Sheppy
Well-Known Member
I have an annoying issue and it might lead me down a different path. I have a 1999 Sea Ray 215 with a 5.0 V8 MPI Mercrusier re-powered back in 2010 by the previous owner.
The issue I have is that I randomly don’t get full revs. It’s kind of hard to explain, but sometimes she’ll rev straight to 4600, then later only 3600, then later only 4100 then later 3800 etc etc.. There’s no hesitation in the revs, no hunting etc so I’ve convinced it’s not a fuel shortage. I’ve had this ever since I’ve owned the boat but last year I got a cracked cylinder head (ouch) and after replacement she seemed to run constantly at 4600 to 4800 (so a clue there perhaps) but now she seems to be up to her old tricks again. No one has any idea why she does this. And I’m now looking at replacing things like the coil pack, distributor, injectors etc...
But for the age of the engine, she does have a some rust inside (which could be treated), the previous owner kept her in a marina so no flushing... And to be honest I’m starting to wonder whether I’m better off biting the bullet and putting in a new complete engine. I'm not hugely interested in just a block replacement as her problem might be with the ancillaries...
In terms of boat condition, well she’s good, but by no means in perfect condition, so I’m kind of wondering about whether it’s worth it. I could buy a much newer model, say a 2006 ish for the same kind of money as it would spend on an engine coupled with her value. But then the engine would be older than my current one!!
Are Mercrusier and Volvo the only real options here? Are there cheaper ways to buy a new complete engine? Just interested in people’s opinion really as someone might mention something I’ve not thought of....
The issue I have is that I randomly don’t get full revs. It’s kind of hard to explain, but sometimes she’ll rev straight to 4600, then later only 3600, then later only 4100 then later 3800 etc etc.. There’s no hesitation in the revs, no hunting etc so I’ve convinced it’s not a fuel shortage. I’ve had this ever since I’ve owned the boat but last year I got a cracked cylinder head (ouch) and after replacement she seemed to run constantly at 4600 to 4800 (so a clue there perhaps) but now she seems to be up to her old tricks again. No one has any idea why she does this. And I’m now looking at replacing things like the coil pack, distributor, injectors etc...
But for the age of the engine, she does have a some rust inside (which could be treated), the previous owner kept her in a marina so no flushing... And to be honest I’m starting to wonder whether I’m better off biting the bullet and putting in a new complete engine. I'm not hugely interested in just a block replacement as her problem might be with the ancillaries...
In terms of boat condition, well she’s good, but by no means in perfect condition, so I’m kind of wondering about whether it’s worth it. I could buy a much newer model, say a 2006 ish for the same kind of money as it would spend on an engine coupled with her value. But then the engine would be older than my current one!!
Are Mercrusier and Volvo the only real options here? Are there cheaper ways to buy a new complete engine? Just interested in people’s opinion really as someone might mention something I’ve not thought of....
I'm really surprised that there isn't a number of smaller cottage industries selling lower cost marinised engines.. Although someone also said not to bother with MPI and go to carb, or EFI as it's much cheaper - I just don't know...