good thing it happened now vs. june... that engine is in need of a rebuild. Carder

What year engine and how many hours?

Could be, but it also might not be nearly that bad. No way to tell until its apart.

Thanks for all the replies guys. The motors are 1996 502EFI completely rebuilt with all HP parts, upgraded cam/valve train and including new pistons and minor head work in 2002. Motors currently have about 350 hours and I did a complete top end overhaul @ 250 hrs. I haven't had the covers off yet but will later this week hopefully.

I'll let everyone know what happened in a few days. I'm really hoping for a relatively minor repair but we'll see soon I guess.