dean51267

As you may know I am in the middle of a very, very difficult motor situation. Here is the latest and thanks in advance for your comments.

New GM Crate Motor has ~1 hour on it, 420 hp, 454, Gen VI, twin engine boat. Motor ran and sounded great until it went, we caught it very early on, before massive damage to crank or rods. #5 and 6 rod bearings are gone. Port went down, stbd is assumed to be okay.

The break in consisted of about 20 minutes of running with speeds up to 3000 RPM's, then a 30 minute run at varying speeds up to 4000 RPM's, 20 minutes of idol speed (while waiting for a poker run to start), a 5 minute run at about 4500 RPM's, then throttle back to about 3800 RPM's for three to five minutes which is when the motor let go.

The place who sold the motors say the motors flooded the oil with gas, and this caused bearing failure, he said the pistons and rods reeked of gasoline smell, and the rings were super sharp (from being "sharpened" on the cylinder walls).



I disagree for the following reasons:

On the cylinder heads, there is a very, very nice burn pattern to the valves.

The spark plugs show a very nice burn pattern and were not washed down.

There was no "black smoke" from the motors running (I am securing video of the boat running now).

There is no sign of over fuel on the pistons.

The oil has a slight gasoline smell, but has not lost its lubrication properties (I attribute the gas smell to break in and rings not seated, the oil level in the motor did not change from break in to break down).

The motors would have had to ingest a LOT of fuel to have caused this damage in such a short period of time, and that would have prohibited the engines from running properly.

Two different, certified Mercury Master Techs were witness to this boat operating normally for the short period it operated with these motors.

There was no gas smell upon pulling the heads, oil pan, or at any other time.

One of this areas prominent machinist and engine builders, with over 40 years experience as a machine shop owner was present at the time the motor was partialy tore down for inspected and states there is no sign of over fueling (we were not able to pull rod and main bearings because of warranty restrictions).

The oil was sent for analysis, that analysis has not been returned yet.


It is noteworthy that before purchasing the motors I was assured the warranty policy is very plain, they were new motors, if I have a problem, they fix it, unless it is obviously my fault.


So OSO brain trust, I humbly request your wisdom yet again........ If I have a problem, meaning there is something outside this guys control, I need to suck it up, fix it, and move on, but if it is a bad motor, I need to stand fast and demand the warranty claim be paid. There is about $8000 on the table.

Thanks!!!

Ted G

iTrader: (1)

OK first of all, ANY fuel in the oil will make it smell. Refined motor oil has very little smell because most of the distillates have been "cracked" out of it to make.....GASOLINE. I would FORCE them to prove overfueling by way of oil analysis, combustion chamber, plug, and piston "reading", and show a general lack of lubrication to ALL the bearings-since any lack of proper lube will damage all the bearings, not just 2. Remember that in the warranty business the customer will always be found right in a court of law unless they can be proved WAY, WAY wrong-make them prove it or honor the warranty.

dean51267

I am sure I could win a court battle, but the primary thing I am looking for is the real reason. If it is my deal, I will tuck tail, betch a lot, and pay to fix it, I do not want something I have not earned. However I damn well want EVERYTHING I have, so if it is a bad motor, I will expect a new one, and payment for install and everything else.....

So we have a technical question of fact. So I need help finding a factually correct answer....

customryder

Dean call Me

Airpacker

Dean, did every other bearing in the motor look damaged? If not, tell em to stuff it because their reasoning doesn't hold...er oil

dean51267

we were not able to pull rod or main bearing caps because of warranty restrictions, so we were unable to confirm what happened to different bearings.

However #5 and 6 rod bearings suffered catastrophic damage, and the others remained tight, indicating there was a problem with those bearings, but not conclusive evidence.

Reed Jensen

Someone is trying to blow smoke up your a**--- uh.... "tailpipe". If there was an overly rich problem, such as a blown power valve or a float level way too high, you would have noticed black smoke coming out the transom. The first indication that this has happened is scuffing on the piston skirts and possible metal transfer from the piston onto the cylinder walls. Not bearing failure. Excess gas washes the oil film off the cylinder wall. You could NOT have an engine running and be able to get enough gas past the piston rings to seriously dilute the oil. My guess is the failed bearings are the result of poor assembly procedure. There may have not been enough clearance when assembled or there could also be a plumbing problem that there wasn't enough oil flow to the crankshaft.

dean51267

I was out all day, so I will have to call him tomorrow, the nose it tightening, two engine builders in our area have sene the motors and state the explination he gives is not posible. Also two Merc techs who have personal knowledge of this boat, this situation ,and these motros, say it is not possible.

I am going to call him tomorrow and start off polite but firm. I will keep everyone posted......... hopefully he will back track and do the right thing........

BajaExpress

Were the engines dynoed and tuned prior to installation in your boat by the engine builder?

dean51267

no, they were new crate motors, we did not put them on the dyno. The components (intake, carb, exhaust, and ignigtion) were from running motors that dropped a valve.

We figured with new motors we pretty much had a known quantity, but apparently this is not the case.