new baja owner, blown motor , need advice please.
 

Hi
First let me introduce myself to the community, I have always wanted a Baja... I just purchased a 272 boss Baja about a month ago. I bought it with new paint job, new interior, boat is a 10 out of 10 in my eyes. it is a 97, but dosnt show it in the shape its in. I love it. I have been out to the lake about 5 times with no issues. however yesterday at the lake I lost oil pressure and I now have rod knock on my newly rebuilt engine with 20 hours on it , says the previous owner. I now just paid for this boat and have to rebuilt or replace the engine.

The motor is a carb 454 magnum mercury engine 7.4L

I researched online found a place called us engines inc that sold the longblock for 3200 plus core and shipping, sounded wonderful until I found a ton of bad reviews. I have called mercury through my local dealer and was quoted a 7.4 l 454 replacement for 7k!

I am sure some of you have had these issues, if It was a summer from now I would just put a fuel injected motor in and go big. but after the purchase of the boat I cant do that at this time.

would anyone recommend some options , id like something with some kind of warranty, otherwise id pull it myself and have a machine shop rebuild it, just worried about downtime and reliability , a warranty for a summer or so would be comfortable after this happened .

Thanks in advance

chris

PM Glassdave, he knows an outfit that is supposed to be good and reasonable. Michigan motorz is also another option, I think I remember hearing good things about them, but still do your homework.

tyler crockett!!!!!!

Thanks I pmd glassdave, and will call Michigan motorz tomorrow.

???

any other advise would be great

You are possibly going to get a lot of replies and PM's from all kinds of folks recommending high performance engine builders, great deals on low hour engines, etc. My advice, since you are new to boating, would be to stay as close to stock power as you can. I can tell you from experience that costs can snowball very quickly when you start upgrading this and that for more performance. It's tempting to do this since the engine is out already. If a great deal comes along on a stock 502 or 454 Mag engine, then you might consider this, but I would stay away from custom high performance builds unless you are familiar with what goes into one that is going to last. Also, I would recommend trying to find out what exactly caused your current engine to fail, and verify that it is the factory Merc engine that came with the boat (there should be a serial number tag riveted to the block). If this was a car engine that someone dropped in, this may be the root of your problem, as there are key differences between marine and automotive engines that can make the difference for performance and longevity. A car or truck engine can certainly be built to run in a marine environment, but once again, the person building it has to know what they are doing. Good luck!

One more thing - if the engine says "7.4L" on it, it is most likely NOT a "mag" motor. The magnum engines have the large rectangular port heads, and most importantly, heavy duty forged crank, rods, and pistons. There are a lot of people who like to claim that their stock 7.4L is a "mag". You can verify this when the engine is torn down.

The one upgrade I would recommend if you are starting from scratch would be to go with a hydraulic roller lifter setup on the cam. They are much more reliable than the flat tappet cams that were run in years past, especially with today's oil formulations and the questionable material used by some of the cam manufacturers. Money well spent for durability, no matter whether or not you go back with stock cam spec's.

Also, if you still have it, get someone to cut open your oil filter and see if it is full of metal. If it is, do yourself a favor and throw the oil cooler in the trash and get a new one. Almost all attempts to flush these of debris will fail, and you will just be sending a bunch of junk through your brand new bearings.

How long ago was the replacement,,,,,,maybe you will get lucky with some kind of warranty,,,,,, I would at least start there

Budman 2. Thanks for the advise. I am aware of car motor builds. However still new to the marine world. I do understand boats are put through lots of hours of high rpms which means lots more wear. I would never think of putting a car motor in it.

I want something that will last.
So far I have found Michigan motorz to have some options like a re manufactured long block for 5600. Or I can get a new merc motor from sail and ski locally for 7000. The prices seem insane for me.. but I dont want to cheap out and have it bite me in the ass.

http://www.michiganmotorz.com/base-m...ent-p-745.html

This is the motor I am looking at currently. I went to my local dealer and the 7k motor is the 330hp stock motor . there is no way im paying that.

If anyone has any input I would be appreciated. I need to get my baby back on the water summer is already here

What about going to the complete engine assemblies on the michigan motorz site? You could switch to a small block replacement with the same HP and have a 3 year warranty.

http://www.michiganmotorz.com/comple...ons-p-406.html

Was just a thought.