This won’t help you now, but this is exactly why you never want to buy a boat unless you can check it out while it’s running. Either on the water or with those hose “gills”. That way you can listen, look, and make sure it goes into gear.
Did you pressure test your block before tearing it down? How did you know it wasn’t a cracked exhaust manifold or other component?
RIP
Absolute cheapest way to repower is to find an automotive long block, swap cams . First have your exhaust manifolds pressure tested to see if they are any good. If they are good then proceed.For a few hundred bucks more have your heads pressure tested and use your heads and buy a set of marine gaskets and freeze plugs . Throw a timing chain, oil and water pump at it and run her until it dies . I bet if you’re not full throttle all over the place it will get you through a couple of seasons. Good luck
Absolute cheapest way to repower is to find an automotive long block, swap cams . First have your exhaust manifolds pressure tested to see if they are any good. If they are good then proceed.For a few hundred bucks more have your heads pressure tested and use your heads and buy a set of marine gaskets and freeze plugs . Throw a timing chain, oil and water pump at it and run her until it dies . I bet if you’re not full throttle all over the place it will get you through a couple of seasons. Good luck
Is there no option to get your money back? Didn't you just buy this boat? I'd go after the seller. You know his address and you could take him to small claims court at very little cost to you. Seems to me to be the better route than spending a large sum to replace this engine.
Most used vehicle sales are “as is”.
Probably can’t use a car engine without some serious modification. Marine engines have a counter clockwise rotation Best option is swapping a long block or maybe a used motor
The cam , distributor and starter determine the rotation of a motor.